First Time Sending Coins To NGC For Grading... Questions.

Both are good. Some prefer pcgs, others ngc. I dont care as I like both.

I would post picks of the coins before I sent them in. There was a member on another site who was sure there was some sort of conspiracy against him because he sent in ten Indian Head cents in for grading and all ten came back as problem coins.

if you have many canadian coins their seems to be a preference for pcgs

PCGS coins do carry a bit more of a premium then ngc, but they can be real harsh on certain coins. I do believe ngc still does more world coins than pcgs does but both are good.

Neither do any sort of cleaning as far as I know as part of the standard grading, I've used PCGS and can say for sure they dont. Personally I like the look of the PCGS holders better, but which ever one you pick I would just send all the coins in at once to the same one to save shipping costs.

As far as service other than the PCGS + service and I think the NGC star service its all the same really. The only difference in the price is how long youre expected turn around time is for the coins that qualify for each service. If you dont mind the wait just pick the cheapest possible, if your impatient might want to pick one in the middle. I wouldnt recommend express or anything like that for coins values 100 since youll pay as much for grading if not more than the coins worth

Basically at coin shows or in many coin stores you'll hear "Of course it cost more, it's in a PCGS slab"
Not sure why but that is what so many believe. And remember that if you suspect your coins are worth less than $50, the cost of having them graded and slabbed may not be worth that cost. And for a coin you think is MS-60 and you send it in and it comes back EF or AU, you could be a little dissapointed and for sure have a coin worth much less than the cost of having it graded.
It is amazing how many coins I've seen worth a few dollars in a slab.

I just recently sent some of my coins out to ICG in Tampa FL. What I did was go to a local show that had a representative there, and showed him what I had. After some examination he thought that they were of high enough condition to be graded. I am not sure that I would have sent them out otherwise. At the show I also got a discount which helped.

Well dang that sucks.... inherited these from my Fiance's father... been sitting in a storage trailer for 30 something years. Guess he cleaned them a while back. I sure as heck haven't done anything other than a gentle wipe with a shammy. No chemicals abbrasives or anything.

What is it that makes them look cleaned? The little hair line scratches? They are circulated coins... so at what point is it "normal circulated damage" and "clear evidence of cleaning"

Thank you all for your help thus far.

Even this should be avoided. Any contact with the coin can leave microscopic scratches that although wont be visible to the naked eye, can be seen under magnification.