Coin Grading Companies

Great post by everyone! Lots of opinions for sure, so how does one sort this out? For the average collector (or dealer) you should feel comfortable using ANACS, PCGS, NCG, ICG. Most will find you will get acceptable service and Grading/Authentication from any of the companies. The added bonus that ANACS adds is you can get a problem coin in a holder. There are allot of cleaned coins on the market that are still worthy of being protected and authenticated. Savvy Dealers/Collectors have figured out the strengths and weakness of each of the major grading companies and submit to their choice based on those strengths. As far a liquidly of your coins goes, a great coin in any holder is going to bring strong prices. Experienced Dealers and Collectors will be buying the coin, not the holder (old cliche). As a dealer I will pay the same $$$ for any coin in a top four holder, and I certainly wont pay more just because it is in a PCGS holder! That being said, if I buy a coin in a lower tiered holder, I crack them out and sell them raw. I have more luck selling a raw coin then in a PCI or other lower tiered holder, people just don't trust them. (And I don't blame them!) Good advice for everyone is learn to grade and then you can buy a coin in any holder or raw and feel good about it, it will widen your possibilities!

Hi Ancientmoderngold and welcome to our CC family.

One of the reasons that James Taylor came to our site was because Mike and I approached him about it. Prior to his appearance here, I preferred ANACS graded coins because the standards used were the same standards I use myself on raw coins. It was extremely rare to get a coin back that wasn't exactly what I thought and when it was different, it was only off by 1-2 points. As I am confident in my grading skills, ANACS was a perfect choice for me.

At the same time that I was sending my coins to ANACS, I was seeing coins showing up in PCGS and NGC slabs that I felt were overgraded. I have always tended toward conservative grading and I was unhappy to see that the market was causing the grading standards to become more lax. If you take a look at the 2006 Red Book as compared with the 2005 edition, you will see what I mean.

Recently, it seems that ANACS is swinging to the side of undergrading, which I see as a problem. I am hoping that this is a temporary shift and will right itself as ANACS completes its move and is more settled. PCGS has started tightening up on their standards also, making these coins more acceptable to me. NGC seems to have been the most consistent to date, but I have not seen many recent NGC submissions.

I believe the issue of under- or over-grading depends upon our particular coin interests and specialties. In the instance of PCGS and Morgans (my special interest), I have seen them recently downgrade their own Morgans and those of other TPGs. (Someone speculated that PCGS is trying to get their population reports into more favorably financial and statistical balance; I can't disagree with this notion.) I certainly cannot comment on TPG grading trends for other coin series although I am recently dabbling in slabbed Flying Eagle cents, but not with enough examples to make generalizations. However, it appears to me there may be wide discrepancies between the top TPGs within any particular series; what might pass for XF-45 at one might not make VF-25 at another.

And I'll echo the others' sentiments on ANACS: at least you get a slab back with your coin instead of a freebie flip and annotated label for problem coins.

With my recent negative experiences with PCGS, I detect an increased arrogance I can no longer tolerate. Since I'm not about to test the NGC waters due to the expense, I've switched my loyalties to ANACS.

Fred

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Originally posted by BigMo

Here's another question if I may.

Just because a coin has been dipped,cleaned etc,
why do some of the TPGS not grade it?

....Tony....

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Sometimes I think it's just to be contrary. For Mint State, it's ostensibly because cleaning, dipping, polishing (whizzing), and other means to brighten a coin alters the coin's surface. For circulated coins which have been rubbing in peoples' pockets for years, have been "thumbed" as they pass from one person to another, have bumped against other coins in cash registers, pockets, and cookie jars, I have absolutely no idea; the surfaces have already been altered by the mere fact they've been handled. Of course, "harsh cleaning" with a wire brush or abrasive polish is obvious, but often there is no detectable difference between a well-circulated coin and one which has been "altered".

In fact, it is entirely likely an ultra-rare coin has been cleaned at some point in its past and will still be graded and slabbed. It also depends on the coin's and current owner's pedigree. Nobody can tell me that a newly found 1804 Bust Dollar which has been harshly cleaned will be bodybagged by PCGS and NGC and returned to the owner without a slab. In fact, NGC's sister company NCS (Natl Conservation Service) is in the business of cleaning coins, getting away with it, and making a lot of money doing so. I should note in NCS's defense that there's a thin definitional line between "cleaning" and "conservation".