A few decades ago it was normal to encounter at shows dealers who never graded their own inventory, or at least didn't mark any indication of grade on the holders. When I was just starting out as a dealer, I asked one of these fellows, "What do you grade this one?"
"About a hundred bucks," he replied. "If I don't grade 'em that gives us one less thing to argue about."
I mention this incident to illustrate that sometimes collectors can focus too much attention on the grade of a coin and in doing so lose sight of other important considerations.
During my transaction with the old time dealer who wouldn't grade his coins, what I had to decide was whether any of my customers would like the coin enough to part with more than a hundred dollars to own it. Back then, if it wouldn't appeal to my customers, then the technical grade was of no consequence. (Today, my company has a much larger client base, and so I'll buy just about anything if the price is fair.)
Have you ever talked yourself into buying a coin just because the grade was correct? Have you ever passed on a coin you really liked because the seller had been optimistic in judging the technical grade?
I'll offer another quick story. As you may know, my company buys and sells many expensive and rare coins. For me, mid-five figure decisions for single coins are very serious business. After making one such choice, I showed the new purchase, a 1794 dollar, to a young, less experienced, associate.
"What do you think?" I asked. "Should we buy it?"
"I don't think it's a solid XF," he replied.
"That's not the question I asked. Are you looking at the coin or the grading service holder?"
To break the slight tension I'd created, I laughed and then went on to explain that the coin in question was easily one of the nicest examples I'd seen. Yes, I had paid full XF money for what was technically a VF35 coin but what a VF! Evenly struck, original surfaces, no adjustment marks. Twenty minutes later another dealer offered us a twenty-percent profit.
Just in case there might be a misunderstanding, I'm not suggesting you discount the importance of any coin's grade. It remains the single most important factor to consider in determining value, but if the grade is all that matters to you, you could be making a mistake.
