Grading and market perceptions

[barrysloate]

No way 20 graders can grade 12,000 coins a day, and get it right. They're probably making a ton of errors.

[Potomac Yank]

A card in a holder does look nice, and it is protected, but what is it protecting?

When the graders came into play after marketizing (my word) the numismatic hobby, their reason for doing so was uniformity of the grades given by the pre grading dealers of that time.

I luv comedy, and as it has turned out, we have NO uniformity among the grading groups, even within their own ranks.

They all know about corners, and sides, but when it comes to different card sets ... It's a crap shoot.

Folks, in the old days, if a dealer quoted you a grade that you didn't quite agree on ... you simply moved on to another dealer.

Now a days, the folks that aren't much into grading their own, will go by what the master of sides and corners will guesstimate the card to be.

We have found out that when a grader makes a mistake, it can be loud, and it could cost mucho coinage of the realm.

So if you don't know what the holder is protecting ... It could be expensive.
But I'll leave that to the Marketeers (my word) .

[marvjung]

I refuse to be a slave to SGC, PSA, REACH, Pro, or any other grader.

I buy strictly for the card; I get them slabbed only for protection and presentation purposes (I prefer SGC because the slabs look much sharper).

I buy cards whether they're beaters or not (I know many collectors buy based on whether they are high grade or not).

I buy cards because I REALLY, REALLY like them; even with the funky stamps on the back.

I buy cards because they're nostalgic and represent an era of sports where less scientific involvement existed (steroids, sports science, Nike, Gatorade, etc) and players played the game because they enjoyed it.

I buy cards because partly, it's a great hobby.

In other words, I BUY THE CARD, NOT THE SLAB.

[Rich Klein]

[QUOTE=Potomac Yank;763962]A card in a holder does look nice, and it is protected, but what is it protecting?

You are protecting the cards from accidents. Every time you are with a raw card; something may (although not usually) happen to that card. If a card is in a holder; then it is protected from the possibility of human error (usually).

I never stated such a decision was right or wrong (in fact; I praised the idea of raw cards) BUT it is a very valid and frankly prudent reason to put a card into a slab.

Regards
Rich