A Rant About Professional Grading

[Based on a thread on certification I saw over in the U.S. Classics section of the board, I thought I'd post this. This is a mini-rant that I posted on another board last year with respect to PF, PSE, and PSAG grading "standards" and how inconsistent they are, in my opinion.]


Before I get into the topic at hand, first let me preface my comments with:

(1) I fully realize that professional grading really isn't widely accepted in revenue collecting circles; this was more of an exercise in curiosity, and

(2) When discussing the stamps shown below, I am concentrating on the margins only and not on other potential aspects of grading such as soundness, color, paper, etc.

There appears to me to be somewhat of an illogical disconnect in the manner that imperforate and perforated stamps are treated when it comes to professional grading. The former are apparently given much wider lattitude with respect to the unevenness of the centering and margin copies. A margin imperforate stamp that is unevenly centered due to the presence of excess margins is not penalized; instead it is treated as if the excess were not there. Perforated jumbos are not given the same benefit.

Let's look at two examples that illustrate this. First is a lovely R33a:




It's a margin copy with excess margins at top and right. When grading this stamp, it would be treated similar to what is shown in the next image. Presumably this is so that there is no incentive for unethical collectors or dealers to trim away excess margin areas in hopes of obtaining higher grades.




So why then, are perforated jumbos NOT treated the same and given the same lattitude? Perforated stamps are held to a tougher standard.

The stamp below, a new acquisition, is the perfect example. It is the largest jumbo perforated 1st issue revenue I have ever seen. The initial reaction of everyone who has seen it to date is "Wow!" It doesn't need a grade; it stands on its own. Yet out of curiosity, I showed it to one of the owners of one of the major extertizers. His initial reaction too was "Wow!".

Yet after extensive scrutiny, and because perforated stamps are treated differently from imperforate stamps, he said that the highest grade the stamp would probably garner is 85J, because the top and bottom margins are lopsided.

To me this logically makes no sense, especially in light of the above imperforate example. The margins on all 4 sides, even using the same masking exercise as above, would result in a jumbo stamp, so why is it penalized for the excess vertical margins?

What is to keep some enterprising individual from having the top and/or bottom reperfed to eliminate the excess and thus be rewarded with a much higher grade?

As the stamp currently stands, a graded cert would actually be a negative if selling the stamp.

And no, I have absolutely NO intent of ever vandalizing such a piece. Moreover, in revenue circles, the stamp would stand on its own. The unevenness of the margins is not perceived as a negative; they're just freaking huge.

It makes no sense to me...

If that grades an 85J then I want ALL of my 1st Issue C's to be 85J's! That is an Outstanding example! As you know it would also command a nice premium! I have a superb 4 balanced margin copy, and still wouldn't pass on that one!

"nice premium"? Heh. I won't mention what I paid... it was moon money (think multiples of Scott). Then again, I've never seen its equal.

I have far more regrets about ones I let slip away by not stepping up and paying premiums, than about stamps I paid too much for. I have those too, but those end up being "learning experiences".

In my experience, it's when you miss that once-a-decade or once-a-generation example by not ponying up an extra hundred or two, that you eventually end up kicking yourself.

How true and well put! I still regret passing on a R31c with perf's just clear of design and NO Thins! It was at a 20% premium. I would gladly pay that premium now! Spent the money on a "Baby Rug" instead. I sold it 2 years later and now I wish I hadn't. Oh well! It's just my Obsession not my Hobby..OOPS! is that backwards? Nah!

Since were sharing opinions, it is mine that, for used stamps, they put to much emphasis on centering and not enough on the cancel. I believe I have seen stamps graded 100 which have a faint light cancel and I don't think there is anyway to tell if they are valid contemporary usage or maybe they were unused no gum copies last week. To me, that is important, and I would rather have a VF center with a clear readable date and city.

On the other hand, perhaps their emphasis on centering alone will allow me in the future to pick up some nice stamps with clear cancels, but also VF centering at a nice price.


And about imperfs. This type of things seems almost comical. It looks to me like someone took a nice block of 9, ruined 8 stamps to get one with a high grade. Not the worst case I've seen, either:

Sorry about spelling above. I just learned their is a check spelling function but not an edit function.

Edit should de 3rd icon from the left after time posted.

No Edit ???

This bothers me, too. I lean towards calling this practice unethical. This is also why I believe that dealers are not philatelists, and philatelists can never be dealers. If I were to define the first job of being a philatelist, it would be the preservation of all postage stamps. Destroying a block to create a single gem 100 stamp is a slap on philately.

Brian