And lower...(as the case may be)

My overall Registry Points inched higher today, as I entered about 11 more coins into my sets overnight, increasing my score from approximately 309,500, to over 314,600 points.

One of my happier coins was a 2008 Bald Eagle Mint State $5 Gold Piece, MS70. That's because I already had every other coin from the Bald Eagle series in 70 grade, each half dollar (proof and mint state, multiples even), each silver dollar (proof and mint state, multiples even), and a proof $5 gold. Unfortunately my other $5 gold Mint state only achieved a MS69 grade. However, the new MS70 gives me a nicely matched set. I also need to look into some NGC Multi-Holders, but that's a separate story.

So, while those increased, my ranking decreased, which is good, sort of like a golf score. I went from 73rd to 72nd place. Not a big move admittedly, but for a handful of coins, it could have been worse.

I think the only way I'm really going to do it is to submit some more coins to NGC. I do still have my 5-coin EarlyBird coupon, and I plan to combine it with a submission to NCS, so I can take some coins out of OLD ANACS holders and see of NCS can work some magic with them, and make for a possible "upgrade" -- only time will tell. They are the OLDER holders from ANACS, so I am hopeful they will at least remain the same in the crossover.

It also gets a few valuable coins into the Registry that I previously could not, since NGC doesn't acknowledge ANACS coins.

Whether or not I will submit any other coins remains to be seen.

I found some other coins in my safe that I had pulled from one of my safe deposit boxes, intending them to go to NGC. I guess that means I should submit them, eh?

Or maybe I'll just add to my NCS submission along with the ANACS coins. I've been thinking about trying the new "Modern Tier" submission at NCS. Has anyone tried it yet? The price is like $20 or $22.50 per coin, and it includes not only the conservation services from NCS, but grading by NGC. It is for coins I believe 1970 and later, which is IDEAL for the Silver Ike Dollars in the blue and brown packs, as well as the Ikes in the Mint Sets, but I am thinking more about the silver ones, even the Silver Bi-Centennial Set, and some Susan B. Anthony Dollars which have a tendency to darken, but are otherwise high quality proof coins.

Does anyone else think the services at NCS are highly underutilized?

I see SO MANY stories about so-called "body-bagged" (no-grade) coins, and I always think about how if I have a coin that I think might get "prettied up" through conservation, or might otherwise be "precious" or a key date and thus special to my collection, I will submit it to NCS FIRST, rather than to NGC. Why?

Well, a couple of reasons.

NCS can determine if there is anything "wrong" with the coin, wrong in the sense that it would have been a no-grade coin with NGC. If it IS a no-grade coin, NCS can encapsulate the coin, so it is at least protected, and they can do so according to your instructions, at the price level you selected, whether just to indicate that the coin is "Genuine" or to indicate a "details grade" like "AU = Details" and note the problem of the coin like "improperly cleaned" on the slab. You then have the coin for your collection, especially if it's a key date or something, or if it's a nice chunk of silver, or even a gold piece, that has happened to me. It is nice to have the gold preserved so nothing happens to it.

SIDEBAR: NCS coins, while not eligible for "Competition Sets" (formerly known as Registry Sets) may be listed in NGC Signature Sets. So, it is also provides you with a way to show off an otherwise invisible part of your collection.

Next, if the coin is NOT a "no-grade" coin, NCS has the chance to conserve the coin. While they will also tell you if they believe that conserving a coin will detract from the value of the coin and that it shouldn't be done, in SO MANY cases their conservation work is EXTRAORDINARY. Check out the before and after photos on their web site (select NCS from the bottom of the ngccoin.com homepage) or subscribe to their email newsletter.

Sometimes when they conserve coins, even coins that are already graded (even by NGC), the coins MAY "upgrade." That's an "IF" but it happens. Other coins end up at the same grade, but often with much greater eye appeal, and let's face it, all MS60s for instance, are NOT created equal.

Also, by sending the coin to NCS first, you get to avoid DOUBLE SHIPPING CHARGES. If you submit to NGC first, your coin gets returned from NGC as a "no-grade" or so-called "body-bag" you MAY submit it to NCS for another shipping charge, but by going to NCS first, they hand it off to NGS for you, thus just one charge. Sure, you get a whopping $1 or something off of NCS services if you leave the "body-bag" on from NGC. I don't think that covers a new postage submission, to and from.

Wow, did I get off on a tangent here. I started talking about my score, and I ended up talking about underutilized conservation services.

Personally, I think the new "Modern Tier" makes NCS' services even more accessible, at least for the coins which fall into that category.

I'll wrap up for now, before my stream of consciousness takes another turn.

Mike