What Kind Of Coins Should I Send To PCGS, NGC, ANACS, And ICG?

My personal preferences:
#1 - NGC (At this time PCGS turnaround time is ridiculously long otherwise I would have given them the #1 spot)
#2 - PCGS (Rightly or wrongly they still get more respect than NGC)
#3 - ANACS (But only for mid-value coins, particularly if 20th/21st century)
#4 - ICG (I'd skip them)
(#5) - CAC (New kid on the initial grading block; who knows?)

Mostly true but getting coins graded that are also special to you is often done.
In my case I've got a slabbed set of US coins from my birth year.
All business and proof coins from that year and they are all graded MS/PF 65 or 66.
Let's just say that it's an older set from WWII.

I personally only submit coins to ANACS. There's maybe a dozen out of about 200 submissions that I've done that I would even consider crossing over. Even then, it would only be for the benefit of selling some of the higher dollar coins. In my opinion, PCGS and NGC are no better than ANACS, and I just cannot justify paying 2-3x the cost to slab coins just because I might be able to get a better return.

The only thing that PCGS and NCG obviously have over ANACS is the popularity of their registry sets. Conversely, ANACS is the best of the three when it comes to attributions. If you're just looking to protect and preserve your coins for your own personal collection, there's really no justification for spending tons of extra money.




This is really all it is in my opinion. On the one hand, one of the most common phrases you'll hear in this hobby is "buy the coin, not the holder". Meanwhile those two seem to maintain a level of prestige above ANACS that I'm not convinced is fully deserved. Both have concerning issues with service and credibility lately. Not so much on grading quality but business model and practices as well as turnaround times. For the most part, it's just the same explanation every time, "they sell for more".

If you're worried about return, perhaps $250 per coin value is a reasonable cutoff to where it starts to matter. If say ANACS generally returns 10% less than the other two, a $200 coin in a PCGS/NGC slab may only return $180 in an ANACS slab, but you already spent that extra $20 on grading in the first place.

I don't know what specials the other two run, but ANACS frequently runs pretty great specials. Right now they're doing Silver Eagles for $10 as their "Coin of the Month". Between the "Coin of the Month" and Seasonal specials, you can pretty much get any US coin valued under $500 you want graded for about $10-12 each over the course of the year as long as you wait to submit each type when the appropriate special comes around. These are always economy turnarounds, but I've never had to wait more than maybe 8 weeks.

If you're in a bit of a hurry, here's a comparison of their express services:

ANACS - 5 days ($5k max value): $30
NGC - 6 days ($10k max value): $80
PCGS - 15 days ($10k max value): $70

If you are willing to spend $70-80 a coin, ANACS does a 2 day turnaround with max value of $10k for $59.

It's also worth it just to keep them protected. Unless you put them away such that they will never be handled, there's always the potential to accidentally damage something.

I have a lot of coins that are worth what I consider good money, and while I may not intend on selling them any time soon if ever, I'd like to have them slabbed so that if something ever did happen to me, it would be easier for my wife to liquidate everything. I'm only 38, but having totalled my car hitting some ice on a bridge made me reconsider a lot of things. I'd hate to have all of this that could be passed on only to have it sell for pennies on the dollar because I didn't put in the diligence to make it easier for someone who knows nothing about any of it.

Not everything, but maybe everything over $250.

Let's add conservation to the mix.


As others have mentioned, you could plan to keep the coins and still want to submit. I recently chose ANACS for my first submission primarily because their conservation costs $49 for up to 20 coins, and the other two charge a percent of the market value. These coins had been in the same 2x2s in probably PVC album pages for 50 years. So I wanted them conserved, better protected in slabs, and identified with a "close enough" grade so my heirs have something to go on. ANACS did a great job. I do miss the pages in the old album that are now blank, but that's just nostalgia.

I know this thread is a bit older, but I just wanted to pop in and than those involved in it. A few years ago I had inherited a voluminous coin collection; with a couple exceptions most was minimal value over face. Think rolls upon rolls of State Quarters.

I've held on to it for sentimental reasons, lately a family member with Alzheimer's is making me reconsider. My kids aren't interested sadly, so unless I eventually have grandkids (no time soon PLEASE!) they'll ultimately end up getting turned in to the bank. How does this relate to this thread? My plan was to use those funds to grade the "good stuff".allow any heirs who are not into coins to liquidate as needed. Was debating on which service to use. This thread solidified it. ANNACS for me.

Thanks!

Depending on how many coins you have and how much free time you have, it might be fun or even worthwhile to search them for errors and varieties before turning them in to the bank!

The $10 fee is for each different level of submission. So if you submitted to PCGS, Modern, Express and Regular, it would be $10 for each. Also true for foreign vs. US.