Kolbe & Fanning
Auction 165 3 Dec 2022
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Rare Photographic Grading System
Visual Grader Company. PHOTOGRAPHIC COIN GRADING REFERENCE CARDS. Paris, Texas: Clifford R. Allen, 1960. Fourteen silver gelatin photographs [8.75 by 3.25 inches] printed on glossy photographic cardstock, depicting U.S. coins in various conditions, with accompanying text within photograph. Present are the following cards: (1) Indian cents; (2) Lincoln cents; (3) Liberty nickels; (4) Buffalo nickels; (5) Jefferson nickels; (6) Barber dimes; (7) Mercury dimes; (8) Roosevelt dimes; (10A) Standing Liberty quarter, Type 1; (10B) Standing Liberty quarter, Type 2, 1917-1924; (10C) Standing Liberty quarter, Type 2, 1925-1930; (11A) Washington quarter, 1932 only; (13A) Walking Liberty half dollar, 1916-1920; and (14) Franklin half dollar. Housed in later plastic sleeves with later custom-made black binder printed: PHOTOGRAPH GRADING REFERENCE CARDS / PARIS, TEXAS / VISUAL GRADING CO., 1960. Cards with only minor signs of wear; binder fine. The only set we have ever handled. The Visual Grader Company was run by Clifford R. Allen, who advertised their product in the numismatic press in the early 1960s (see the March 1962 issue of The Numismatic Scrapbook Magazine, page 881, for an example). Ads ran for only a short period in the Scrapbook, Coin World and The Numismatist. Each card shows the obverse and reverse of six examples of a given type, in various conditions: About Good, Good, very Good, Fine, Very Fine and Extremely Fine. The method was discussed by L. Miles Raisig in "The Weight Grading of Coins," in the October 1961 issue of the Scrapbook. A complete set apparently consists of 18 cards. Surviving examples are rare; the only other offering we have located was in 1995 and included only four cards. Unfortunately, we do not know who had the obviously later binder made for these.
Estimate: 300 USD
Visual Grader Company. PHOTOGRAPHIC COIN GRADING REFERENCE CARDS. Paris, Texas: Clifford R. Allen, 1960. Fourteen silver gelatin photographs [8.75 by 3.25 inches] printed on glossy photographic cardstock, depicting U.S. coins in various conditions, with accompanying text within photograph. Present are the following cards: (1) Indian cents; (2) Lincoln cents; (3) Liberty nickels; (4) Buffalo nickels; (5) Jefferson nickels; (6) Barber dimes; (7) Mercury dimes; (8) Roosevelt dimes; (10A) Standing Liberty quarter, Type 1; (10B) Standing Liberty quarter, Type 2, 1917-1924; (10C) Standing Liberty quarter, Type 2, 1925-1930; (11A) Washington quarter, 1932 only; (13A) Walking Liberty half dollar, 1916-1920; and (14) Franklin half dollar. Housed in later plastic sleeves with later custom-made black binder printed: PHOTOGRAPH GRADING REFERENCE CARDS / PARIS, TEXAS / VISUAL GRADING CO., 1960. Cards with only minor signs of wear; binder fine. The only set we have ever handled. The Visual Grader Company was run by Clifford R. Allen, who advertised their product in the numismatic press in the early 1960s (see the March 1962 issue of The Numismatic Scrapbook Magazine, page 881, for an example). Ads ran for only a short period in the Scrapbook, Coin World and The Numismatist. Each card shows the obverse and reverse of six examples of a given type, in various conditions: About Good, Good, very Good, Fine, Very Fine and Extremely Fine. The method was discussed by L. Miles Raisig in "The Weight Grading of Coins," in the October 1961 issue of the Scrapbook. A complete set apparently consists of 18 cards. Surviving examples are rare; the only other offering we have located was in 1995 and included only four cards. Unfortunately, we do not know who had the obviously later binder made for these.
Estimate: 300 USD