Private note grading ruining the hobby?

News: Welcome to the Canadian Paper Money Forum.

Now that give a buck has written pages of commentary of this "subject", called it private note grading, while the more correct title should have been third party graded notes, of which there are several types.

No one is ruining a hobby. Some graders simply found a way to add a fee for a service. Some are better, others are worse, there is no one that is a perfect grader, all comments aside.

Returns on notes graded by anyone, has much to do with how the note was purchased. A site seen item is a agree to price, and it is a done deal. In auctions, note bought are site seen. In mail bids, generally dealers offer returns in a time limited span, generally 14 days. Those that don't offer returns on third party graded items should be avoided (for mail bids).
There are no standard rules for returns in the industry, returns are what it is written in the dealer's rules. Simply said, if you don't agree with the printed rules, don't buy the note.

Rick

 I found this ebay item, it is U.S. currency but here is the title of the lot           

"$3,00 AND YOU CAN DISPLAY YOUR OVERGRADED NOTES
SHOW THE WORLD HOW YOU WERE RIPPED BY CGA,, I CAN HELP"

it is item # 140120366408 and this is a link to a site that compares notes graded by different TPG companies.

http://www.keycurrency.com/badgrade.htm

Keycurrency.com is one great site! Thanks for bringing it to our attention, Gary. It would appear that CGA grading is even more unreliable than PMG grading ..... and we all know about PMG grading!

In my humble opinion, it's better to learn how to grade properly oneself and to stick with raw ungraded notes that can be inspected (and enjoyed) out of the holder now and again. After all, who really derives complete satisfaction looking at a note through the glass of a museum display case?

Perhaps the biggest problem of all is that there are so many independent third-party grading companies out there. Which one should you choose? Which one is the "best"? The first four listed below are the four American grading companies that advertise in Bank Note Reporter on a regular basis. I have listed them in alphabetical order in order to avoid suggesting any personal bias or preference.

1. CGA ("Currency Grading & Authentication")
http://www.cganotes.com

2. CGC ("Currency Grading & Certification, Inc.")
http://www.GradedCurrency.com

3. PCGSC ("Professional Coin Grading Service Currency")
http://www.pcgscurrency.com/index.html

4. PMG ("Paper Money Guaranty")
http://www.PMGnotes.com

And we should not forget our own home-grown Canadian grading company!

5. CCGS ("Canadian Currency Grading Service, Inc.")
http://www.canadiancurrencygradingservice.com

Some online sellers (e.g., PorscheAhmet) proclaim that CGA is the best grading company of all while others present documentary evidence to show that it's the very worst (e.g., vcavo, aka KeyCurrency.com)! Others express the opinion that PMG is the most "respected" company but how does one go about substantiating and verifying such a claim?. And then what about CGC and PCGS?

By the way, PCGS stands for "Professional Coin Grading Service" and not "Professional Currency Grading Service". PCGS was founded in 1986 as a coin grading service and now grades paper currency under the name PCGSC (i.e., PCGS Currency). The acronym PCGSC is usually abbreviated to PCGS when referring to paper money that has been graded by PCGSC. Confusing, eh??

Needless to say, it's a minefield out there when it comes to third-party grading. Different companies tend to use different terms, different grading criteria and different grading standards. It baffles me how all of this can be good for the hobby but I guess I just haven't seen the light yet!

As far as the grading of Canadian paper money is concerned, I personally feel that we need a Canadian solution to the present dilemma. It seems to me that the logical answer is CCGS. However, having said that, I can certainly understand why those sellers of Canadian paper money who want to take advantage of the burgeoning American market would probably prefer to go with an American grading company.