TPG Companies Affecting PCGS

Merging into a country that already has an existing TPG company already operating could be disasterous for NGC or PCGS. I do agree that only one of those two will survive after they keep cutting there heads off to out do each other.

Very disappointed that ANACS doesn't rate a mention in this discussion, given that they are America's oldest service and attribute all VAMs, not just the select few.

Only in name. Theyve been sold so many times to different groups its not the same company, PCGS and NGC are both much older.

That is because Coke and Pepsi can make all the soda they can sell, there are only so many U.S. coins that can be graded. New U.S. coins coming on the market for grading, will not sustain PCGS, NGC, ANACS and ICG. They will not even sustain one of those companies. Hence the expansion into foreign markets.

If in fact the two companies do exist in ten years, it will be because one company bought out the other and kept both nameplates alive.

Foreign coins was a logical next step of expansions.

The supposed lack of US coins in my opinion is very overblown. It may not be at the peak, but walk into any show and theres piles and piles and coins unslabbed. Which also doesn't address the fact that 10-20 years from now those coins from the 60s-70s wont seem so modern anymore. At some point interest in those is going to pick up.

US coins havent slowed to the point that PCGS or NGC are in trouble. New collections hit the market all the time as well. I agree they would have to downsize if their only market becomes bulk ASE grading, but thats not what were seeing right now. As far as ANACS theyll be fine as long as they have the HSN contract. ICG is really hanging on by a thread right now anyway and would agree theyll fade away at somepoint though they could probably keep going as a small mom and pop type operation if they wanted.

Its entirely possible PCGS or NGC more successfully captures the international market which drives the other one out of it, but its such a massive market its very easy to carve youre own niche out of it. You could just see PCGS take the far east while NGC gets Europe or South America.

Theres a million different ways it could play out that dont lead to the Highlander conclusion of there can only be one.

Are you referring to NGC "dropping the ball" with regard to attribution of USA coins? I can only attest that in my personal experience for world (non-USA) coins, NGC makes far fewer mistakes than does PCGS regarding attributions. My personal experience has been that rates of errors are about the same for USA coins between the big-2. As mainly a non-USA coin collector, all other things being equal, I would almost always prefer my coins in NGC slabs. The exception may be some of the Colonial Spanish (8 reales) issues, where PCGS seems to be a bit stricter on luster requirements.

Not to mention, the customer service at NGC is leaps and bounds better than PCGS. I own around 650 coins that are slabbed, about 60% NGC and 40% PCGS. So, clearly, I don't care the "flavor" of plastic -- but everyone has their preferences I think. I will say having been active on both of their respective forums for the past few years: people who frequent the NGC site seem to be more level-headed and open to the idea that the coin is what really matters. Several on the PCGS boards are dogmatic tunnel-vision robots who think that the only coins worth collecting are those already in PCGS plastic. I say, keep having that mentality -- it means I can get some screaming good deals on non-PCGS coins without their competition.