To fully grasp this post, please read the recent thread posted by Six Mile Rick

The following is only my opinion to two points MV has made. One, that third party graders have done harm to the hobby, and two that he enters this discussion as a dealer making his living through a brick and mortar coin shop. First, I do not begrudge a person who makes a living by selling coins to profit from them. Second, I have been a collector for more than 40 years and have witnessed the evolution of the market. Change and progress, although at times less personal, will occur, and if we dont adapt, we will be left behind.

In the past I submitted my want list to my local dealer and he located the coins for me. Now I can dial up an 1893-S Morgan Dollar at any time on E-Bay without waiting for a dealer to locate one. Additionally, the dealer to keep your business educated you at the point of sale. I had a friend who bought a 1909-S VDB Lincoln Cent from a coin shop. At the point of sale the dealer showed him the diagnostics on his coin to determine that it was genuine. As a collector who has witnessed change, face to face interaction is what I miss the most. In its place these very boards and blogs have helped to fill that void. It was through these boards I have learned the diagnostics of the 93-S Morgan to determine that my NGC graded VG-10 93-S which I purchased on E-Bay from a dealers web site is genuine .

As to third-party graders, Chinese counterfeits are by far much more harmful to the hobby than either NGC and PCGS combined. In fact these two company which are also in business to make a profit are through the certification process protecting the hobby from these harmful fakes. Anything they certify as genuine is protecting the collector from financial loss by their guarantee. This brings security and confidence to the market place that is worth a premium to the submitter.

When it comes to moderns MV is correct in that the mintages will prohibit the value of the coin to increases significantly UNLESS that coin is a condition rarity. For instance, if Rick was to crack out his dime, MV is correct in that it is only worth 10 cents. However, lets say out of 140 million dimes there are only 100 graded as high as MS-67 you have something not every dime collector could have driving the price higher. This is possible only because PCGS and NGC are respected in the market place having their grades assigned by professional numismatists with their guarantee to the collecting community of grade.

Finally, from the perspective of a collector of both US and world coins the NGC Registry brought about by technology and change, has SIGNIFICANTLY increased my knowledge and enjoyment of the hobby. In fact were it not for the registry I may not be a collector of world coins today. The competitive nature of the registry is also a factor in the drive for high grade moderns. In fact MV might see it as a means to extract more money from the collector. I choose to see it as a means to preserve a numismatic legacy.

Gary

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