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 Replies: 11 / Views: 1,880 |
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Valued Member
United States
136 Posts |
I have never submitted coins to be graded, so naturally, I have a few questions...
-Can I take it to the company in person, or does it need to be shipped out?
I have had good success in the past with the post office; nearly everything I send out gets where it needs to go, and only a couple things haven't made it to me in the last five years. But still, I have trust issues when it comes to things that could potentially be worth thousands of dollars.
-How trustworthy are these companies?
Again, trust issues. What is stopping them from exchanging a coin that is genuine with one that is fake? Has anyone had a bad experience with them or is everything pretty much been good?
-Which company would you recommend I go with (PCGS or NGC)?
I've narrowed it down to these two. I have read a number of the topics here which give pros and cons. In the case of the Ship Token that I want to get authenticated, who should I go with? Would you recommend a conservation service to go along with it, considering the possibility that it was struck in pewter?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
564 Posts |
For me I send in my coins once in a while to NGC. They are pretty trustworthy and after grading, your coins will be shipped back slabbed and graded. Unless if a coin you sent was fake it will not be slabbed. Either PCGS or NGC are trustworthy to send your coins in and receive them back graded.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
If you are really worried about safety in shipping, then ship registered, probably the absolute safest way to ship anything. And once the value is over $1000, it is also pretty much the cheapest way to ship.
Are they trustworthy? Well they have built up multi multi million dollar businesses that are pretty much based on trust. Why throw that away in order to steal a coin worth a few thousand at best? If reports started coming out about switched or stolen coins their whole money making empire would crumble. That's why they do video tape the unpacking of the packages and they track everything. Only one consignment to a box and only one consignment handled at a time. Other than a few cranks there have only been a couple of reports of a coin going missing, and the grading service made it good.
And this is from someone who dislikes the whole idea of grading services.
Edited by Conder101
03/26/2017 10:05 pm
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Valued Member
 United States
136 Posts |
Justinokay: I was leaning towards NGC. I use their site all the time to identify foreign coins because I don't have physical copies of the books.
Conder101: I thought that too, but I just want to be certain about the trustworthiness. Sometimes businesses will claim one thing and then do another. I just want to be as sure as I can before jumping in.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
4594 Posts |
Plus they have state of the art security systems and high value coins (6, 7 figures) get special handling and scrutiny.
For that reason, neither NGC nor PCGS will accept walk in submissions.
-----Burton 50+ year / Life / Emeritus ANA member (joined 12/1/1973) Life member: Numismatics International, CONECA Member: TNA, FtWCC, NETCC, EveryCountry (online) coin club Owned by three cats and a wife of 40+ years (joined 1983) Author: 3rd Edition of the Sample Slabs book, https://www.sampleslabs.info/ |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4211 Posts |
PCGS and NGS would NEVER do anything to tarnish their reputations. Ever. Period.
If your value exceeds $1,000 I agree with Conder. Ship registered mail.
Good Luck. Any chance of a pic of what you are sending in?
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
The only warning about Registered mail is that it can be very slow. Many people start panicking when it doesn't arrive after three or for days Registered can easily take two weeks to arrive and has been known to take over a month, but it WILL show up eventually. (Personally I've never had a domestic Registered package take more than five days.)
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2843 Posts |
I would not worry about a TPG switching out coins. It would be near impossible to do so without getting caught. They may mis-grade or mishandle the coins as we have seen in some examples posted on this site. But, then again they are only human.... |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1963 Posts |
I submit to ANACS, because I live in Colorado. I drive the coins to the submission office myself.
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Valued Member
United States
136 Posts |
I know about registered mail and, given the circumstances, I'd rather be safe than sorry. I am used to receiving registered mail packages from overseas. The longest that one ever took to reach me (and I realize that this is a huge exception to the norm) was a year and a half from Scotland. The black marks on the outside of the envelope seem to indicate that it was wedged between two belts. This is the piece I intend to submit this time. If everything goes well, I might send out a couple more of my better foreign coins. (The color appears a bit more yellow than the coin actually is in hand. I have gotten better at photographing coins since I took this one.)  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2843 Posts |
That is s very neat token. Very impressive 1st submission. Good luck, and let us all know what grade it receives.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
94367 Posts |
All of the big 3 (PCGS, NGC, ANACS) are completely trustworthy and reputable. ANACS charges less for a variety of reasons, and their slabs normally sell at a discount as a result.
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Replies: 11 / Views: 1,880 |
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Posted 03/26/2017 10:04 pm
