Which Would You Choose - ANACS Or ICG?

In general, a coin needs to be worth at least $150-$200 to justify the cost of grading fees, shipping, insurance, etc. I would prefer ANACS over ICG, but I would strongly reconsider sending coins that are only worth $25.

ANACS , they grade as conservatively as ANY of them .
Plus the cost is reasonable .

I for one do not consider them as second tier . Just the perception in the market I guess.
Also they are probably the best for VAM Silver Dollars .

I prefer ANACS and have used them to encapsulate some low value coins, but these all have a high sentimental value to them and I will likely never part with them. Mainly some mint errors I pulled outta change as a teenager, which got me interested in coins which was one of my dads hobbies. This in turn brought my dad and myself much closer together.

On a separate note, I think you can get on an email distribution list and they will often times advertise deals that way. It has been a long time since I submitted anything to ANACS so I don't know if these deals are still only offered through joining their emails.

The last email I had was from Thursday - "10 Coins for $109 - return shipping & insurance is included.". The code was: SF20. You used to just write the code on the upper corner of the submission form, but not sure if this is still how they do it.

Plus ANACS extended their summer sale thru the end of this month. 10 coins for $109 with return insured shipping included. Plus just $10 for any additional coins. When you can get things slabbed that inexpensively, I don't think you need only coins worth $150 or more.

I also prefer their slab over the other TPGs. I like the angled top with the coin identifier on it. Easy to see in a slab box of 20. I send them all my modern commem dollars. If I want to show someone by POW Museum coin, it's easy to look down and see just which year to pull out.

B/c the marketers at PCGA have worked harder to make PCGS have a better reputation. PCGS also offers more online information which, therefore, makes their name imprinted on brains a lot more often. Hence pepople associate "coin gradng" and PCGS more readily.

Then people end up spending more money for the "name brand." Since no one likes being told they have put out more money than they needed to, emotions get in the way when legit criticism is made known.

Things like the following are for education and are not hard to find - start looking for yourself:
http://goccf.com/t/346174#2967242

Yes....hype has a lot to do with market favorites.

Buy the coin and not the slab.

Remember a hobby is about fun. If you like slabs b/c you like them - then by all means, use the available systems to slab your coins. Just be aware of legitimate facts so you can make the best educated decision.

I have had reservations about coins graded by ANACS. Reading posts such as those found in the thread below made me wonder about the quality of its grading. Plus, I noticed that on ebay, ANACS-graded coins tend to sell for much less than those graded by PCGS and NGC.

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How credible is ANACS?
Most of the graded coins I have are either PCGS or NGC. Last night I won a 1882 O over S Morgan that had an ANACS grade of AU58. My question is how well doesANACS hold up against the other 2?

Thanks

g35fan
2 years ago
Anacs is super solid IMO...right behind PCGS and NGC but a big step above ICG. To the best of my knowledge they went through a rough patch where they lost a lot of credibility - I think with their blue holders and some hit or miss grading. I recently cracked out a few morgans and they all crossed over to NGC and one gained a point (1899p MS63 to MS64 at NGC). The really old small white Anacs and ANA holders are super solid too. The only thing I wouldn't trust would be where there is a huge price/value swing in the grade lower...like an 1892-S being graded MS60...if you were to crack it out and PCGS/NGC gave it an AU58 grade that'd be a huge hit on the value.


MrMonkeySwag96
2 years ago
ANACS is not as credible as NGC/PCGS. PCGS is the #1 grader, NGC is #2, ANACS is #3, and ICG is #4. ANACS had many different owners over the years. So their grading standards are different depending on the owner. ANACS was the first grading service. In the beginning, ANACS did not slab their coins. Instead, ANACS issued Photo Certificates. The ANACS Photo Certificates are rare. During the Photo Certificate era, ANACS graded their coins academically, so eye appeal plays no role in grading. Later, ANACS sealed their coins in slabs similar to PCGS and NGC. The earliest ANACS slabs were white in color and were nicknamed "soap boxes." The early ANACS "soap box" slabs were undergraded, so they'll grade higher in today's grading standards. ANACS replaced the "soap box" slabs with Blue Label slabs. The Blue Label slabs were the worst ANACS slabs. Some Blue Label slabs were overgraded. ANACS replaced the Blue Label slabs with Yellow Label slabs. The Yellow Label slabs were more accurately graded than Blue Label slabs. As I always say, buy the coin not the holder!

2 years ago
Great historical summary and warning about the blue label ANACS slabs. PCGS and NGC are 1a and 1b IMO.


SpiderHuman
2 years ago
It's a Coke and Pepsi world. They are trusted to identify the coin, but a lot of people don't trust the grade (or trust the grade even less than PCGS/NGC - as a lot of people are skeptical of 70s even from PCGS/NGC).

I don't add any 'graded premium' for ANACS... I value/pay the same as I'd value/pay for a raw coin.


profbo
2 years ago
So do you think there's a chance I could crack the holder and submit it to one of the big two for a better grade?


Energy_Turtle
2 years ago
They aren't bad but the slabs are uglier than heck. I wouldn't trust their really high grades, but you should be buying coins rather than trusting slabs anyway.

profbo
2 years ago
I was def buying for the coin, as I didn't have one of these yet. But with the grade on it and the price I got it for, I was curious as I hadn't had too much experience with ANACS


monumentmetals
2 years ago
Dealers want nothing to do with ANACS. Total waste of money if you are trying to improve resale value. NGC or PCGS only.


CO_Collector
2 years ago
I think Dealers prefer PCGS or NGC slabs -- especially for higher-value coins.

But I disagree that Dealers don't buy ANACS. I've bought & sold plenty of ANACS Morgans -- to Dealers and to individual Buyers. Priced right, there's definitely a market. And with all the Chinese fakes, who isn't wary of a raw Morgan? For only $10/Morgan on frequent specials(10 coin minimum), ANACS authenticates & grades & identifies issues. IMO that's a bargain -- and makes it much easier to sell for a fair price vs raw Morgans.


CO_Collector
2 years ago
edited 2 years ago
ANACS is solid for authentication & attribution & identifying bad issues (cleaned, whizzed, polished, damaged) -- especially for Morgans. But maybe a bit optimistic on grading.

Lots of folks bargain-hunt unattributed ANACS Morgans. Best case, you find a rare VAM. Worst case, you have an authentic Morgan that's overgraded.

Just a hypothetical situation:

I pay money to have a Morgan slabbed by PCGS and get an MS63. I pay money for a CAC sticker and get my green bean.

I crack the coin out of its slab and resubmit it to PCGS. It comes back an MS64. I pay money for a CAC sticker and get my green bean.

So I not only paid PCGA and their experts twice for two different results, but when I had the CAC experts check the work of the (allegedly minimum of three) PCGS experts, the CAC experts verified both times that the expert experts at PCGS were expert enough for the CAC experts to agree with.

Some people see the above as legitimate and totally acceptable.

Some people see the above as legitimate spending of money hoping to get a better grade so their "coin" is "worth more."

Some people see the above as some very smart companies making profits without being accountable for product quality.

At least the companies will outright claim what they do is non-verifiable (well...they make it sound better by saying grading is an "art").

And...this sway the companies are not liable when a coin is freed from the plastic and label and...POOF...all the expertly added magic value disappears and only the coin is left!

On one side of the coin (not slab) you have people concerned about how much (conceived) illegitimacy can be put through the marvelous machinery of marketing and manipulate it so the masses now see only "honest reputation." You know...the old lipstick on a pig saying.

On the other side of the coin (well...slab) are collectors who more or less say, "I am enjoying myself...don't bother me with details." And...since we are talking about how a person enjoys their own hobby, this mindset is totally legitimate for the people who ascribe to it!

The only real concern of mine (ad others I am sure) is that newbies and those who never thought/took the time to do the homework for themselves will automatically fall into the marketer's trap of thinking these TPGs are THE last and final word, are infallible, actually produce a verifiable product worthy of almost worship-worthy reputation (and the money they charge), and, well, for that matter, that TPGs are even a necessary part of the hobby.

So just how DID the hobby survive all those centuries (? correct my timeline please) without a TPG? And guess what...they even caught Henning!




The dealer I now do my business with does not care which company name is on the slab. He looks at the coin.

Like him, I have no more respect for PCGS than ANACs simply b/c the slab+label mean no more to me than a 2X2. The plastic and label simply tell me a company took money to put their (artificial and changeable) opinion with the coin.

My opinion would definitely change if grading was made into a verifiable science (basis in fact and reality). If a person will only start looking for themselves, they will many problem slabs.