Grading Coins Valued Under $150

Grade what you want. I've graded $10 coins, I haven't graded $1200 coins.

Ok, that's what I figured.

I'm getting a handful of coins together to send in.

The $150 minimum limit is no more than a rule of thumb.
You can send whatever coin you wish for grading; that is entirely up to you.

Nevertheless,
It can be considered that a coin after grading would would have a value of $150 or more, that the grading and return shipping fees is justified in the minds of those who like to have their coins slabbed.

There is far less preference for non American collectors to have their coins slabbed, irrespective of any potential high value.

I know I can send in whatever coin I want..

Thank you sel 69l- that was the thought process I was looking for.

I believe the $150 figure that is often floated was based on one or more assumptions that have been left behind as folks continue to toss out the figure.

I like to give folks who have asked me about this question a formula they can apply to a coin of any value to decide whether it's worth it to them to send it in for grading.

By way of examples:

Scenario 1

You buy a raw coin for $100 that you believe has a market value of $150 in its current grade. You would like to resell the coin and believe you can get the current market price for it. You have graded it MS-63 and are convinced it would come back as such if sent to a reputable third-party grading service.

The grading fees for the coin (let's say it's not eligible for a "Modern Coin" grading tier) are $30. You've determined it will cost $10 to send an insured package to the service and $15 to have it sent back to you after grading. So, between grading fees and shipping costs, you will be spending $55. Add that to the $100 acquisition cost for an overall total of $155, and it seems that selling the coin at the market price you believe can be achieved will result in a loss of $5.

So, the advice of a $150 target value for coins to be worth sending in for grading falls apart.

Scenario 2

You buy a raw coin for $35 that you believe has a market value of $100 in its current grade. You would like to resell the coin and believe you can get the current market price. You have graded it MS-63 and are convinced it would come back as such if sent to a reputable third-party grading service.

Once again, the grading fees for the coin (let's say it's not eligible for a "Modern Coin" grading tier) are $30. You've determined it will cost $10 to send an insured package to the service and $15 to have it sent back to you after grading. So, between grading fees and shipping costs, you will be spending $55. Add that to the $35 acquisition cost and it seems that selling the coin at the market price you believe can be achieved will result in a profit of $10.

So, a coin with a value lower than the advised $150 target value goes against the target assumption.


When considering sending in coins for grading, I suggest working through the following steps:

1. Determine the grading fees and shipping costs involved.
2. Add these fees to your acquisition cost.
3. Compare the total cost to the coin's market value. if it's less (i.e., profitable), decide if the difference is enough to justify your time. If it's more, it's probably not a great plan to send it in if you are hoping to profit from selling the coin (but it may be "worth it" for a coin you intend to keep [for any number of reasons].)

It's all up to you - and never as simple as $150 and above = "Yes."

Clear and concise, thanks Commems