A General Question About "Details" Grading.

To explain where I come from, I have to say two things first:
1. I am not a great fan of slabs, although in some specific cases they are obviously the best option.
TPGrading is best used when selling highly valuable American coins in the American market.
2. My first numismatic love lies in other than modern coins.
Milled, hammered and ancient coins may have many so called 'details', which together, may have a greater or lesser effect on the grading than just a straight grade may have.

Having made these two comments,
to me, a 'details' notification is not necessarily a death sentence. The detrimental effect of a 'details' notification is wholly dependent on the nature and extent of the 'details'.

Irrespective of any implications of (1.) above, the collector has to make up their own mind as to what extent the 'details' affects the value.

Thanks. So it seems that most coins wear naturally-so would get a numeric grade. That makes sense. If it were not so, I would wonder if the standards are too high.

It also makes sense that the significance of "details" varies quite a bit. If it is more significant for very modern coins, that makes sense too, as why would you settle for less than perfect or nearly perfect when they are still coming out of the mint?

@sel, yes when you go far back, coins were made rather imperfectly at times, so a "grade" only in terms of the wear is not the only factor to consider. Also, your choices may be rather limited for some of the more obscure or uncommon pieces.

All "details" means is that the coin has damage or the surface has been altered.

While all true, he has specially mentioned modern coins where it is the kiss of death. You're much better off spending something like details State Quarters than trying to sell them barring some valuable error or a couple varieties