Does PCGS Make Mistakes?

We all make mistakes, and the most experienced collectors learn from them.
That includes me.

Same apples to TPG's, but their advantage is that they are true Third Party, and their reputation depends on their reliability and accuracy,
but occasionally, they make mistakes as well.

Everyone makes mistakes, I've seen many label errors & I think ive heard of counterfeits making their way into slabs, Maybe post some photos here & we can give some opinions.

They make both printing and judgmental mistakes.

They sometimes send back coins rotated 30 degrees, 90 degrees, or even 180 degrees in slabs. This is merely an aesthetic mistake, but it does undermine how we see their quality control as outsiders (with some major questions--they sent back my 1854 Half Cent rotated 90 degrees and took another 3-4 months just to fix that! The other Half Cents in my type collection were mourning the prolonged absence of their sister).

I don't think this "aesthetic" mistake is what you were talking about, though. When answering your question, I want to challenge the premise a bit--do you mean "inconsistency" or "mistake?" In an ideal world, it would be nice to believe that all inconsistencies in coin grading are mistakes, and that the system itself and everyone's intentions are sound and pure. I don't think this is the case, though, given the gargantuan amounts of money that change hands based on seemingly minor differences in coins' grades.

Sometimes they overgrade and undergrade coins. This can be a "mistake" or it can also reflect inconsistencies in who grades, what time of day/which day of the week the graders get to this particular coin, or even who sent the coins in (was it an auction house with a financial stake in the company? Was it a small time dealer or collector?). I remember a story of an early large cent sent in by one dealer in my hometown that come back as a "details" coins. The dealer then sold the coin to an auction house, and a few months later the dealer recognized that very coin in an auction catalogue looking pretty snazzy in an MS(64) holder and with a minimum bid that put the money he got for the coin to shame. Was this really a mistake?

I saw a YouTube video once where a dealer talks about a Capped Bust half dollar he had in an MS(64) holder that he sold years before he bought a gorgeous coin of the same date and variety in an MS(66) holder. His friend pointed out that this was in fact the very coin he sold years before, returning to him in exactly the same state, but in new plastic and for a much higher price. Did PCGS make a mistake the first time? Did PCGS tacitly admit to "grade-flation" through this? Either way we look at it there is uncertainty in what happened and plausible deniability in the actions of the third party grading companies.

I want to be clear that I am not attacking PCGS or making precise accusations--I'm not. I hope that much is clear from my tone. I love and am humbled by the strong and positive values that the members of this community demonstrate day after day (really, I learn so much from the people here, whether they are high school enthusiasts or dealers with over half a century of experience--this community rocks), and I want to channel those values in how I contribute to this discussion. I am merely trying to clarify what we mean by "mistake" and explore possible reasons for inconsistencies in grading. Either way, you raise a fascinating and important question.

https://www.PCGS.com/cert/18190490

LOL! Not only spelled wrong on the slab, but also on their website! That's some imporper work right there! =)

Of course they make mistakes. All kinds of them. Including putting the wrong label on slabs, labeling no errors as errors, I have even seen an obvious vise job coin labeled as legit.


You really need to see the essay in my signature for an eye opener as to how prone to error the grading companies are as compared to the their reputation people just assume them to have. It shows an undeniable 30% error minimum in a rookie level designation of the No FG variety Kennedy half dollars. All the data is linked to their own website to be checked out for yourself. It even presents a fact about identifying actual 1982 No FG variety which the companies seem either not to know or never they never mention and mis-identify 1982 polished off initials (well..almost polished off) as being the legit no FG for this date.
How about a slabbed vise coin by PCGS?

The certification number does not work anymore...meaning they corrected the error.

The original location of the PCGS linked webpage can still be found online at PCGS website where they link for closeup pictures:
https://d1htnxwo4o0jhw.cloudfront.n...44923183.jpg




The fact still remains...two of their trained experts labeled an obviously damaged coin as being a mint error. The third grader passed it along as well.


There is absolutely nothing right or wrong about liking slabbed coins (b/c hobbies are about what we LIKE) or in using these companies. But an education about the reality of them goes a long ways towards people being educated in how not to lose money when dealing with them. Too many people just assume b/c "well, everyone thinks..." that these companies are THE unquestionable experts of the hobby. This concept is a market driven fallacy.

The essay on the PCGS wrongly confirming no-FG Kennedy halves is interesting. However, it seems to me that confirming a no-FG half by the 1 on the obverse has a major flaw. The assumption is that the no-FG reverse die was never paired with any other obverse dies. That seems like a shaky assumption.

It doesn't undermine the overall point that PCGS clearly graded, slabbed, and attributed many coins that were obviously not the true variety coin. The fact that someone paid $625 for a slabbed coin just shows how sloppy some people can be, particularly when the FG on the no-FG half was clearly visible in images.