CAC Certified Eisenhower Dollars

To address Calvin's original question ....

CAC does not accept "Bullion or Modern Coins" for certification ... hence zero Ike's in their database. You can view their policies on coins accepted here:

http://www.caccoin.com/coins-accepted/

I humbly disagree with the view (often expressed) that CAC does not play a valued supporting role in today's marketplace.

CAC was formed as a consortium of coin dealers who recognized that years of re-submitting PCGS and NCG graded coins led to gradual grade inflation ... their charter is to add a second opinion to differentiate 'properly graded' coins only from PCGS and NGC ... and IMHO they do an exceptional job getting it right on higher-end coins.

I am confident in my ability to grade the coins that I am pursuing if I can see them in hand .... but I personally would not purchase any on-line coin valued over $1500 without a TPG view and CAC approval.

Bottom line IMHO ... CAC does add value to the higher-end coin market ... they are not a 'dark alley' enterprise ... and like it or not the upper end market is recognizing the value of a CAC approval.

That's my opinion and I'm sticking with it.

David

This.

And you know what? I like the fact that CAC is a consortium of dealers. That means they're putting their money, their profits, where their mouth is. They have a horse in the race, and if CAC stuff is deemed unworthy by the buyers, they're going to suffer.

This doesn't mean so much with VF Morgans, but if you're spending $5k on a coin, it wants to have a CAC sticker on it. The TPG's no longer have the street cred to be the sight-unseen authorities they purport to be.

That's the spirit macmercury ... a wise person is always open to new insights ... and in the case of CAC I submit that many knowledgeable collectors have failed to recognize the true value they bring to the higher end segment of the coin market.

I can tell you from personal experience that CAC is tough in their standards ... perhaps 50% of the PCGS and NGC coins they evaluate earn a Green Bean ...

BH194 said it best ... CAC provides a trusted expert view on these higher end coins ... and alas the top 2 TPG have lost their credibility due to years of repeated re-submittals and what I call gradeflation.

SuperDave summarized exactly my views on the topic ...




David

When I joined NGC years back, the brochure I got said that every coin are at least graded by 3 expert graders and final points are the average between all.

Now I don't know what the consensus really is suppose to be? But its like getting a second and third doctors opinion!

So my own thoughts are to buy graded coins that are I believe would be under graded, crack it out and resubmit to PCGS or NGC, and submit it again to CAC and hope to get a green bean. But I have to be sure that the price of the coin is high enough to warrant a profit, or at least break even.

It's what they still do. CAC separates low end pieces from those that are solid or high end for the grade.

This can be thousands of dollars on some coins.

What CAC is doing, is how TPG's should have been in the first place. CAC has a vested interest in the coins they certify being good - they're selling them to discerning buyers who know the difference between 65+ and 65-. CAC - John Albanese and company - are staking their reputations as dealers on the success of CAC.

The TPG's are corporations. Their vested interest is not so much in the quality of their grading, especially not now that they're established. Their vested interest - indeed, their legally-established fiduciary responsibility as corporate officers - is in the profitability of their company.

Which is why Earle42 is correct. The profit motive is the driver. In the TPG case, that profit is derived from grading a whole lot of coins at the best-possible margin. In the CAC case, that profit is derived from sales caused by the quality of the evaluation involved in receiving the CAC sticker.

Yes, that system too is subject to corruption, but they can be brought to a screeching halt by a few dissatisfied millionaires who spend 5-figure numbers on each coin they acquire. PCGS, processing coins by the ton rather than the each, not so much.

CAC has graded many, many Eisenhower dollars. However, they told me that they would not put up a population report on them until they graded a lot more. I don't know what "a lot more" means. If you go to E-Bay and search "cac eisenhower", you'll find a bit more than 20 listed. What's interesting is that they are made up of just a few of the dates in the series. Does this mean the other dates have been rejected or not submitted. Without information from CAC, us Ike collectors are left in the dark.

What I have been told unofficially by someone in the know is that CAC literally hates grading Ikes and regrets their decision to open grading to the series. Again, is this because Ikes were so poorly struck or what? Don't have a clue. More input from others in the know would be gladly appreciated.