US Coins

Don’t corrupt grading system

My compliments to Bill Fivaz for his Guest Commentary in the March 10 issue of Coin World. He hits the nail right on the head when he states that some high-end About Uncirculated coins can look much nicer than some low-end Mint State coins, and be priced accordingly. This is one reason why many years ago I told Bill that he could not take my American Numismatic Association Summer Seminar grading class as a student, because he was going to help me teach it!

That said, I must disagree with other people within the grading industry (not Bill) who claim that because these very nice coins with wear on them can be worth more than a hypothetical Mint State 60 coin of the same series with noticeable problems, those choice AU coins should be graded as MS-62 or whatever to reflect their price! A coin with wear on it is not a Mint State coin, and does not merit a Mint State grade!

Reform the pricing system if you must, but do not corrupt the grading system to do it.

 


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