Grading of Orders & Medals

[new world]

Rusty,

Based on your logic if one will replace the enamel on this award - it will have brand sparkling new look to it, the eye appeal will greatly improve - then the rating should be upgraded too, say to 7-8?

William

[olezha11]

Some body paid $130 for it.

[HuliganRS]

Vlad,

Sort of...

When was the last time you saw enamel replaced to the point where it enhanced the look of the order?

On this particular item, I feel the restoration did more bad than good!


Although I feel this is a good discussion, it's off my original question (topic)...

Thanks,

Rusty.

[Doug]

I believe Paul's rating scale is based on an overall comparison of pieces of a particular type or variation he's seen - and he's seen a lot. To take this Red Banner from ebay, for example, this particular piece is better than ~ 60% of all that he's seen and conversly, it is worse than ~ 40% of those he's seen. In his early authentications, he used to use specific percentages such as 63% for example but he changed that a couple of years ago. I think he did so because that required considerably more precision than individual ranges encompassing 10% slices. It gets pretty subjective to rate a piece at 63% versus 64%.

As I said above, this is how I understand his grading based on a conversation with him a couple of years ago. If I've got something wrong here, please speak up.

BTW, I think this Red Banner was a pretty good deal despite the condition. If researched, I bet it will have a great citation. Back in the early days of 1941 - 1942, these really meant something. Of course, you guys that know me know that I'm more interested in the historical aspects of these than the asthetic.

Doug