Live and Learn!

In some of my previous journal entries, I?ve done my share of beefing about the long wait only to receive ?body bags? containing coins that wouldn?t grade. My ?contributions? to NGC have paid for a lunch or two in Sarasota. When I joined The Collector?s Society last fall, I was new to the ?graded, slabbed coin? thing. Basically, for the 40-something years I had leisurely collected coins, coins came in plastic flips, cardboard flips, or totally naked (ready to fill a spot in an album or folder).

Sending money to NGC for nothing more than a new plastic flip and a one or two word explanation caused me to seek better answers to the ?Why didn?t my coin grade?? question. I?ve determined that I need to learn more about grading. What knocks a coin into the category of ?UNGRADABLE??

I?ve attached a picture of a very nice looking 1892 Morgan graded MS-64 by a second (or third) tier grading company. I sent this coin to NGC hoping to cross to at least a 62. BaDaBing, altered surfaces (?). What surfaces? Where? How?

I?ve also included here a link to an excellent article on what we should all know about what grades and what doesn?t. It taught me something.

Live and learn.

Mark

http://www.coingrading.com/ynotgrade1.html

P.S. While I've been told that I'm a few french fries short of a Happy Meal, actually I'm two Morgans shy of a full set. (1903-S & 1895-S) Toughies, both.

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