Bart,
This is fascinating. I hope Howard chimes in. I didn't realize that the grading system was based on the hone's appearance rather than its performance, however they might try to ascertain that. This is yet another reason to buy a hone from someone like Howard who knows how a coticule should treat a razor.
BTW, I sometimes think about starting a drive to get exclaimation points put on the "nine or fewer" list. Of course, that would mainly hit JMS...
Josh