Do You Submit Your Coins To Be Graded?

Never have.

I have but usually only specific VAM's,key dates and higher priced coins

Nope...

Never have. Thought about it. I own a bunch of slabbed coins but can't bring myself to pay more to know what I think I know...

Jim

I personally have 0 slabbed coins. I am confident in my grading skills and have nothing that would need authentication -yet.

Ask me again in three weeks (approx.) I attended the MSNS show this past weekend and ANACS had a table there so I put together some things I thought might be worthy of grading. I did this for two reasons- the first is just to see how confident I should be in my grading (not that anything is written in stone !) And the second, these are coins that I might sell to get more pieces for my collection , and if they get to ebay, a slab should make it easier to realize a decent price.

I am going to put my vote on the Anything MS-65+ , because ( for me) grading becomes exponentially more difficult in the upper echelon, especially proof coins.

Don't get me wrong I am a buy the coin type of guy, and would never take a slab grade as gospel unless I agree.If I have a coin that I think grades MS-67 or better I might send it in , if they agree and the grade is same as mine we now have at least two opinions on grade .

I will start a thread in the grading area when I get the coins back to discuss their grades and my grades....and your grades too ! Wish me luck ! I am hoping for a couple MS- 67-68 SMS cameos and one possibly Heavy cameo, and attribution on a DDR 1967 SMS 50c. The others are type B reverse Quarters I am hoping go at least MS-65, A 1944-D 50c with hand carved designer initials F-12 , and a 07 50c and an 07 Sac from mint rolls that I am hoping for 67 or better on.
My first submissions, and maybe my last...we'll see

I sent my 1st coins in about 3 months ago to PCGS,
only because I was putting together a set of MS69 ASE
and realized the 08/07 error was going to cost to much and I had 5 raw
so I sent all 5 in, got back 4 MS 69 and 1 MS70

I have never submitted a coin, maybe one day I will.

However most coins I own are slabbed coins. I do have some raw ones but they aren't expensive or anything. I look at it like this, the slabbed coins even if they aren't expensive, I like the fact that they are protected in a slab and also I know that the coin wasn't tampered with. With raw coins there is a chance that the coin has been tampered with and if given the choice of paying the same price for a slabbed coin or a raw dealer graded coin, I jump on the slabbed one.

I recently had my first experience submitting coins for grading. I have collected coins for fun for a number of years, and have purchased graded coins and bullion as an investment for my kids.

I joined ICG first (it was cheapest) but never got around to sending them anything because I saw vast price differentials in seemingly equally graded coins between ICG/NGC and especially PCGS. I couldn't fathom how a coin graded by NGC PR70 would sell so far below the exact same coin graded PR70 by PCGS. Having completed my Peace dollar set and having been given another set, plus having some flying eagles and coins from unopened proof sets I received as a child, I finally decided to "bite the bullet" and opted to pay the full freight for a PCGS membership. In return I received 8 "free" gradings. I received 5 coins back "body bagged" and three graded. I found this disturbing but what was most frustrating, and what brought me to this site in the first place seeking some guidance, was the cryptic reasons given for "no grades" - "Altered surface" was the most common. Another said "Environmental Damage" and the fifth said "Damage or Tooling - Tooled Surface."
I've gotten more information off racing form tip sheets.

I wrote to PCGS telling them I couldn't fathom why anyone would send their coins in for them to grade if their "expertise" was limited to two words. I just "assumed" I would at least get a couple line explanation for the no grades. I'm mystified that PCGS doesn't do this. Presumably the folks making these pronouncements have pinpointed specific issues on the coins - Why not tell us? How much more work could that be?
The poor guy at PCGS Customer Relations was extremely courteous, and I didn't rant about getting "no grades"...but I gave him a good bit of my thoughts about how utterly worthless their service is unless you have been assured of a coin's grade by experts you trust before you submit it. Since I began collecting coins because I found the history fascinating, my thirst for knowledge has grown. PCGS offered me nothing. Altered surface could mean anything apparently. "Environmental damage" - huh? That coin was 150+ years old, does that mean it got rained on? That it was partially melted by the Sun? Al Gore breathed on it? How does Altered Surface differ from environmental damage, and how is environmental damage different from "Damage or Tooled?"

The entire thing made me think PCGS is highly OVER-GRADED. I can't envision using their services ever again.

If PCGS would sell consumers its "expertise and experience" - it could run away from the pack by establishing its brand not as just a "grading service" but the company with the foremost experts who are proud to share their knowledge, specify exactly what caused a coin to grade or not grade, hold "for pay" seminars for potential PCGS "only" coin dealers, and have an evangelist or three go to coin shows for free lectures on basic coin grading and coin issues...THEN I would find value in their "product." Instead they apparently are surviving by selling their arrogance.

I'd rather post images of my coins on here or other collector sites and let some of the numerous experts offer their opinions and then I'll slab my coins with a grade based on those evaluations, plus specific explanations.

Seriously, if I owned ICG or a third party grading company on the cusp of acceptance, I'd make that my manifesto - my marketing plan - and bury PCGS in a heartbeat.

Sorry for the long post, but as a novice at coin grading I was astonished by how little PCGS really does and couldn't recommend it to anyone.

Off soapbox.

MaddogMain