Mohawk

Hi Matt,
Thank you for your reply to this matter.  I really do appreciate it.  I have a further question however........I was looking at NGC's services and fees, and I saw a listing for Designation Review but it said to submit varieties under Variety Plus and I didn't see a specific listing for Grader Review.  How should I go about submitting this coin for the review by Dave Lange?  I want to make sure I do it correctly so that this situation can hopefully be resolved.  I will also be sure to indicate that I am looking for the Friendly Eagle attribution as well. 
In closing, I'd like to thank you for your help on this Matt and for your patience.  I know that I sounded quite frustrated in my first reply to you and I am, but not at you at all.  It's just the situation, that's all.  You've been very helpful to me and highly professional as well.  It is noticed and greatly appreciated.
~Tom

Hi Matt,
I thank you for your reply, however my problem remains unsolved.  This coin is a 1971-D Friendly Eagle based on all of the features of the reverse and, for some reason, your variety expert cannot seem to see that on this coin.  Has this variety expert reviewed my microscope photos because the features are crystal clear in the photos and there is no cause for confusion.   It's very disappointing that NGC's variety expert cannot see that this coin is a Friendly Eagle, and it's an MS 66, so this situation is costing me a lot of money because NGC's lack of attribution has forced this coin into a kind of limbo.  I am not pleased with this at all and I'm gathering for your response that NGC is just done here, your expert has proclaimed that this coin is not the Friendly Eagle and I'm just stuck.  Do I have to go to the competition to get this coin properly attributed?  I really do not want to do that but as of right now NGC is not giving me a choice.  I've been a happy customer of NGC for 8 years, but now NGC is going to cost me money by not attributing a coin that is a scarce variety as that variety.  Is there anyone I can contact to discuss this situation further because I'm not pleased by this at all.
~Tom

Thank you for your post. Please submit the coin to NGC as a "Grader Review - Attention Dave Lange." Please also notate that you are looking for the Friendly Eagle Variety. Even though the images are very close up it is difficult to be certain if the variety can be attributed due to the glare near the eagles head. We will review the coin and attribute if deemed to be the proper variety. Thank you for your patience in this matter. 

Hello and Welcome,
Well, from what I can see, you have a normal circulation strike 1964 cent.  A proof coin will have mirrored surfaces and sharp details as proofs are struck at least twice on polished planchets using polished dies.  As for SMS coins for 1964, they are extremely rare prototypes for the full scale 1965 SMS coinage and I believe that all of the known examples came from the estate of Eva Adams, who was the Director of the US Mint at the time that SMS coins were struck.  But an SMS coin from 1964 will have a similar appearance to one from 1965, with a satiny luster similar to a Business Strike but with a sharp strike and level of detail similar to true Proof Strikes.  However, I wouldn't worry about 1964 SMS coins for the reasons listed above.  You won't just randomly find one.
I hope this is of some help!
~Tom

As has already been stated, there are many opinions on this subject and I'd like to share mine.  I hope that my experiences are helpful.  I do not have any experience with ICG to speak of, so I cannot comment on them but I do have experience with the other three.  Since different grading services seem to have different levels of accuracy and acceptance with different types of coins, I feel I should state that I mainly collect World coins with a few US moderns when they work within my Custom Set projects.  Mainly, I collect coins from Canada, Turkey and Germany and coins from these three countries make up the largest portion of my collection.  I also sell US Moderns, so I have a good amount of experience there.  Now, onto my ratings based on my experiences:
NGC-without a doubt, NGC is the best for the coins I collect.  I find their grading to be the most accurate for the coins I collect and they are absolutely the most accurate in assigning the Cameo and Ultra Cameo designations for Canadian Proof Like coins, which are a specialty of mine. They are also the most strict in this area  Regarding US, some people say that there is a preference for PCGS regarding US coins, but I never have trouble selling the US coins I submit to NGC for this purpose.  I've never had an issue with an NGC graded coin in over 10 years of collecting certified coins.  NGC is absolutely the best for non-US coins, no question.  There's a reason that they are partners with MA Shops, a huge online European collectibles marketplace based in Germany, and that PCGS is not.
ANACS-While people tend to say that ANACS is very liberal with their grading, I've actually experienced the opposite.  In my experience, the current, yellow label ANACS is too strict sometimes, downgrading coins by as much as two points and making up problems which aren't there.  This habit, following the Blue Label years where they were too loose with their standards, has damaged them in the marketplace.  Also, ANACS hasn't kept up with the times.....they have no registry, and their website is fairly archaic at this point.  However, they are very good at attributing errors, but be prepared to possibly take grade hits if you submit to them.
PCGS-Now, I know that there are many people who love PCGS and that have had great experiences with them.  That's fine and I'm not trying to "bash" any service, I'm just sharing my experiences with the different companies.  That said, my experiences with PCGS graded coins have been nothing but a nightmare.  I've tried to cross several coins from PCGS to NGC and they've always had problems or were over graded.  I have never had one Canadian, German or Turkish coin graded by them cross to NGC.  Never.  Also, a while back, a collector on here outlined a nightmarish situation where he tried to cross PCGS graded cameo Canadian Proof Like coins to NGC....not one crossed.  They all were downgraded significantly and not one of the large number of coins he submitted qualified for a cameo designation under NGC's guidelines.  This collector lost a lot of value in these coins.  I've lost money with PCGS graded coins too, and I won't buy them anymore, at all.  Now, admittedly, these experiences are all with World coins.  US Coins could be a different story.  But I don't know for sure, and based on my experiences, I wouldn't recommend PCGS World coins to anyone.  I do not understand why PCGS has the reputation it does.....my experiences have been awful, and I know of other World collectors that have similar horror stories.
So, those are my thoughts on the TPG issue based on my own experiences and the experiences of those I have been able to observe.  These are just my thoughts, I'm not trying to bash any service or start the old NGC vs. PCGS argument all over again. For me, it's simply NGC only.