Is one really "better" than the other? I'm not going to judge.

This discussion could probably go on ad infintum without any clear answer really coming out. The only way to arrive at some empirical data is to take coins that have been graded by one company, carefully remove them from their holders, submit them to the other company as loose coins, and then record the results. This would need to be a large sample to make the results statistically valid, but why bother?

I really think that the premium that some (not all) PCGS coins seem to command is strictly from a perception issue of the buyer. That somehow, a PCGS-graded coin is "better".

While I have, on occasion, seen NGC-graded coins whose grade I did not agree with, I can also say the same about PCGS-graded ones as well. I've also seen identical grades on identical coins where the NGC-graded one was superior, in my opinion, to the PCGS-graded one.

I think that they're both upstanding companies that are doing the best that they can, which in my opinion, is pretty darned good, although I have heard that NGC Service is FAR superior to PCGS, and as an aside, if anyone could remark to that statement, I'd love to hear about it.

One perception problem that NGC does have is really of their own making. By allying themselves with QVC, et al, they diminish the perception that they have no pressing interest in the marketplace other than supporting it (that they are above the fray, so to speak). Hopefully, at some point, they'll realize that maybe those strategic partnerships weren't such a good idea after all. (And if I ever see NGC-graded Corvette coins from Palau with flashing headlights, my membership is being immediately retired)

And finally, as Prdola said in his last Journal entry, and which I have seen repeated by numerous members with much more knowledge about coins than I will ever hope to have, it's the coin in the holder that counts, and not the holder itself.