Coin grading services

[CWA-migration]

I have done some research on this but don't have the experience of many of you. I recently used NGC to grade some coins...thought a few were under graded but then I'm not an expert...but have looked at hundreds of pictures of different MS graded coins.

 

I am thinking about sending a few to ANACS...my question....is the value of a coin in the market dramatically effected by whether it is graded by NGC, PCGS or ANACS?

 

Thanks, hope you all are well!

[physics-fan3.14]

Yes. ANACS has the lowest respect, thus the lowest value (don't send anything to ANACS that you hope to resell - modern ANACS is essentially a third world slab). NGC and PCGS are about equal (though certain PCGS coins demand a higher price). I personally prefer NGC, due to their excellent customer service. Oh, and this website belongs to NGC.

[CWA-migration]

 

This is why I joined, great company and good service...with good resources....it seems that like with any art..coin grading can be a bit subjective...it seems that even the 70 point scale is applied differently at times...as you all know...big diffrence in value between an MS 62 to MS 64 or 65 on many morgans.

 

Someone posted a comment jokingly perhaps that it depends on how much coffee the grader had that morning...clearly NGC and PCGS are considered the silver standard...for the life of me, I see coins graded MS65 that do not look any better than than some 63''s...I'm not the expert but when a coin has some bag marks in the fields and minor scratches, with good luster...and gets a 62 but a similar coin gets a 65 I look with great interest so that I can try to initially grade mine more accurately...

 

My intial question was really about standards...I read that some are trying to be more conservative than others...the scale is the scale...the marketplace wants consistancy yet you here all the time that some grade easier than others....a NGC MS65 vs a PCGS MS66 is serious business...so I'm done...I have more coins to get graded....if you told me that PCGS would tend to grade a little higher than NGC then....I guess you have to deal with the subjectivity that exists and if you are really unhappy send it back for another look.

[Mark T]

ANACS was fine if you had a coin that was at risk of not grading because of some type of problem. Now that PCGS and NGC will slab a problem coin in a details holder there is no reason to send your coins to ANACS . ANACS is currently to loose , the resale on an ANACS coin especially one in a current ANACS holder is less then NGC or PCGS . Stick with NGC .

As for your comment about grading standards. Both NGC and PCGS have fluctuated from lose to tight over the years. Currently both are conservative and tight. So over the years grading standards have changed and you will see many coins that reflect that.

 

 

[CWA-migration]

Thanks Mark, I started with NGC and will stick with them...I think I had too much coffee this morning...

[michael]

basically only two true grading services that carry any significant weight in the marketplace

 

ngc

 

and

 

pcgs

 

 

both are equal in my opinion but overall ngc is slightly ahead of pcgs

[HiHoAudio]

NGC has the best customer service in the business, and that counts for a lot in my book.

[World Colonial]

As you can tell by my forum name, I do not collect US coins. I used to a long time ago when I started but my experience is very limited compared to others on this board.

 

Occassionally, I am equally surprised by the grades I see assigned. I see coins such as Morgans that appear to have far too many bagmarks to deserve the grade they get.

 

And I have noticed the same thing on some circulated coins. I've seen coin pictures here such as for bust halves that I would have thought were a grade such as VF-20 but then collectors who have them and know more say they are a higher grade VF.

 

Based upon what I read here and what I know, I would say that the grading services have improved the consistentcy of grading at any given point in time but it seems (anecdotally) that grading standards are looser than they used to be, at least in some instances.

 

I would also stick to NGC and PCGS. But I would not send coins back in for a second time unless you you think you know better than the graders to conclude they made a mistake and the coin is worth a decent amount of money. Paying multiple grading fees on most coins such as most Morgans MS-64 or below will get really expensive fast. These are "widget" coins and you would be better off just buying a graded specimen to start.

[James_OldeTowne]

As a cataloger, I see probably in the thousands of freshly slabbed coins a year. From that standpoint, I very strongly urge you NOT to use ANACS. Their grading I would have to call "poor" right now.

 

Use only NGC or PCGS at this time.

 

NGC has been, in my opinion, rather exceptional lately, grading about where I like coins to grade (which is to say, a little conservatively). So there is no way I'd crack out recent NGC coins and send them to ANACS. That's simply throwing away good money.

[WinstonWare]

I won’t do any further business with PCGS. If they had no customer service it would be an improvement. They regularly go out of their way to belittle collectors on their chat board. I’m sticking with NGC so that would be my suggestion.

[Schatzy]

I won’t do any further business with PCGS. If they had no customer service it would be an improvement. They regularly go out of their way to belittle collectors on their chat board. I’m sticking with NGC so that would be my suggestion.

 

[RareSov]

I've hardly a bad thing to say ever about NGC. And when I did complain, I got action from someone up high. Problem solved, very understanding and a lot of effort into a small issue with international shipping.

 

Another time when I emailed customer service about a tricky question I actually got an answer from right near the top ! that was amazing service. Customer service could have just said they don't know, or thrown my email out. I got vital info about a previous release, who knows, that info could have been lost to the numismatic community over time

 

Things seem organised, efficient, when you look at NGC. NCS as sister company perfectly positioned. The holder getting better material wise.. even down to things like special fancy labels (Lincoln one for example).. details grading, photo cert lookup !