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Posted By: William Heitman

The first article of mine that was published in The Trader Speaks some 30 years ago was on grading cards. I called for a standardized system of grading and made suggestions as to what I thought it should be. I have no doubt that the grading services are a step in the right direction. Two areas, though, that are inherent to any grading system would be the questions of authenticity and issues like trimming cards. Saying that a card is "authentic" is not the same as saying that it is in original shape. If a card has been played with, it should not be "graded." During the '70's a horrifying number of trimmed cards were thrust into collectors' hands by some overzealous, and less than honest, young dealers, who may not have known better, but should have. It was, in fact, common for these dealers to trim cards to achieve sharp corners, which were, at the time one of the prime things people looked at on cards. It was very common for these dealers to alter a vg card into an ex-mt looking card by trimming just a little off of the borders. Just about everyone knew that the McNall T206 Wagner was trimmed, even the guy who did the grading, and knew that it shouldn't have received a grade at all. Bruce McNall made his "fortune" as a coin dealer and sold a lot through mail order. He knew the value of slabbing that card. We have all known people who believe something to be true just because they've heard it said to be true over and over. Well that slabbed card makes a perpetual statement of truth, but it isn't true. I have collected coins just as long as I have collected cards. I loved both. Sometimes coin dealers submit the same coin for grading to the same grading services over and over, just hoping to get the card graded higher than it really should be. I once bought a slabbed 1909S VDB Lincoln penny from a dealer that was graded Red MS65 who stated to me "don't ever remove that coin--it'll never get the 'red' designation a second time." While I certainly believe standardized grading is essential to this hobby, I thought it should benefit collectors greatly, and not just seem to be a vehicle to bring in investors.