"Market Grade"
Increasingly there has been a tendency to assign just a
single number to describe a coin's grade, and to use no additional adjectives at
all. Bumps, scratches, hairlines, etc. are factored into the grade, and, as
noted, an EF-40 coin with problems can be slabbed simply as a VF-20, or a
Proof-65 coin with lint marks can be encapsulated as a Proof-63 or some lesser
grade. Do you remember my theoretical MS-70 1941-S half dollar, weakly struck,
being called MS-63? Unquestionably, using just a single number simplifies
things, as it makes prices easier to compute.
Under this philosophy, a coin is assigned a single grade
number which reflects its market price, not necessarily its technical grade.
This is a departure from the grading systems outlined in the 1970s and 1980s in
Photograde and the Official ANA Grading Standards for United States Coins books.
To expand on the subject, I give three illustrations:
- 1895-S silver dollar. Obverse heavily bagmarked,
numerical grade for the obverse alone: MS-60. Reverse lightly bagmarked (fewer
bagmarks than on the obverse, due to the protective nature of the letters and
eagle design), numerical grade for the reverse alone: MS-63.
Old grading system: 1895-S $1. MS-60/63. Obverse heavily
bagmarked (information a collector might want to know).
New grading system: 1895-S $1. MS-60.
In both instances the coins have the same market value.
Only the descriptions are different.
- 1872 Proof Liberty Seated half dollar. Cleaned long ago,
and now with a few light hairlines in the fields. Deep gray, almost black,
toning in blotches (information a collector might want to know). Numerical
grade: Proof-64.
Old grading system: 1872 Liberty Seated half dollar.
Proof-64. Deep gray, almost black, toning in blotches.
New grading system: 1872 50c. Proof-63. (Some would still
call it Proof-64 and not mention the blotches, etc.; a low-end 64.) If it is
obviously cleaned, it may not be certifiable by PCGS or NGC.
In both instances the coins have the same market value.
Only the descriptions are different.
- 1926-D Buffalo nickel. MS-65 from the standpoint of wear,
but very weakly struck, as usual for this variety.
Old grading system: 1926-D 5c. MS-65, weakly struck, as
usual for this variety.
