Thats enough

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Thank you walktothewater, and Gary T, I was quite happy with my purchase. But speaking of prudence in the heat of battle, this note just sold for almost $40 on E-bay.

I thoroughly enjoyed the description of this note " A Pre-War Canadian One Dollar Bill"

Looks like it spent some time on the front lines.

$40 for a note that should be spent one more time.

I notice that it has a circular impression that appears to be the size of a 5 cents.

With these prices, no wonder I have such trouble buying Fine examples for $15.

Rick

At the heart of this issue is the "Unc" category and in many cases the "will it pass for an Unc?" category.

With the rampant speculation/investing in paper money that has been occurring over the past couple of years , which in itself has driven Charlton guide prices on quite a few notes well above a realistic market level, one main thing-in my opinion, has happened.

You have a two-fold trainwreck waiting to happen. First is the insane number of "expert paper money dealers" that have appeared on the radar, both on-line and brick and mortar. Why? Because of those speculating or "investing" in bank notes. Once speculators or investors become involved in any market both standards and qualifications lower and many people that aren't experts at all but can market capitalize on the speculator/investors ignorance. Consequently many established dealers, many of them "reputable" keep dropping their standards as well. To be fair, many of these "reputable" dfealers haven't had great standards at any time.

At this time most everyone is pushing the envelope to the extreme and supply and demand-particularly for "Unc" notes is creating a vicious circle. Eventually this will sort itself out, unfortunately those that chose ignorance, couldn't be bothered to learn how to grade and take the time to learn and watch and understand the market will lose a great deal of money when they attempt to resell their "gems" and retire to the Bahamas.
I don't feel sorry for these people, afterall if you throw money at a stock without researching it simply because you received a "hot tip" from a person in a bar and lose your shirt on the stock-you're an idiot. Why should it be any different in this area?
What I do know is that it will eventually hurt the paper money industry as a whole.

However, as with any "investor" who is sharp enough to realize they might have been burned by slick salemanship, adjectives, pretty pictures or spiffy graphics on one or two notes the demand for a 3rd party service comes into play. A company such as PCGS and several other major 3rd party grading services don't get involved in paper money grading if it doesn't pay. They aren't particularly concerned with Canadian paper though, it is as has been mentioned by rscoins, a small market of the numismatic business and in comparison to other countries, particularly of course the United States it is nothing.

As to what level and how many of categories of Unc, this will never be satisfactory to all but as OleDon mentioned, I believe there are different levels of Unc. The other grades, while not to be dismissed , are truly less problematic. I can live with a VG+ or an EF+ grade whether you call it that or put a number behind the grade or load it with adjectives-I have eyes and I use them as should any collector. If you are not prepared to take the time to learn then you deserve to get burned and you will.  3rd party grading services will help eliminate some of this but it is unlikely there will ever be a consensus on a grade. I could see, as is the case with coins, one service becoming the "Gold Standard" service so to speak. 3rd party grading of paper money is inevitable and will probably become the norm over the next couple of years if the demand keeps up. Collectors will demand it and dealers will use it, both to their benefit.

To knowledgeable collectors of Canadian paper and to a lesser extent, truly expert dealers in Canadian paper a 3rd party grading service is unimportant as is the price they will pay for a particular note. Why? Because they have taken the time to learn how to grade and as importantly they have spent many hours looking at Canadian paper and know what to look for within each individual series, be it DoC, BoC or Charters. The most obvious example is the 54 DF. A lot of people simply aren't aware that an original uncirculated example of that series is supposed to have uniform "waves" due to the printing process. The embossing must of course be strong etc. but many people still consider a note from this series with a wavy appearance as a problem note. Many of them have been lightly pressed for that very reason.
The cliche that Knowledge is Power is always true, 3rd party services or not. So for those who lack it, take a deep breath, be patient and learn about Canadian paper or stay away from this hobby. We have some of the most beautiful undervalued paper money in the world but if you buy an Unc that is truly an EF, you'll never appreciate it.