zadok

true...one of the best...have known him n done business with him for 27 years, never one issue....

I can't speak to gradeflation, but I don't take any issue with adding granularity to the scale.  Back when the scale was, G, VG, F, VF, EF, AU BU, a grade meant very little.  While I think it's silly to pretend that we work on a 70-point scale, when no more than 30 of them are ever used, I believe that, e.g., dividing AU into four grades (50, 53, 55, 58) is useful, because I believe that there is that much spectrum between the top of EF and the bottom of MS.

If there is gradeflation, that's a bad thing.  And if a significant percent of the coins graded by NGC and PCGS are assigned the wrong grade, that's a bad thing, IMO.
Mark

What you see is a failure to have and maintain standards. Too much money drives the gradual reduction of quality. Once, AU meant an coin with the slightest abrasion on the highest points or disturbance of field luster. Now, that has been bastardized to AU-58, AU-55, AU-50 and other rubbish. The AU-55 and 50 "phony grades" are really EF coins, but given the "AU" tag to boost prices.

perhaps a 1985 twenty cent piece?....

hi-ho silver n away...

right thigh, right breast, gown clasp, bottom curl, right wrist, left ankle, edge boulder, curl above ear....just enuf to take out of mint state....but id buy it as an au58......

I could just as easily find 24 positive comments compiled the same way. PMA = Positive Mind Attitude

coin authentic....its die pairing WB-3....one of 4 die pairings for the date/mint....all r R-3 rarity, so relatively common...coin in that grade with rim damage almost certainly not straight grade, prob G details possibly VG details...prob not worth certification...coin would prob sell on ebay $65-75 range.....

The hobby has always been top heavy with aging older collectors going back at least 150 years.

im truly sorry that my train of thoughts present a challenge to be understood...bit late in my life to change my manner of expressing myself...i wasnt trying to participate in a debate...my brief assertions of numbers were all obtained just by referencing simple requests for info from surveys online from the sources mentioned, i.e. the govt conducted such an economical survey a few years back, heritage, gc, stacks bowers, et al...ebay stated such a number, a few financial surveys likewise....i really dont wish to consume extreme amounts of forum space nor waking hours to dispute an assumption that neither of us can prove nor disprove, my basic point is that i take exception to ur premise that the hobby is diminishing when i observe the contrary...there is little to be gained from the two of us going back n forth on n issue no one cares about anyway, so ill just lv it at we agree to disagree n avoid this subjective issue in the future...n the thread op was upset that we were not talking bout whatever his point was anyway...

im truly sorry that my train of thoughts present a challenge to be understood...bit late in my life to change my manner of expressing myself...i wasnt trying to participate in a debate...my brief assertions of numbers were all obtained just by referencing simple requests for info from surveys online from the sources mentioned, i.e. the govt conducted such an economical survey a few years back, heritage, gc, stacks bowers, et al...ebay stated such a number, a few financial surveys likewise....i really dont wish to consume extreme amounts of forum space nor waking hours to dispute an assumption that neither of us can prove nor disprove, my basic point is that i take exception to ur premise that the hobby is diminishing when i observe the contrary...there is little to be gained from the two of us going back n forth on n issue no one cares about anyway, so ill just lv it at we agree to disagree n avoid this subjective issue in the future...n the thread op was upset that we were not talking bout whatever his point was anyway...

perhaps a 1985 twenty cent piece?....

u consistently under estimate the number of collectors (either intentionally to support ur assumptions or because u simply r not exposed to the population base)....most recent (last 10 years) surveys both govt n commercial, estimate that the active collector base in the US is between 10-15 million...ebay alone estimates that they have close to 1 million buyers of all levels...the major auction houses (more higher dollar buyers) report buyers in the 100-500,000 range...the various numis clubs n organizations have membership totals in the one hundred thousand range, n most membership rolls r stable or increasing as r subscriptions to the various coin publications both in print n online...true, these numbers include what i might consider investors as opposed to pure collectors, but the basic trend is increasing interest...some investment diversification, some nostalgia, historical interest, legacy/prestige etc....as i attend various auctions, conventions n associations i do not see any of the minimization of the hobby that u report, on the contrary i see increased interest n expenditures...i do not believe that a smaller number of collectors r buying a larger amount of the coins, actually i am personally observing the exact opposite...collectors i know who used to spend a few hundred dollars per year r now spending a few thousand n considering to expand their collections both in scope n grades...i dont see collectors losing money unless they r totally uninformed n not taking advantage of all of the collecting info that is out there...the global numis expenditures last year was in excess of $18 billion....i dont see this as a downward trend...

perhaps a 1985 twenty cent piece?....

… who are cat haters. Too many authors too full of themselves maybe? Too many NARA divers spreading possibly disease ridden NARA dust everywhere?
I utterly disagree with #10. I love the clubs and shows, and live auctions, and I can’t even BEGIN to describe how much I detest doing business over the Internet. 

u were eating with ghosts.....

toutes nos felicitations....on ur award...

have to agree with vkurt, pretty decent show after a years lay off....not over crowded but busy...lots of ss central america ingots on the floor some diff to pick up....choice US better dates bit on the scarce side this show...some very impressive inventories in gold ancients, especially the roman emperors...i saw more gold transactions than anything else...lincoln was never that chubby however...im not a saint gaudy fan but the 1907 ehr proof69 was one of the most impressive coins on display there....did not see as much clamor on morgans as before...over all id say the foreign coins on the floor more impressive than the US coins, except for the tyrant display....david l. was busting butt every time i saw him....heritage legacy lounge was a pleasant reprieve...only found 5 coins to buy, but cant buy whats not there....

copies of those spade coins will probably be on ebay by next week.....

they get bought by the pound.....n not british pound...

I am inclined to agree.   There is exaggeration, and then there is the patently ridiculous. Like "almost pregnant."    🐓

I disagree with the 1965 SMS not being reliably distinguishable. Superb business strikes can sometimes look like SMS examples, but SMS examples rarely look like business strikes. 

A belated comment - "AU-50" is an exaggeration of EF. There is not such grade - it is merely another way to pump prices without delivering better quality.

inept n unlucky.....what a wonderful combination...sounds like my marriage coefficient.....

we obviously r not seeing the US coin collecting community the same....it is clearly obvious to me that the collecting community is expanding in both numbers n scope...i dont see the increasing prices reducing the number of buyers nor preventing them from buying the coins they want....they r not moving to more affordable less desirable coins, i see them still buying the higher priced coins but just fewer at a time or more spaced out to accommodate their budgets, i for one have have not ceased buying the coins i want/need just because of price escalation, instead of buying 5-6 coins in a signature auction i only buy 3-4...in fact i have spent more this past year than in previous years, true prices r higher but there were more desirable coins available because of the higher prices...investment concerns have never been a deciding factor in my coin purchase decisions...in the collecting orbits that i navigate in the number of competitors have literally tripled in the past 3-4 years....i recently read that not only have the major auction houses total sales increased but that the number of individual buyers have also increased....i dont see this dissipating in the near future.....