Grading Service questions

[SilverEagleCoins]

There has been a lot of opinions about the subjectiveness of PCGS and NGC for grading coins at various levels and conditions. What about a perfect coin at MS70? I mean there really should be no arguement over a perfect coin? One little minor nick, imperfection, stain, dust, lint, etc and the coin is not MS70, right? Would this apply to all the smaller grading services as well or is MS70 also subjective?

 

I've been seeing all sorts of silver eagles at MS70 and MS69 from a lot of smaller grading firms selling for $5-8. That's just a little more than the weight of the silver. Can the smaller firms be that far off? It still sounds like a damn fine coin.

[crito]

Perfect to the naked eye? Or at 5X magnification? 10X? At 20X I doubt any coin is "perfect". As designed, the Sheldon scale was a measure of value, 70X the value of a Poor-1. Not a measure of "perfection". If such a thing even exists.

 

 

[nwcs]

Yes, the smaller firms can be way off of the PCGS/NGC standard but maybe not off of their company's standards.

[gmarguli]

Many of those coins you see selling for around bullion value are likely bullion value coins. Silver eagles should really be valued only based on bullion. However, some people like to collect them by date. Even odder is that some people like to collect them in only high grades.

 

Based on current demand, none are really rare in high grades. In the MS68 grade most will sell for only a few dollar premium over silver in a PCGS/NGC slab. Stick that same coin in a PCI slab and the value is bullion.

 

As for the MS/PF70 grade, it is extremely subjective. As was mentioned, which level of perfection? Naked eye? 5X? 10X? Doesn't exist at all?

[TomB]

There has been a lot of opinions about the subjectiveness of PCGS and NGC for grading coins at various levels and conditions. What about a perfect coin at MS70? I mean there really should be no arguement over a perfect coin? One little minor nick, imperfection, stain, dust, lint, etc and the coin is not MS70, right? Would this apply to all the smaller grading services as well or is MS70 also subjective?

 

I've been seeing all sorts of silver eagles at MS70 and MS69 from a lot of smaller grading firms selling for $5-8. That's just a little more than the weight of the silver. Can the smaller firms be that far off? It still sounds like a damn fine coin.

 

As Greg has already pointed out, many of these coins are worth relatively little over bullion in the less exalted grades. Also, the definition from one company to the next as to what constitutes a grade is not consistent. You might not realize that the grading services do not adhere to the same grading standards. This fact is often reflected in the market price of a coin.

 

If an MS68 in an NGC or PCGS holder is worth only a fraction of what an MS69 or MS70 in the same holder is worth, then, what is the rationale for buying an MS69 or MS70 from a lesser respected service? If you simply want the grade on the insert then you aren't exactly buying the coin exclusively. If you think you are out-foxing others by getting a great deal then you likely don't have much experience.

 

Of course, there are accurately graded, overgraded and undergraded coins in every third party grading service holder. You don't want the bad coins, you want the good ones, and I would bet the major companies have more good ones than bad ones in their holders.

 

One last thing, if you think you will buy an MS70 from some lower-tier service and then cross the MS70 into an NGC or PCGS holder you can forget that very fast. It is written policy to not cross any MS70 as the service cannot examine all three sides of a coin closely enough to allow such a cross.

 

 

[sanmary]

Heres the thing with bullion coins.....purchase a roll of Silver Eagles from the mint or any fairly reputable dealer and you'll receive 20 coins with an average grade probably around MS68. These coins were minted for collectors with great care.....not the same lackluster care given to general circulation coins. Is there a perfect coin??? probably not, but the standard is at a certain level albeit different with different services. An MS/PF 70 coin graded by NGC or PCGS will be of substantially higher quality than a smaller service. Perfect, I doubt it. Is it worth paying a high premium for a bullion coin in 69 as opposed to 68...absolutely not in my opinion. To the naked eye these two coins are identical.

[MAULEMALL]

Heres the thing with bullion coins.....purchase a roll of Silver Eagles from the mint or any fairly reputable dealer and you'll receive 20 coins with an average grade probably around MS68. These coins were minted for collectors with great care.....not the same lackluster care given to general circulation coins. Is there a perfect coin??? probably not, but the standard is at a certain level albeit different with different services. An MS/PF 70 coin graded by NGC or PCGS will be of substantially higher quality than a smaller service. Perfect, I doubt it. Is it worth paying a high premium for a bullion coin in 69 as opposed to 68...absolutely not in my opinion. To the naked eye these two coins are identical.

 

 

I have a couple MS/PF 70 bullion coins.ONLY because they are in my daughters birth year set.

 

My Platinum coins are 69 but I am not that stupid to pay THAT kind of money.

 

If you are a member of CS go look at the POP reports.There are a ton of 70's in bullion.

[sanmary]

My point exactly....I've got a PF69 in my sons' birthyear for the same reason.