Cost Of Grading

Ty.

That helps explain some of things I wondered about. I may need to know more, because I'm just me, not a dealer or anything like that. I see the membership is $199 for the one with 5 free submissions. The rest of their fee schedule, I dont really understand.

What I think your saying is that if I specify a minimum grade (their website says you can NOT select a -70) say PR69 and they get the raw coin from me (who has little or no experience grading) it may turn out to be a PR-68 in which case they will not holder it and send it back. Certainly they must charge something for this service right? I mean NOTHING seems cheap with these guys.

That guy who told me about the dealer discount said he approached a couple of dealers and they refuse to say.

Me personally, I dont think I can turn my coins into a dealer because I wouldn't trust them. Suppose the coin I give them to grade (because it's cheaper than me submitting it) comes back a 70, and he rush finds a 69 on ebay and hands that one back to me.

I'm sorry. I grew up in a city of 8 million, where strangers can and often do hurt you. That level of trust, I dont know. I apologize, this is an aside from the main issue of grading costs.


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ahha!! That makes sense. Thanks. Let's just say I order a bag of 100 of the ATB's and have them directly (because that's better?) from the mint to the PCGS, and I specify MS-67, I would be charged one of two amounts:

60 coins (60% of 100) x $12/each = $720 OR

59 coins (59% of 100) x $12/each = $708 PLUS 41 coins (41% of 100) x $5/each = $205
$205 + $708 = $913!

In the worst case scenario ($913) I would have to have a book value of $9.13 per coin to break even.

Something sounds horribly off. I still can't believe they charge that much.




Confused2

I believe you are correct. The reason I am leaning towards getting the PCGS membership is because I think they fetch the highest prices at sale than any of the other grading services.

So the coin I paid $9.13 to grade would have maybe a book value of $5 and a sale/auction price of $2. I'm out $7.13 in this hypothetical times 100 coins = $713 MY NET LOSS.

Somehow the worst case scenario is even worse than originally thought.

Is the NGC fees substantially less?

Here is what I am thinking of doing. When I last looked at PCGS it was 5 free gradings, but as Jokingjoker says it is now 8 free gradings.


All of what I am getting is that the coin needs to have a substantially high value to even justify grading. In my case, regular P D ATB's couldnt justify the fee unless I have a gem 70. That case is unlikely because I can't grade coins myself. I suppose I can learn to grade as a beginner, but will miss alot. Now I do have some bullion worth a good amount that may justify the fees. I also think I have some SBA and others from '81 set clear S.

And with that, I still don't understand if I ship them gold or platinum what extra fees they incur. They have a price thing for secure(?) whatever that is.


You guys are really helping, I do appreciate it.


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.SsuperDdave merci.

I think I learned as a young chemist out of school was that I didn't really know alot. Some may think it's alot, but without some one area of expertise, I am a nothing, a zero. I know the many years of hard work and experience will get me a rung higher on the ladder, but it comes at a price.

I also suppose for every nube like me, there is someone out there with tons of experience calling it quits for one reason or another. Thats why I like these forums. Someone can teach me in all of 5 minutes what some folks spend a lifetime on. I am ALWAYS appreciative for help. I've been to some computer hardware forums where the geeks just like to bolster their self esteem by abasement of others. Nubes are prime candidates.

For this, I am thankful.

One last parting question. On May 9 the mint will start taking orders on the 25th anniversary eagles of West Point. There is a reverse proof and a 3 finish coin (proof like relective, burnished SP, and business strike) that looks quite attractive with the 3 "colors" of the flag et al. I want to purchase a couple, but they will not ship to mid-late June. I know to be FS eligible, it has to be 30 days or in a sealed mint box.

If I order 3, will it all come in one box? I don't want all 3 graded, maybe one (set of 2 eagles).

The second half of the question is do these coins worthy of grading? I see the current SF set go for about the original price charged by the mint (maybe more).

Btw SD, when I saw your screen, I couldn't believe it. Last night I told my wife to look up some comedy on Netflix. She looked for a new Lewis Black, and then I told her about Superdave Osbourne. I remember watching it in the 70's on Showtime. I told her about it because I don't think she ever saw him. I think the whole topic turned on Evel Knievel's other brother.....Awful Canawful lol, and remembering taking my bike like all kids did at that time and jump ramps (our bodies could absorb the falls back then..hah!) we all wanted to be like Evie Knievel (I even had to goggle the name because I cant spell anymore).......And along comes Superdave. So this is a family forum, I'll keep it clean. I remember one stunt with an elephant and they held the mic to what was left under the elephants foot saying "Get this fat %#*& off me"

L-O-L. What a strange coincedence.

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Thanks sodude. Do you think that MS68's are a rarity because very few people bother grading them for all the aforementioned fees and whatnot?


I entertained thoughts of grading the 5oz ATB pucks, but saw $20 oversize holder and the $18 FS designation + the grading fee. I guess I can do that if I could grade them. I see other members posting pictures here asking other members to grade them, that seems useful. I may do that as well. My camera does macro but I am not sure on the lighting I need etc.

As for my clear S '81 sets, yes I see over 1965 is modern coin fee.

I have a bunch of Peace dollars, I remember you saying abot the modern coin fees, what of these?

Also have double eagles from the 1800's, I see gold coins get something diffrent too, I am confused on the fees though. Are these rarities?

My modern bullion, I posted here once before because I had an overweight 1/2oz proof in the proof set I purchased. On examination, there is a scratch that I believe someone else was suspicious of the weight and tested it for gold. The other coins in the set are balls-on correct. I hate to think it was counterfeit. I saw the PCGS fees have something for "Genuine" service. Would that work for me? I want someone in the worse way to authenticate it and tell me I didnt get ripped off.

And I guess my 3rd question is about my platinum proofs. They post grading fees for non-gold, I guess platinum is in that category?

And my 4th and last question is, my Type 2 SBA's, do I get them graded as a variety attribute? and the seperate fee?

I really do appreciate your help in this. The PCGS fee schedule looks like it was created by someone who used to work for the IRS.


Thanks in advance.

I do remember a seller telling me about CAC labels, where it may lean towards the next grade higher or lower. I do not know how to grade coins yet, even with the pictures, I don't quite get it. One thing I found helpful was on SPECIFIC coins, like big or small lettering on a penny, or is the hairline on a morgan well defined. That I can get. The ATB's, I don't know what to look for, even in the example pics.

My reasons for grading are honest enough. I know hobby's usually cost more money than you can ever hope to get out of it. No, no, no. I want to be able to pass on my coins or at least ascribe a value to them to be passed on after I die. This way, some quick talking dealer is not going to tell them a value cheaper than the book price. My motivation is pretty simple.

I guess not as many people are finding good business strike ATB's, as Joker says.

I want to get my overweight gold proof graded somehow so I can have it authenticated as real.

The SBA's, variety attribution fee on these?

And where does it say about grading platinum, or my 1800's double eagles?

Thanks in advance

Relieved about the "'genuine" label if I get it. Most everyone here thought it was normal to have a slightly overweight eagle (again, the others were dead on accurate on the same scale). Just worry about counterfeits. I can imagine them hollowing out a coin and filling it with lead or something. Gives me nightmares thinking about how good counterfeiting has gotten.

I have the 2010 uncirculated P&D mint sets and they don't look like satin. I was ever so lucky to get the whole Satin ATB's P&D. They are all SP68, and I think that is rare, and I got an insane bargain for the whole set $75!!

I'm getting really excited about the grading. I never looked at the PCGS population report until the other day, and I was amazed at how many ASE 70's are out there. Almost a 1:1 ratio on the proofs between 69 to 70. All except the reverse proofs in which it's like 4:1, about 25% 70's which is still better than I expected. But I am sure, the folks who submitted them already graded it themselves first before submission.

Some of my holdered 69's look like they have smudges on them (finger oil?), and I'm wondering if that had anything to do with it.

They don't come like that from the mint do they?


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