not all MS66's are equal

If you've been collecting certified coins for any length of time I'm sure that you've noticed certain trends. For example, PCGS coins often sell for more than NGC coins.

For modern coins this is understandable. NGC dominates the modern coin market. PCGS's only recourse is to create "condition rarities"-usually by limiting the number of perfect 70's or MS68 grade coins that they allow. This is just my opinion ( I have heard this from dozens of others also) however I think that they have created an artificial market by passing out just a few high grades to the "lottery winners" and the members of their ( PCGS-slab-only) registry pay thousands of dollars for common coins that are of the same quality as the NGC 70's that cost $100-200.

This isn't what was on my mind though (especially since I don't collect any moderns). Recently my auction searching has been for nice examples for my Mercury dime set and the final piece for my Walker short set and possible walker upgrades. I have noticed distinct grading differences between the 2 big grading services in these series.

For both series PCGS coins are more expensive. The strictness of grading for mercury dimes is far more stringent by PCGS than NGC ( although if you find a very nice NGC dime you can get it for about 60% of the price). With the steep price difference it really is worth it to be patient and wait for those NGC gems which cost sometimes only half.

Walkers are a different story however. NGC has the stricter criteria for grading Walkers and their prices are still cheaper. After studying the Walking Liberty Half selections at various auctions--almost daily--for several years, I can boldly say that an NGC MS66 is easily a grade better than a PCGS 66 (there are exceptions of course). What this means for me is better coins at a cheaper price !!

As a collector who hopes that I will be blessed enough to be able to leave my collection to my family and never need to sell them, I don't care which ones would get more money on reselling ( unless you hold them for at least 10 years, the auction houses seem to be eating up any profit anyhow).

So I have no problem with slab bias, in fact I'd be happy if the prices on gem quality coins in NGC plastic always stayed cheaper...so here's a toast to all of those who buy only PCGS slabs...thank you and would you like a refill of your kool-aid?