In your post you wrote: "Yes, but without slabbing, I wouldn't even know where to begin" He said he though the hobby was cool, but that he would never invest any serious money into it, because you only has the word of the seller to go by on the purchase, and that favors the seller, period. This was the perspective of a man who routinely pays 5 figures for a single coin.

I found this odd that a person will spend 5 figures and not have first hand knowledge of what he is buying but will rely on a unknown grader. Also, grading with so many fractions of grade is a perceived difference that the slabbers want to promote. Narrow the grades to say, three; Excellent; Good; Poor and the graders would be out of work. Their whole purpose is to eeek out a slightly greater perceived grade, much to the sellers delight. Otherwise the seller just has it re-graded until he gets the grade he wants.