Over at Richard Frajola’s Philatelist Board, the debate rages on over the need for and significance of graded certificates. The latest aspect of the debate centers around whether an auctioneer should guarantee a lot based on the grading supplied on the certificate, a question raised by Ken Lawrence. It is a fair question in my opinion. The only real reason to obtain a graded certificate and then list it as part of the lot description is to try to gain a higher realization from the lot (and, in turn, a higher profit for the auctioneer and seller). If the buyer in turn decides that the lot is not worth the purchase price due to a problem with the certification (0r obtains a certificate that grades the item lower), with respect to grade, the buyer should be able to return the item as the basis for the additional profit was not real. Additionally, these graded certificates are being offered to attract people to stamps as an investment medium, by lowering the bar on the amount of knowledge needed to evaluate a lot. If the auctioneers and sellers refuse to stand by the grading offered on the certificate, and subsequently sold to a less sophisticated clientele, then they are guilty of nothing less than preying on the ignorant, a practice that really calls into question the reputation and ethics of said auctioneer!

Currently, Professional Stamp Experts (PSE) and the Philatelic Foundation (PF) are the only expertising agencies that provide graded certificates.

Let’s see some comments on this one, as I am sure there are plenty of opinions out there.