I'm enlightened now thanks to Austin's and Dave's contributions to this thread. I now have a better understanding of why there were "dollar grades" at all. It appears to be that there were few, if any, standards that could be considered earmarks of a "grade" for the simple reason that a buyer could have just about anything he wanted for an additional price. Such a system would seem to demand a grading system eventually but until that 'time' a Parker's level of embellishment (or options) was determined by what a buyer was willing to pay.... hence, the "Dollar Grade".
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