zadok

All four criteria count in the grading system; preservation, strike, luster, and eye appeal. And they SHOULD. What most collectors can’t possibly know is what bias each panel of graders gives, perhaps even unwittingly, to the relative importance of the four. What I do know for certain is that Roger is “all preservation, all the time”, while I prefer banging luster and I’ll gladly accept a few more chatter marks in search of it. That should not be a surprise. I’ve written of my positive opinion of AU58 coins here. They typically give up a little on preservation in favor of really nice luster. I like that much better, and I really don’t care who doesn’t share my opinion. So yes, I have my “favorite” of the “four horsemen” of MS grading, and my least favorite, which happens to be Roger’s “one and only”. The difference is, I don’t even try to jam my preference down the throat of ANYONE else, while Roger does virtually nothing else, on any subject, at any and every time.
If I were grading coins according to current standards, I’d have a 7x glass with me or a 5x if I couldn’t get a 7. But for me to decide if I want a particular coin for MY collection, I need NO MAGNIFICATION at all. Just the right light and my own hand and eyes.

People who write histories tend to become captured by historical thinking. 

All I advocate is separation of the grade of a coin from any assumption of value. I disagree that " most buyers and sellers - both collectors and dealers - obviously want more valuing from TPG’s than you do." No one asked them. The situation was simply imposed as a means of increasing revenue and falsely increasing "value" by padding grades with opinion fluff. No TPG should have any role in determining a coin's market value.
Doing away with "grading" won't happen. It is part of human thought processes to organize and characterize information. But what can be done is to assign clear standards for each "grade" and then do our best to assess only those factors that can be determined empirically. This leaves all (or most) of the personal opinion under the control of buyer/seller/owner. (This basic discussion appears during the 1850s as coin and medal auctions gained traction and the collector base expanded.)

Correct. That does not exclude them from individual appeal or valuation, both of which are opinions. Auctions, sellers and buyers can then present their opinions without agreeing or disagreeing with the assigned "grade." The free market then assumes its proper capitalist role.
I do not feel that ANY TPG should ever be involved in "valuing" a coin or medal - that is strictly a market task.

No, they would not. Roger is simply wrong.

Same as always - absolutely NOTHING other than his own opinion.

Have you ever seen something on HA.com and decided that you wanted to be notified whenever we have a similar item come up for auction? We now offer this option to add the exact item to your wantlist with one click. This is available for US coins now, as well as for art and comic art, with more types of collectibles on the way.
On the item page for certain items, below the Track Item button, you will see a new button to create a wantlist. When you click on this button for a US coin, this will start the process of creating a wantlist for you, bringing up an overlay with the details of the wantlist. To create the wantlist, simply click on "Create Wantlist". This wantlist is designed to let you know whenever the exact same coin in the exact same grade becomes available for bidding.
Once the wantlist is created, you can immediately modify it as you see fit, and the easiest way to do so is to click on the Edit Wantlist button as soon as the wantlist is created. Clicking this button will take you directly to the My Wantlist entry you have just added. For example, you might create a wantlist from an item with a grade of MS62; maybe you want to look for this coin in a broader grade range. Maybe you want to limit your results to a single grading service. Maybe you want a Plus grade - or a CAC certification. You can do all of this by editing the wantlist entry.

I've posted about hoards here before and especially these "mini-hoards" that I see being referred to anectdotally without any corroborating evidence.  Still, the people posting about them in articles or blogs (like Doug Winter) have reputations that I don't think they would just willy-nilly make up information or regurgitate what 1 person only told them.  You would assume they'd look for independent confirmation via a 2nd source and/or look to see if market prices indicate a sudden increase in supply.  Or maybe their contacts and sources have proved reliable over the years and that's just it. 
An esteemed contributor here noted a recent source for these mini-hoards:  unclaimed safe deposit boxes (SDBs) held by banks and escheated to cities/states.  Sometimes the coins are certified/graded; often they are raw and within the expected grade range.  I don't know how often these auctions of unclaimed property/SDBs happen but you clearly have a few dozen to a few hundred coins annually running the gamut from generic common Saints in the AU's or lower grades, up to MS65 (raw or graded) as well as some scarce coins and rare ones (a few hundred total survivors).  Who knows, maybe we'll find ultra-rare ones hitting the market worth 6-figures even in AU condition.  
You probably have similar lost property disposals over in Europe, too.
I would guess that maybe you have children/families/beneficiaries of inhereritances who just want a few coins or maybe a few dozen coins sold.  I have a few family/friends who have a few dozen (mostly common) Saints/Liberty coins and I can attest their wills do NOT specify that the coins be sold via auction or through a dealer or collector or other expert.  Basically, the inheritors are on their own and will probably just go to a coin dealer rather than seek out an expert and delay a sale a few months just to squeeze out a few more thousand dollars or so. 

accurate observation....but its a bit diff to compare the MS/PF 70s, 69s to actually collecting coins...they fall more into acquiring, hoarding, investing than collecting...personally if i want to acquire more silver i just buy 100 oz ingots, the price differential on 70s certainly not warranted, i own none...even the modern series, 20th century coins, for the most part r no where near rare n seldom justify the high end price differentials being paid....18th n 19th century coins a diff story....

90 days wasnt quite long enuf, i think the recipe calls for another 90 to simmer n maybe ferment....

90 days wasnt quite long enuf, i think the recipe calls for another 90 to simmer n maybe ferment....

make it the two youngest numismatists...should go to someone young enuf to enjoy n appreciate it not some old fogy...but gracias for the thought...

make it the two youngest numismatists...should go to someone young enuf to enjoy n appreciate it not some old fogy...but gracias for the thought...

its a mixed bag as it is with every type of show or convention where goods r being sold...some r there for the quik transfusion of wholesale money, some for the upper retail buyers, some for obtaining future customers or retaining old, some just for the atmosphere n opportunities...the real bottom line is the money, but what should be the bottom line is the longevity of the hobby...without the infusion of new customers into the hobby it dies, after all the dealers who r wholesaling everything to other dealers can only last for so long if ultimately there r no end customers to sell to...on the larger shows its not likely to change, the power structure is too well entrenched n will remain so until there would happen to be a significant money erosion...its the smaller shows where early departures hurt the future growth of the hobby, many working folks n young potential collectors can often only attend on the last day of the shows n if they arrive n half the vendors r gone or r packing up the future of the hobby just gives up n walks away....

...neither the sheldon nor the ana standards expand their definitions to include magnification boundaries, i would think that being perfect n having no imperfections basically equate, n in all four instances none state anything bout "as came from the dies"....which was my point of contention, just another feeble attempt to pass off opinion as fact that bears no supporting documentation...personally, im not aware of any man made item being perfect with the possible exception of bo derek.....

anyone living in nyc needs at least something positive to look forward to considering how the rest of their world is all down hill....none my coins r for sale so u get to save ur money...n i knew that ur cousin vinny would love all the colors....

anyone living in nyc needs at least something positive to look forward to considering how the rest of their world is all down hill....none my coins r for sale so u get to save ur money...n i knew that ur cousin vinny would love all the colors....