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 Replies: 10 / Views: 1,387 |
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Valued Member
United States
460 Posts |
The listing for a 1876 cc type 1 rev LIberty Seated dime on Liberty Seated expert Gerry Fortin's website states that the PCGS grade is only MS62 because at the holder date (late 1990s) the "wispy hairlines in the right obverse field were grade limiting, and that PCGS currently allows hairlines up to MS64." I assume that observation applies to this difficult old series where higher grade coins can be scarce, and which have come through times when cleaning was common, rather than to all coins. I myself have a few MS63 LS coins of all denominations with toned over hairlines that are still quite attractive, and hairlines seem par for the course on LS MS63s. But at the MS64 level, I am disillusioned. Each of the several books I have read by numismatic oracle Q. David Bowers has complained of grade inflation. He has stated that coins with eye appeal that once would have graded MS63 are now grading MS65. A couple years back I asked a question about whether offerings in older holders are more strictly graded. I didn't ask the question well and didn't get any real feedback on grade inflation. I did get a memorable response that some people collect so that all their coins have the same colored labels. I'll leave that one alone. A second observation in the same post was that TPGs are grading harder now than they used to. I buy based on eye appeal and whether issue rarity may make it hard to find a nicer specimen. I have seen a lot of higher grade CAC coins that didn't appeal to me, and I have bought lower grade coins that look nicer than higher graded specimens. Yet price is driven most by grade, and if a recent 65 would have only been a 63 25 years ago, that ought to affect value as well as price. So what do y'all think about grade inflation and what to consider when buying. Thanks. |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
4588 Posts |
No such thing, no grades are inflated - that's the TPG's story and they're sticking to it. -----Burton 50+ year / Life / Emeritus ANA member (joined 12/1/1973) Life member: Numismatics International, CONECA Member: TNA, FtWCC, NETCC, EveryCountry (online) coin club Owned by three cats and a wife of 40+ years (joined 1983) Author: 3rd Edition of the Sample Slabs book, https://www.sampleslabs.info/ |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3848 Posts |
A coin's grade should be objective, but human beings are doing the grading. So outside company policies, culture, and personal opinion can change what a coin would grade over time. I don't think it is a good thing...
Suffering from bust half fever. Want to learn how to attribute early half dollars by die variety? Click Here: http://goccf.com/t/434955Shoot me a PM if you are looking to sell bust halves. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7273 Posts |
If you had asked me a few years ago I would have said grade inflation was rampant but lately (on average) the coins are graded somewhat fairly. Not to say there are t over graded coins but I've had a pretty good run of what I would call well graded coins.
Now too play devils advocate I will state that some of the older slabs are actually under graded or graded more strictly than today, so there maybe some upside in getting a older slabbed coin and trying to get it CAC'ed. it might be worth it $$$$
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
PCGS have hoisted their flag on Photograde.
If those pictures remain the same for the next 50 years, we should not have grade inflation.
If this holds true, any TPGrader who gives in to temptation to give easy grades to increase their business will be hoisted on their own petard, and loose reputation. That can happen with grade re submissions. That is why I tend to ignore slab grades.
I for one, prefer to grade my own coins, because it is essential to learn to grade for yourself, especially when you find yourself in a buying situation in order to get good value for money for your purchase.
Condition vs good value for money is critical.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1023 Posts |
I owned a 2 cent peice for a few years graded ms66 cac. At the same time my exact coin was and is the coin pictured as ms65 in photograde. Just saying.. somethings funky.
I see tons of people trying over and over again to get a coin into 'the right holder' both with crack outs and resubs. I cant stand this practice.i dont have a great reason. I just think a massive amount of overgraded coins ruins things for everybody.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12057 Posts |
Grading is a process carried out by humans. Like most such processes, there is always a degree of variability. Things such as the experience level of the grader, their personal preferences in coin appearance, and many other subjective factors come into play (whether admitted or otherwise.) In addition, the very existence of the TPG's depends on the perceived need for their services: they have a vested interest in keeping the marketplace active, and of selling the benefits of their services to the numismatic community at large. Grade inflation, therefore, carries with it a financial incentive for the TPG's; by allowing grade inflation to occur, they drive a market for collectors and investors to resubmit previously-slabbed in hopes of improving the grade. Furthermore, by building the perception that slabbed coins are more valuable, they increase market prices for slabbed coins, which provides another incentive for collectors to have their coins slabbed, feeding the cycle. At the same time, prices of non-slabbed coins are artificially restricted, encouraging folks to get their coins graded to realize their "maximum market potential." All of that aside, I think that the gradeflation bubble has somewhat eased up over the last 2-3 years, with quite a few coins I see coming in graded LOWER than you would have previously expected, or right in line; at least for PCGS and NGC, the only two TPGs with whom I have recently submitted coins. Member ANA - EAC - TNA - SSDC - CCT #890 "Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done." -- Louis D. Brandeis |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3628 Posts |
 Grade inflation absolutely exists. It isn't rampant. It is annoying. It isn't going away. It affects the most popular coin series (Lincolns and Morgans) more than the less popular series (deuces and nickel treys). It's all about leveraging grade-sliders for flipper profit. The great grade inflation neutralizer is what it always has been: "Learn to grade and buy the coin, not the slab." |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
5393 Posts |
You can send in the same coin five times and get six different grades!
Gradeflation is a problem .
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3628 Posts |
@Pacificoin, Or send in one correctly-graded Canadian coin one time and jump six grades.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4468 Posts |
Quote:Grade inflation, therefore, carries with it a financial incentive for the TPG's; by allowing grade inflation to occur, they drive a market for collectors and investors to resubmit previously-slabbed in hopes of improving the grade. Furthermore, by building the perception that slabbed coins are more valuable, they increase market prices for slabbed coins, which provides another incentive for collectors to have their coins slabbed, feeding the cycle. At the same time, prices of non-slabbed coins are artificially restricted, encouraging folks to get their coins graded to realize their "maximum market potential."  |
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Replies: 10 / Views: 1,387 |
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Posted 01/04/2022 8:07 pm
