I Sent Twelve Modern Coins To PCGS And Now In Encapsulation Does That Mean Something?

Excellent thread, thanks for starting it! This is good information not only now but for new members.

Good Luck!

I have to agree with the others and I totally understand your points. BY FAR, to simply learn, I recommend buying coins already slabbed. Slabbed Memorial cents are CHEAP on ebay and everywhere else. They are typically from collectors and some from dealers that made "mistakes". I've seen these for under $10 on occasion.

I also recommend making friends with your LCS. They can be an invaluable ally in building your collection when they know you. I made friends with a owner of a local shop just by frequenting there, buying some stuff and shooting the breeze. FORE WARNING: Many of these dealers have tough exteriors. However, most of them are awesome once you break though it and they see you are not wasting their time. Bring a roll of cash so they see it when you checkout, it really gets their attention! LOL

You don't have to spend gobs of money on a camera! For under $50 you're in business. This is what I'm using, owned it forever, has a great macro mode:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nk...+is&_sacat=0

My pictures aren't "pro level" but they good enough for use on the web. One of the absolute keys for good pictures is LIGHT. This is what I use ($28):

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...e=UTF8&psc=1

Here's what a $50 setup can do. These were even shot through an airtite holder.

Does not mean much, except
that the grade is easily agreed upon, if you wish to sell them.

QUOTE

[/Here's what a $50 setup can do. These were even shot through an airtite holder.]

Hey BadThad, great advice, I did purchase a Canon Rebel XTI with all the bells and whistles for 100$ it came with nice carrying case tripod and two different types of lens. I think the carrying case is worth more than the camera (LOL). That's a whole new ball game, since I spent so many hours studying how to grade and now another month to figure out the camera. Guys understand that three months ago it took all I had to post a topic. John1 kept telling me how to put in quotes and patiently explaining step by step on how to do it. Hfjacinto has been there right from the start encouraging me and telling me to slow down it takes years to master this. TBOP, coinfrog, oldfordman, nick10, and Badthad , the list goes on each pointing out altered color and unacceptable toning. With so many way more experienced than me telling me the same thing a bell goes off and a voice in my head kept saying listen idiot these guys know what they are talking about.

I realize these are common date Lincolns yet still somewhat elusive in high grade. My problem may be that I might be technical grading instead of market grading. I have 80 slabbed Lincolns already as teaching tools. Most ms-66 Lincolns from NGC have marks and I would not consider submitting. Most of the coins I sent in have numerous die polish lines making the coin very attractive.

Will PCGS see it the same way (who knows). If I submit 4 coins of the same date with a pop report of 25 at ms-67 will I get any at 67 or all 4. Is PCGS aware that the value will drop when more show up in the pop report? I challenge some of you to go to ebay when you get a chance and and type in ms-67 PCGS Lincoln wheats with different dates (possibly the first three that show up that also have an enlarged picture. Then count the marks and die clash marks. And while you are at it type in PCGS ms-67 Lincoln memorials before 1983 and see how many are there. Then come back and tell me I am full of "s?t". Which no one has even implied by the way!.. Last thing 1 coin at modern value 52$ then shipping . 12 coins same deal 241$ and shipping. I will post either way. Guys keep me on the straight and narrow.

As of Monday 11/29 those 12 coins are still in encapsulation from 11/24. This was the day before Thanksgiving. PCGS still has them in encapsulation but the magnifying glass in the order details is yellow which I hadn't noticed before. This may mean that none of them made it to ms-67. I realize that we were in the holidays . I don't remember seeing yellow before.

Coins are now in QA. It may be only one or hopefully more than a few. The suspense is terrible!

In QA Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Nov 24 in the morning. It's December 8th after lunch still in QA. As each day goes by my optimism fades. All experienced members told me I overshot the target. I think they were right (ms-67) for all of them as minimum grade is unrealistic. For what it's worth I will have coins, that say it takes more than this for a ms-67. I am sure time will tell. I read several times on the computer about people complaining that it was taking to long for grades to come in, then low and behold the grades popped in shortly after. I am trying this trick to get the grades.

Reputable 3rd party graders--coins, sports trading cards, etc.--are rather swamped with material submitted for grading. There are backlogs.