Icg, Are They Alphabet Soup Or Legit?

I like them. I have about 25 to 30 ICG mS67 coins and they are very consistent throughout.

Some of their modern grades tend to be a little liberal at the high end but older coinage is pretty accurate. Also, they grade and attribute practically anything- tokens, medals, ancients, foreign, etc. Another plus is the fact that they do not keep all of the grading fee if the coin is bodybagged- they only charge a $5 handling fee and apply the rest as a credit towards future grading.

ICG is 100% legit & reputable. See my comments in Forum Mom's link posted above.

Wow, that's good to know. I've skipped by many ICG coins on ebay simply because I was stuck on the "big three" mindset. My first major (and I mean MAJOR) coin purchase was an NGC coin. My trusted dealer looked at it and right away pointed out a gouge that should not have been missed. It was graded AU-58.

They say buy the coin, not the slab. I'm more and more starting to believe that's true. But at the same time I'm still not good enough to grade a coin myself, nor can I spot the subtle clues with old cleaning.

It's a tough dilema when you're making major purchases.

As others have stated, the top four are NGC,PCGS,ANACS, ICG.

I believe that PCI is trying to "get itself together" & has gained "instant respectability" by appointing noted numismatist and author, J.T. Stanton, a leading respected expert in the coin community,as its new CEO.

A specialist in die variety and error coins, Stanton is the co-author with Bill Fivaz of The CherryPickers' Guide to Rare Die Varieties and has authored numerous articles and videos. He also has served as an instructor at the American Numismatic Association's ( ANA) Summer Seminar for more than a decade.

Stanton has served on the boards of governors of ANA and the Combined Organizations of Errors Collectors of America (CONECA), serving as president of CONECA from 1987-90.

The problem is you don't know what's "old" PCI & what's "new" PCI. I'm not sure if they changed their slabs after Stanton took over, but they do have a new "Signature Series" Certification for errors with the signature of Stanton or other reputable experts affiliated with PCI.

Re NNC: Go to ebay & do a search in Reviews & Guides for NNC. Scary.

In my opinion, PCI is completely trustworthy for authentication but are still tending to grade too liberally.

I wouldn't trust NNC with authenticity or grade.

I think evryone makes some great points here. But, I have to say I have bought some very attractive coins in NNC, PCI and ANI holders. Usually their grade may be down a point or two from the top three, but I bought the coins BELOW the cost of the grading service and in some instances BELOW the cost of the holder.

On ICG there are some really great deals out there as they do not seem to command the prices of coins in the NGC or PCGS holders. I know most of you do not have much interest in Roosevelt dimes, but I collect them in certified MS67 or higher grades and have bought some of my best dimes in ICG holders for less than $5.00 each!

Have a great day!!

Hello AnemicOak,
The PCI crossover rejects were not red-label. One was a green-label 1853-O half graded EF-40. NGC called this coin cleaned. A second coin was a 1919-D nickel graded MS-63 in a gold-label slab. I cracked this one out and submitted it raw and NGC called this one cleaned also. The third PCI coin was an 1871-S Half Dime graded MS-63 Prooflike. I submitted this one to NGC in its gold slab and they judged the coin to be bent.