Does A "Plus" Designation From PCGS Really Make That Much Difference?

This is something that I'm going through at the moment with my Ike dollar registry set. I am trying to decide between getting a 1971-D in MS66 or MS66+. Here they are side by side for comparison:




Now, I can purchase the 66+ right now for $285, and the 66 I could get for as low as $70. That's a difference of $215 for a "+" designation. Is it worth it? Well, the main difference between these two coins, that I can tell, is that the 66+ has more luster and a deeper olive green tone. I think the luster alone gives it greater eye appeal. Perhaps this is why it received a plus grade. However, that dark spot behind Ike's ear and the nick in the first "1" of 1971 in the 66+ example is a bit distracting to me, but so are those two lines on Ike's head in the 66 example. I can't really tell what they are, but they look raised, not incuse. Roller lines?

I think the "+" designation is seen by registry set collectors as not better than the numerical grade but closer to the NEXT numerical grade. It's a big deal to them. So, even in my own mind, the 66+ Ike is ALMOST a 67 rather than being slightly better than a 66. I do know that a 66+ CuNi Ike is the highest grade I'll ever be able to afford. At 67, they're out of my league.

I think it all depends on what you focus on in your collection. I'm trying to compile a type set of all U.S. Mint issues from 1793 to the present, so I prefer to save the big money for the classic issues that are truly scarce. I'd have no trouble spending a few hundred on, say, an early Half Cent, but even $50 on a modern would feel expensive to me. But if you specialize in Ike dollars, then you may very well come to a different conclusion.

They aren't the exact same coin, they're different coins they're just the same type of coin with the same date from the same mint.




Forget the mintage when talking about top grades with moderns, the mintages of moderns are very misleading. Over 90 percent of what comes out of the mint wouldn't be good enough to have every graded a 67+. Then of the ones that were the vast majority of them have circulated or been destroyed over the years. Of the ones that weren't destroyed most people can't grade moderns well enough to know what to send in or have the opinion you do that they aren't worth it.

Essentially the loss rate is huge with high grade moderns and ultra moderns. Are there more out there, maybe/probably but will they ever get sent in who knows. It's very difficult and requires some luck to come across those top grade moderns raw




That's exactly what it is. The plus are the just missed the next grade up coins.

Oh...why don't they just designate it as 67-...perhaps it's because people wouldn't by a coin with a negative designation. How many MS grades do we have now because of TPGs? One of the best marketing ploys ever. The money come in...crack it out...the money comes in again..repeat the process.

KK

It is. Lumping inferior coins together with clearly superior coins which is what used to happen penalizes the better coins as too many people just say whatever they're all the same.

Do TPGs have a count on how many bag marks are allowed and where they are can appear (field or image) for each grade? Nice to have that list so everyone can learn to grade like the big boys!

They don't as grading is more complex than just counting marks. That said if you go to the PCGS YouTube page they do have several hours worth of different grading videos where they give a run down on some various topics and what they look for.