Some good replies you received - In addition to the variable conditions as mentioned, most modern coins generally have values even when graded that are less than the grading fees with only the exception that the very top grade only usually in some cases can have a current value above total grading costs. In other words the money you pay for the grading itself is lost unless your coin comes back with a grade that gives it a higher value than all those fees.
Some people do look over the price guides looking for these opportunities (of top grade being of high value) and then try their best to identify coins from places like rolls and mint sets that might hit that grade and then submit them (not a random roll without inspection). This is a form of gambling as if its not coming back in that top grade it will be money lost and people like purelywasted above and some sellers I know pick these graded coins up below what it would cost them to submit them (without even guaranteeing they would get that grade).
You can even actually check the census to see just how many are actually graded in that higher value grade ahead of time (i.e. a single coin in the top grade that holds a higher value would mean a remote chance of your submitted coin actually coming back in that grade, while hundreds in that grade may suggest its at least possible to find). For fun you could try your hand at a few rather than guarantee to lose sending in many at once that are all not going to be likely the top grade, but I don't see any reason to try just sending them otherwise for the reasons you stated as all TPGs grade moderns and should relatively be accurate with some variance in the grader skills at times. Maybe if it were a roll of something like -S mint from the 3 roll sets that have demand just for being lower mintage but typical clad coinage is mostly face value.
For learning on moderns the closest thing I have done like that for fun was try to find a 2017-p
Roosevelt dime with full torch in MS68 as the value was $40 and MS67 was still break evenish at $25 with NGC. I ended up with a MS67FT I still have here but if I were to have sent in entire rolls to find that it would have been a huge money loss if I didnt cherrypick the very best of the best of the roll and just send a few. The best times to grade are when multiple grades that are likely possible are all over the value of the grading fees, and avoid those situations like I mentioned where only the very top grade is high especially when theres only 1 or 2 in the census at that grade. Save your money to grade other coins that are worthwhile, like when I bought a 2021-cc
Morgan dollar it turned out that graded could add more value than raw so I'm sending it in shortly. Even better would have been if it were a 2021-D where all grades are worthwhile but if it were a rare 70 could be worth 3x the value therefore worth grading to see.
Edited by datadragon
08/17/2023 9:06 pm
Posted 08/17/2023 09:01 am
