Is the NGC * Designation Too Arbitrary?

[michael]

is the star the most subjective of anything ngc assigns

 

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it is a human thing ngc is subjectively hard and rightly so that way only the best of the best get the star

 

will some star coins not get the star i am sure but such is this imperfect life we live in there are no guarantees

 

will it generate the most controversey YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

but thast is good i would rather many coins that some think are stars and i am sure they are get rejected and ngc be picky then just assign it to everything then the star is meaningless

 

remember we are all human and everything is subjective but they are strick for a reason and if you do not get the star who cares???

 

enjoy your coins and if they are truely excpetional then star or not they will be reconized by many when you show then or go to sell them

 

sincerely michael

 

herre is another star coin ms 68 *

[michael]

another star ms67 *

 

but this is my speciality and this coin needs to be sight seen

 

the moderns for the star i casnt comment about BUT THE COINS I POSTED ON HERE WITH THE STAR THAT ARE WITHIN MY SPECIALITY ARE THE BEST OF THE BEST EYE APPEAL WISE WHEN VIEWED SIGHT SEEN

 

mark feld of pinnacle rarities has seen this coin sight seen if you want to know his comments on this coin which are reALLY VERY INTERESTING private message him and ask him!

 

[michael]

anotyter coin ms 67 star*

[michael]

ttt

[GoldenState]

<<1) A single or multiple distracting spot(s) or blemishes

2) A fingerprint that is easily noticed and can be in either the toning or the untoned areas

3) The toning has areas (usually toward the outer rings) that has progressed too far (dark brown, very dark purple, or black)

4) The toning is too inconsistent

5) One side of the coin is just average >>

 

Sounds fair enough to me, in/re Morgans. There are so many MS 64 and Ms 65 Morgans, especially in common dates. How many really "killer" 81s Morgans have ya seen nowadays? Thus, the aspect of "earning" the * designation seems appropriate, especially in series that have substantial mintages.

 

 

[K6AZ]

I don't know, I am not too bothered by whether or not I get a star on my coins. Also, you have to remember that any of the older holder NGC coins won't have stars. I really go by what the coin looks like, so I am not really impressed by the star designation. I have many second and third generation NGC holder Morgans that would probably get the star, but I feel they are more valuable in those older holders.

[GoldenState]

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So do I. That's why I am not into the crack-outs much anymore. High end sllver coins are sometimes better left where they are. I have two Morgans that are prime candidates for the star---both CC's (83 and 84), but why bother cracking? I KNOW that they're good high-end coins, and appreciate them the way they are.

 

[michael]

 

i am sure there will always be passioniate differing sides on the star designation but for me

 

it is just a learning tool and might help others with their improvement with looking at coins

 

if there is a star coin that overall are considered true to the star designation by collectors/dealers who know waht they are looking at then

 

beginning collectors other non specialists who have not seen such coins it is a good learning tool

 

for me overall it is more positive then negative

 

as with the most subjective a thing ngc assigns as the star as assigned by ngc it is still carefully administered

 

for me it is still overall more positive then negative

 

for me it takes real guts to do this and for me after 35 years my preference and taste is for great excpetional looks and eye appeal i think many long time collectors get to this point

look at all the fantastic coins in the pittman collectoin

 

toning ruled from a lifetime of collecting

 

 

again i give ngc much credit for their foresight which in my opinion many just will never be able to see unless they have a passioniate lifetime longtime association with coins

 

just my thoughts

sincerely michael

 

and for me the generation of holder makes no difference on the coin itself neither hurts it or helps it

j

[michael]

ttt

sincerel;y michael

[classicalman-migration]

Greg, I would offer this bit of thought from my opinionated gray-matter. Do the coins seem to be "star" quality to you? Are they keepers? Do you get excited just showing them off to fellow coin-nuts? If you answered "yes" to all three, then by all means they are "star" quality. You of all people should realize that something as subjective as grading let alone this mystical (albeit bogus) "rating" system is as always, in the eye of the beholder. I remember many coins you posted or linked to on PCGS boards. You have a good eye for "eye-grabber" coins. Don't sweat it dude!!

 

To John (NGC) please take no offense to my "bogus" terminology above....HOWEVER, since it is obviously a very very subjective issue of "eye appeal" then perhaps you need to amend your rules. i.e., if the MAJORITY of graders feel the coin deserves a * then give it, don't let one person's negative opinion hold that much weight, as that gives that one vote much too much say on the coins. Better yet, stick to technical grading and leave us "schmoes" to argue over "eye appeal" amongst ourselves.....

[John Maben]

Thanks for the feedback. I should note that we take everything into consideration when assigning a star, and that for one grader to cause a "no star" decision he would have to feel very strong and make a good case for why it shouldn't get it, so it is not absolute in that sense. By far, we can mostly agree on which coins should get the star.

 

John

[MikeKing]

Don't know how I feel about the star designation. It does broaden the perspective, it also opens up another gimmick for buying coins. However, the fact that they have a rigorous method to determine that designation, kind of disqualifies it soley as a gimmick. What it does do, I think, is it tells you 'this is a premium quality coin' instead of you, alone, deciding that.

 

I don't know how I feel about that.

 

And I did mention in another thread, that I had both a PF 68 CAM and PF 68* CAM Washington. The PF 68 CAM was a superior coin, the PF 68* a superior price. So what I did learn, is that I really have to trust myself and not the star designation.

 

Maybe it works some of the time, but not all of the time (the accuracy of the star designation).

[michael]

one of the best threads on here thanks john maben

 

sincerely michael

[Leothelion]

I for one, am beginning to like this star designation. It's about time the super coins stand alone and above the not-so-super coins. Throw in the EDS criteria and you'll have an even more narrow field of desirable coins.

 

By the way can anyone give me an arbitrary example? The pages 49 to 62 are missing from my dictionary.

 

Leo