24. PSA grading and new SFLA 1955 MAntle Colors

The reason for PSAs existence is that it provides a neutral 3rd party evaluation of the condition of our materials (in this case Armour coins) so that they can be bartered or sold to others. This prevents arguments over differences of opinion which are inevitable.

The one thing that we demand in return for our payments to PSA is CONSISTENCY. Unfortunately this is not always the case. In blog #4 we discussed he problems we had with PSA grading 1960 Mantles with partial back rims as PSA 8's. They stood by their grading and did not change a thing causing problems to this day with over graded '60 Mantles some of which are missing as much as 50% of their back rim.

The question South Florida, I and others asked at that point was "Who the hell is setting up the grading standards here ?" We even had Bob Lemke Editor of the Std. Catalog of BB Cards chime in to Joe Orlando ands tell him that "coins with partial back rims should not be graded higher that VG"

[ DON'T BELIEVE ME - CHECK OUT THE 2008 STD. CATALOG 1960 ARMOUR COIN DESCRIPTIONS]

Anyway time has passed and now we face the opposite issue. Grading of the Armour coins by whoever is now doing it ( Orlando will not confirm whether there has been a change in grader - but all the evidence points to that) has dropped one full grade across the board. That is to say coins that were being graded PSA 8 are now getting 7s and in some cases 6s. This has made 9s and 10s near non existent. This is also happening to the big time Armour coin graders like Seaweed (check out his latest listings) .

So what evidence do I have for this ??

Well lets look at the at the grading over time. Fortunately, or unfortunately for PSA, I keep copies of the population reports and we can look at those to see what they tell us.

In table 1 we see the cumulative population of  '55 Armour coins on given dates and the % of each grade. In table 2 we see coins submitted between certain dates and their percentages. From this data we can calculate an average grade for that period of time.  

So from daa1 to Jan  2010 the average coin grade was a little over 7.9 and from May 2113 to June 2015 the average grade was 7.1. Looking at the numbers the PSA 9's went from 27% all the way out to 2013 and then from 2013 to today have dropped to ~ 8%. You can also clearly see the increase in 6s and 7s.

I have not seen this trend in regular sized topps cards but have seen the exact same thing appear in larger card formats like Hostess panels and Bazooka panels etc. Maybe the same grader ??

If you have seen the same thing in your Armour grading (and my numbers show you have, send Orlando an email telling him to fix the problem !

NEW Mantle Colors for 1955 Incorrect

South Florida has sent some great shots of Mantle coins you don't often see. So here are two that I had never seen until now. The Mantle incorrect tan and the Mantle incorrect Azure (next to a navy blue for contrast)

 

I have been working with Armour collector Al (lets  call him Armour Al and will be reporting on our findings in 1959 coin colors soon.....................