PCGS versus NGC

Wow!

First of all, I want to preface the following with this statement, I love NGC and the work they do. I also reognize that they grade a ton more coins than PCGS. About half of my coins are graded by NGC and the other half by PCGS. This is not meant to bash NGC in any way.

With that said:

As some of you may have read awhile back I sent in 400 Nickels in a bulk submission to NGC. All were in the original rolls issued by the Mint from the Mint. It took about 90 days and the results were astonishingly poor. Of the 400 I submitted exactly one was graded MS-67 and 10 or so were MS-66. The rest MS-65 and a TON were graded MS-64 (with full steps which I don't get). An absolutely retched result.

Earlier this month I sent 200 pennies to PCGS and their bulk submission department. In three weeks they were at my door all grading MS-66 or MS-67 with a handful of throwaways.

There has long been an arguement over which garding service is better. While PCGS graded coins typically command a premium on the market, the reasons are wide and varied. In my opinion one of the reasons that PCGS graded coins sell at a premium is that there are less of them. Like it or not NGC has marketed themselves beautifully and has captured a lion's share of our business. I have noticed lately that some PCGS ads have been popping up in places where I hadn't seen them before (or at least the size of the ads), ie Coin World.

Of course the bottom line to me, as with most of us is preservartion and beauty, not really grades. I gotta tell you though, those nickels looked a whole lot better than MS-64 to me. Grade equal to the fee paid? Doubtful, but it has given me great pause.