If someone is spending $500 on a coin at age 15 they should be able to grade it themselves. The grading standards are much more fixed than they are for cards, and every guide I've seen has pictures of coins in different grades. Often pictures of each sort of popular coin too, since the wear happens at different places on each one.
It's not "paying your dues" or "getting ripped off" -it's being hasty and uninformed.
Steve B
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