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 Replies: 15 / Views: 1,474 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1801 Posts |
Having collected 8 Reales for the last 39 years and watched the hobby as a whole move slowly towards the madness that is TPG grading and encapsulating of more and more coins, I decided to send a small portion of my collection in to PCGS in small batches over the last 8 month or so and see how they come back. I chose to send my run of Ferdinand VII portrait dollars, Mo mint (Mexico City). I must say, the results were interesting. Some of the coins came back (IMHO) accurately graded, some were under graded and a couple got the benefit of the doubt and came back higher than I would have guessed. (The one coin I broke out of an NGC MS62 slab that I purchased that way came back as an AU58. I cannot find any wear on the coin). I broke them up into small groups in the hope that I would get different graders and a more broad brush view of PCGS standards. I only had to resubmit one coin multiple times, not for a higher grade but for a proper attribution by variety. So I thought I would share the results with the Forum and ask for other's opinions. My take away from this experiment is that "A" the TPGs need to learn more about 8 Reales and "B" always buy the coin, not the slab. http://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/all...spx?s=118162http://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/all...spx?s=122362 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1959 Posts |
Your expertise on these is probably greater than the person who handled it at PCGS. Nice collection! I recently began buying some mid grade 8R. Just bought a pillar dollar in Fine condition. Great pieces of history. Standards on these older coins seem to have a wider tolerance concerning grade from a TPG. |
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Moderator
 United States
188213 Posts |
Thank you for posting. I know very little about these, but it looks like a very nice set!  I look forward to following the commentary and learning a thing or three.  |
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Valued Member
United States
215 Posts |
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Moderator
United States
56855 Posts |
Experiment #2,send to NGC and see what happens  John1  |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1801 Posts |
John 1
I have thought about doing that but the cost outweighs my curiosity.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1156 Posts |
Those are two excellent sets, jfransch! I think you've done a great service for Ferdinand VII collectors by establishing these amazing sets for others to reference. PCGS benefits by adding to their library of high resolution images. Future submissions of Ferdinand VII 8 reales to PCGS should have a better chance of achieving an accurate grade.
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Valued Member
United States
232 Posts |
On the PCGS Set Registry, what does "Rank 1" mean? Does that mean it is the best collection on this type they have seen?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1801 Posts |
John Paul
PCGS Registry Sets have two different rankings. One for "current sets" and one for "all time finest sets". Realize these rankings are based on coins graded by PCGS and entered into registry sets. Also note the registry sets themselves list population reports for the various coins in the set. Both of my sets are currently ranked "RFS Industries - The Number One Finest Set of All Time". But I don't put too much stock in that designation, TPGs have not been successful in penetrating the 8 Reales market for the most part and most of my fellow 8 Reales collectors do not slab their coins due to lack of expertise at the TPGs. There are many collectors out there with extremely nice "raw" collections.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
684 Posts |
TPGs are a crap shoot. The best bet is to piecemeal coins into be slabbed via a well known dealer/expert who does some volume. In one instance I submitted a coin to NGC and it came back questionable authenticity, a dealer/expert submitted to NGC and it came back genuine details environmental damage. Needless to say the coin will stay in the latter holder, BTW it is authentic. I've heard that PCGS is starting to be preferred to NGC for world coins. Not from a price standpoint, but it might have to do with grading standards, in that one in more generous than the other. All things being equal, US coins in PCGS slabs get a higher price. Have not seen a PCGS premium for world coins except maybe Canada. Buy the coin not the slab...not. From personal experience, slabs hide hairlines. Be careful not to get sucked into the registry set competition thing. It is marketing tool and rather a good one. I have never crossed. John when are you guys getting down to SD? |
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Moderator
United States
188213 Posts |
Quote:
...but the cost outweighs my curiosity. I agree. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1801 Posts |
I agree that the Registry sets are a marketing ploy designed to get more coins submitted. My submissions were based on curiosity about grading standards since there are no "published ANA or USMexNA" guidelines for grading these coins. One factor I felt my coins were affected by was "wear vs flat or soft strike" which is a common issue with these coins. I have however noticed that there is beginning to creep into the 8 reales and Mexican coins in general market a large price disparity between raw and correctly graded slabs. Westwood Arms I don't know when San Diego will make the calendar but I have my flight and room booked for Scottsdale. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1156 Posts |
Did you send in any that you suspected or knew were not regal issues?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1801 Posts |
jgenn
I believe all of the coins I submitted were legit.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1156 Posts |
I don't doubt you. I was just curious if your experiment extended to authenticating.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3229 Posts |
Those are some really great 8 reales! Congrats on acquiring such a great set. I do not yet have any Ferdinand's in my collection but would like start adding a few as funds allow.
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Replies: 15 / Views: 1,474 |
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Posted 06/27/2015 3:35 pm
