The best defense is offense, the sports axiom goes. It can apply in the hobby marketplace as well when it comes to grading.

There's a certain flexibility in labeling a bank note's condition, all part of "the art" of grading. The more you know about it, though, the better prepared you will be to assess someone else's grading.

To help, longtime bank note collector, researcher and author Wendell Wolka will conduct a program July 7 in Memphis on paper money grading and imperfection detection.

His program is free and open to all. It will be part of the Saturday meeting of the Society of Paper Money Collectors at the 31st International Paper Money Show.