How Do You Rate This One?

Hi Again Don,

You said, "Sorry, I do not buy into the idea that your analysis of the stamp image can be used to debate the original hands-on PSE grading. Apples and oranges."
I agree. I simply indicated that for a stamp to be graded 100, it must have centering of 100 one would think. I simply showed that the math shows it is not perfectly centered. From PSE's own documentation, they say that for a perfect, faultless stamp, the centering & the grade are identical. If not faultless, then you can deduct points based on a scale they provide. In some instances, points can be added to the centering grade if things like "brightness, freshness, crispness etc" are accounted for (a scale for adding points is also provided). So , possibly they added points to the centering to bring it to 100. Not sure, but to my eye, that stamp has 2 short perfs on the top, a stain & a small inclusion. No idea about the back of the stamp. EzGrader is not a program to determine the authenticity or to account for any subjective measurements of a stamp. it is used to measure the mathematical centering of a supplied, unaltered stamp image, hopefully one scanned by the user or one provided by a seller with no alterations. it cares nothing about gum, faults etc .
To me , if a stamp is graded 100, it MUST be perfectly centered & have ZERO flaws, front or back. Anything else, is not a 100 in my eyes. Others may disagree, & that is fine. They may have different criteria. For me, perfect means just that. Simply my opinion, open to criticism & debate
marios

Marios,
I concur. I think there is good value in your application if it is used correctly; it can assist with a better understanding of the stamps centering. But it also has the potential to be used incorrectly, like to argue with someone's else 'in-hand' analysis.

We have a lot of newer hobbyists in this forum and your products are also used by some newer hobbyists. For them, the likelihood of misunderstanding is higher. Heck , even the app name might be misunderstood. It is named 'EzGrader' not 'EZ-Well Centered Determiner'.

I am a huge fan of technology and using it to make our lives easier. I applaud you efforts over the years to apply technology to our hobby and drag it into the digital age. But we must guard against newer hobbyists seeing this as a shortcut to gaining the contextual knowledge needed to make correct identification and/or grading decisions. You have tools that can help, not replace, this knowledge and experience.
Don

The grading craze has led to many scarce and even rare multiples being broken up so that a "gem stamp" can be created. I know of at least 2 "largest known multiple" blocks or strips plus a few where there are less then 5 multiples known being broken in the revenue area alone. In the postage area it might well be many dozens or possibly more. It also creates the exact situation discussed above, people taking stamps and reperfing them to create better grades, something which would never have happened otherwise.
And it does not "create a level playing field", since the dealer/collector who sends in hundreds of stamps a year will get the benefit of the doubt on the close grades (or sometimes not so close), which the person who sends in one or two will not. We have all seen stamps with grades they do not deserve for this reason.
It also created an artificial market for very common stamps to become seriously overpriced; fortunately much of this area crashed and burned years ago so we are no longer inundated with "gem 100" Overrun Countries, etc. But that episode did nothing positive for the hobby, unless you count some dealers and auction houses getting richer.
Anyone collecting an area should KNOW what the normal centering is for those issues, and not need a "mathematical precision" to tell them. Grading is essentially an ego trip, certain collectors saying "my group of certs is better than yours".