It means that the coin is authentic, but due to one of the plethora of reasons PCGS has for not doing so, they will not assign a grade to the coin.
You will find that some TPGs will grade coins that others will not. It is all in their grading philosophy. PCGS is a market grader.
My own philosophy is that any coin is "gradable", any problems with the coin should be properly noted along with its grade. But, I mostly grade upon technical merit, not market pressure.
which can be any of the following according to PCGS.....
This No Grade covers anything added to the surface of the coin to either "improve" its appearance or to cover marks. Surface alteration methods include adding: dental wax, putty, lacquer, nose grease, etc. "Thumbing" is the application of a putty-like material to fill in marks, scratches, and other defects or to haze over portions of the coin. Coatings (such as lacquer), while intended to protect coins, result in a No Grade because it is impossible to determine the quality of the underlying surfaces.
if you click this link and scroll down to "problem coins" area it will tell you exactly what the code means http://www.pcgs.com/grades.chtml . I have never seen a 87 or 96 but if you do it doesn't really mean there is a problem just means it couldn't be graded for the service the customer chose according to their website above
Probably a dumb first question, but re: "Genuine Not Gradable;" Nick concluded his response with "I will avoid those for now" and no one commented on whether it is that serious an issue that one should simply "avoid" those coins. My question: if the price of the coin seems to have taken this into account, would one still want to "avoid or like many other transactions, is it a matter of risk tolerance to buy it right?
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