Posted 05/25/2011 9:42 pm
I have a good friend who has been a grader, in the past, for one of the major grading companies. The local dealer I go to has also done this. Although my local dealer has heard of my other friend, they do not know each other. I have asked them about the grading systems and I got pretty much the same story from both.
They both said that TPG hired dealers are not permanent staff. The dealers are also paid for the volume of coins they move through in a day. Hence there is a natural push to get through as many coins as possible. They also said that it is inevitable that these different people, having different opinions, being normal humans, can have one of those days where they got up on the wrong side of the bed.
All of this adds up to the consistency level of all TPG's being based on a very good, scientific process in which they are trying to counteract one unstable factor -- human error. My friend told me he knows of a coin that was sent in, cracked open, and sent back in a total of 14 (!) times. The owner/dealer did this (and put out that much money) b/c, being experienced with the system he knew if it went through enough times he would score the higher grade. Since the assigned value of the higher MS assignment was so much greater, the dealer was willing to spend what he needed to in order to get that grade he desired. And yes, the 14th time was the charm.
BTW I also found it interesting that these longtime collectors/dealers both said they felt the grading systems had ruined the hobby. And I agree. It used to be fun to be able to find pieces to fill the holes when ALL coins had their individual values based upon on how hard they were to find. These were the days when the Red Book listed prices from AG all the way up through the highest grades. Now it seems unless the coin is slabbed its not as highly esteemed as it would have been before the TPG s.
Yes, things like FS Jefferson nickels are the height of perfection. But sometimes there just were none made for a specific year.
My one friend said that when they finally implement a machine that will scan the coins and have its algorithms set for figuring in surface damage, luster etc., then the TPGs will truly be able to supply the quality and consistency that would make a near foolproof system.
Another interesting point is that the local dealer says he has done some asking around and finds that when a dealer sends a mint-fresh boxes of ASE's to a TPG, that normally 20% of the ASEs grade at MS70 and the rest given lower grades. He said he has been following this for quite a few years and has seen it to be true. He said the repeated 20% ratio has made him skeptical of how they handle these.
The fact is that the technology to scan/grade/evaluate coins has been around for quite some time. I used to be in a quality control department in the early 90's that used a machine to do just this type of work on pieces the company had to check for various, minute imperfections -- we are talking on the micron level here.
And as a side note, If grading were relegated to a totally impartial machine/computer, submission costs could be a lot lower. Personally I hope the capitalistic advantage of a system like this eventually wins out in the end.
They both said that TPG hired dealers are not permanent staff. The dealers are also paid for the volume of coins they move through in a day. Hence there is a natural push to get through as many coins as possible. They also said that it is inevitable that these different people, having different opinions, being normal humans, can have one of those days where they got up on the wrong side of the bed.
All of this adds up to the consistency level of all TPG's being based on a very good, scientific process in which they are trying to counteract one unstable factor -- human error. My friend told me he knows of a coin that was sent in, cracked open, and sent back in a total of 14 (!) times. The owner/dealer did this (and put out that much money) b/c, being experienced with the system he knew if it went through enough times he would score the higher grade. Since the assigned value of the higher MS assignment was so much greater, the dealer was willing to spend what he needed to in order to get that grade he desired. And yes, the 14th time was the charm.
BTW I also found it interesting that these longtime collectors/dealers both said they felt the grading systems had ruined the hobby. And I agree. It used to be fun to be able to find pieces to fill the holes when ALL coins had their individual values based upon on how hard they were to find. These were the days when the Red Book listed prices from AG all the way up through the highest grades. Now it seems unless the coin is slabbed its not as highly esteemed as it would have been before the TPG s.
Yes, things like FS Jefferson nickels are the height of perfection. But sometimes there just were none made for a specific year.
My one friend said that when they finally implement a machine that will scan the coins and have its algorithms set for figuring in surface damage, luster etc., then the TPGs will truly be able to supply the quality and consistency that would make a near foolproof system.
Another interesting point is that the local dealer says he has done some asking around and finds that when a dealer sends a mint-fresh boxes of ASE's to a TPG, that normally 20% of the ASEs grade at MS70 and the rest given lower grades. He said he has been following this for quite a few years and has seen it to be true. He said the repeated 20% ratio has made him skeptical of how they handle these.
The fact is that the technology to scan/grade/evaluate coins has been around for quite some time. I used to be in a quality control department in the early 90's that used a machine to do just this type of work on pieces the company had to check for various, minute imperfections -- we are talking on the micron level here.
And as a side note, If grading were relegated to a totally impartial machine/computer, submission costs could be a lot lower. Personally I hope the capitalistic advantage of a system like this eventually wins out in the end.
How much squash could a Sasquatch squash if a Sasquatch would squash squash?
Download and read: Grading the graders
Costly TPG ineptitude and No FG Kennedy halves
https://ln5.sync.com/dl/7ca91bdd0/w...i3b-rbj9fir2
Download and read: Grading the graders
Costly TPG ineptitude and No FG Kennedy halves
https://ln5.sync.com/dl/7ca91bdd0/w...i3b-rbj9fir2
