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Posted 04/21/2013 7:25 pm
Thanks to all who participated in sharing their opinions... :)
I agree that you cannot provide a definitive grade by seeing only one side of coin... and that it is difficult to assign grade based on a picture, especially if picture is not high quality.
But part of the exercise was to bring attention to the fact that most ICCS coins for sale on ebay only show a single picture of the obverse side, with the grade & date info in the background...
Many buyers thus make purchase by putting an inordinate amount of confidence in the grade stamped on slip...as has been detailed often in previous CCF posts by the experienced & wise... "Buy the coin, not the holder".
My reason for creating these posts to "Test Your Skills" was primarily to highlite how even the #1 respected professional grading company in Canada can vary widely in the grades assigned to coins...
Upon knowing the ICCS grades, one can look back at the coins pictured in post and see distinct discrepancies between the grades assigned by ICCS, and the opinions offered by CCF participants...
The average of all of the opinions offered by CCF participants was an expressed opinion that there were a variety of grades existing in the pictured coins ranging from VG to VF...
Drumroll please...
The first 5 coins pictured are all graded by ICCS as F-15... last coin is a G-6.
It is quite obvious to me, and indicated by opinions offered by all participants that some of these coins should grade below F-15 and some above F-15...
I continue to be frustrated by the inconsistencies of the "professionals"... and the acceptance by too many that their word is definitive...
Grading is obviously not an exact science... in my opinion 3rd party graders are for the most part throwing darts at the same dartboard as the rest of us, and are often no more or less accurate than most experienced collectors in assessing an accurate grade...
Take care, and Have a Great Evening!
cameron93
I agree that you cannot provide a definitive grade by seeing only one side of coin... and that it is difficult to assign grade based on a picture, especially if picture is not high quality.
But part of the exercise was to bring attention to the fact that most ICCS coins for sale on ebay only show a single picture of the obverse side, with the grade & date info in the background...
Many buyers thus make purchase by putting an inordinate amount of confidence in the grade stamped on slip...as has been detailed often in previous CCF posts by the experienced & wise... "Buy the coin, not the holder".
My reason for creating these posts to "Test Your Skills" was primarily to highlite how even the #1 respected professional grading company in Canada can vary widely in the grades assigned to coins...
Upon knowing the ICCS grades, one can look back at the coins pictured in post and see distinct discrepancies between the grades assigned by ICCS, and the opinions offered by CCF participants...
The average of all of the opinions offered by CCF participants was an expressed opinion that there were a variety of grades existing in the pictured coins ranging from VG to VF...
Drumroll please...
The first 5 coins pictured are all graded by ICCS as F-15... last coin is a G-6.
It is quite obvious to me, and indicated by opinions offered by all participants that some of these coins should grade below F-15 and some above F-15...
I continue to be frustrated by the inconsistencies of the "professionals"... and the acceptance by too many that their word is definitive...
Grading is obviously not an exact science... in my opinion 3rd party graders are for the most part throwing darts at the same dartboard as the rest of us, and are often no more or less accurate than most experienced collectors in assessing an accurate grade...
Take care, and Have a Great Evening!
cameron93
