TPG (Third Party Grading) or preservation determination by third parties is a difficult topic, as it remains a subjective method in almost all cases. A seller will often rate the condition of his banknote higher and then a VF rating quickly becomes a XF- rating to achieve a better selling price. A buyer looks for the slightest defects and a XF rating quickly becomes a VF rating to negotiate the best possible purchase price. Finding a common conservation assessment is not always easy. Many TPGs use a numbering system and so you get a VF20, VF25 or UNC63, UNC64 or UNC66 EPG/PPQ - to the naked eye the difference is often difficult or impossible to tell, but for the price you pay it can be very important.

We have looked at various TPGs and their assessment methods over the last few years and decided to start grading banknotes ourselves. We use a simple 10-point rating scale - without additional numbers - simple ratings from 6 to 1 (Good to UNC)! We have access to various databases with tens of thousands of scans, where every Pick number, Friedberg number or Rosenberg number is recorded. The image on the left shows a conversion table from RBgrading to the English, German and French grading system.

The banknotes are of course sealed in, which also provides effective protection against contamination.

The front of our description slip shows the rating, the Pick number for world banknotes, the Friedberg number for US dollars or the Rosenberg number for German banknotes. In addition, the type, the date (if available), the signature(s) and the watermark, as well as the country of issue.

The back of the description slip shows the serial number and/or control number, as well as a specific database number with which the banknote can be precisely identified in our database. This database number, for example 2016-10-0199-CB, means the year, month, number and initials of the person who evaluated the banknote. This allows the person to be identified directly in the event of any assessment errors.

We decided to use the Olympic colors at the top of the description slip to immediately identify the continent the banknote was issuew: Blue=Europe; Red=Americas; Yellow=Asia; Black=Africa; and Green=Australia/Oceania.