The Purge II posted by jayh749

[CSJournals-migration]

Totally sad

 

O.K.. So sometimes I read about someone who submits an order, only to be dishartened when their crossover submission is returned, not to their sadisfaction. Personally, I say too bad, maybe they expected too much, or their coins were not what they thought.

Today is my day to cry. None of my PCGS coins crossed over. I mean, these were top notch coins. how can this be. PCGS can't be that bad at grading, can they? Here is what I sent in. A 1954 and 1956 Canadian PL-68 silver dollars. A Canadian 1951 PL-67 silver dollar. A Canadian 1965 Type 4 , Pl-67 silver dollar, and a No water line, Canadian 1952 PL-66 silver dollar. These are expensive coins. With their cameos, heavy and ultra heavy cameos ( not on the labels, which is fine) these coins valued over 10,000.00. Of course, my out of pocket was about one half, to two thirds of that. Still though, really, they would cross even at their labled grade, without cameo concideration. Now, here is a twist. Two years ago, I sent in a 1953 Canadian, ICCS Pl-63 cameo, 5 cent for cross over. It came back as a MS-64, not even PL. I was ticked. This coin cost me 350.00. They are so rare, that now with the cross, I could not even resell to get my money back, as the MS coin is so common. Well, here is the twist. I broke that 5c out of its NGC holder and resent it back in to be graded as a pl 5c. No cross over, just grading. This time it came back as a PL-63. YAAA!! That is what it was in the first place before I paid for grading it, two times.

Now, I wished that I had not let that coin go, from the Heritage auction, that my competition picked up for their set. (journal: self inflicted wound)

What a day. Im mad, sad, confused, and would like some answers from NGC. I just find it hard to believe that they consider PCGS as that bad, I would guess like the private guy on ebay who grades encapsulates and tries to sell his own product.

 

See more journals by jayh749

[greysoldier]

I can only say from my recent experience with German coins that PCGS will almost always get a 1 grade reduction from a crossover to NGC. I usually come out better sending in raw coins, since I tend to be consertive in my grading. NGC and PCGS simply have different grading standards which also includes the cameo designations. If you purchase PCGS, look at the coin carefully or be prepared for a reduction. I do not pay any premium just because a coin is PCGS graded. I cannot speak to the issue with US coins. Just some of my thoughts.

Benny

[Mohawk]

I completely understand your sadness and frustration. I'm mainly a world collector myself......German and Turkish coins are my particular area of specialty but I do others as well. And I must say, unless I get a killer deal on it, I bypass anything graded by PCGS as it's just been a good way to lose money in my opinion and experience. They might be top dog for U.S. coins, but not for anything else. And maybe not even there. I have a 1909-O Indian $5 ( one of my few Classic U.S. coins) that I bought as an ICG AU55 Details. I had to crack it out of the holder to get an NGC grade on it, of course, but even that crossed exactly. An ICG. My advice is to stay away from PCGS for your high dollar and grade world, and save yourself a lot of time, money and heartache. Buy NGC graded in the first place and you can't go wrong!

[brg5658]

I have to echo what Mohawk says. PCGS world coins are a gamble. I do have several in my collection, but only because I was able to purchase them at prices of 1-2 grades below the grades PCGS put on the slab. And, when purchasing those coins, I was always able to see high quality images.

 

I don't know how to say it nicely, but PCGS really lags behind in their abilities to grade world coins. There are a LOT of PCGS world coins in MS62 and MS63 (and even some MS64) holders that would be NGC AU58 coins (at best).

 

It does go both ways though. On rare occasion you will find a complete gem in a PCGS holder that is undergraded. It's the exception rather than the rule, but it does happen.

 

If you really love the coins, and not just the grade on the PCGS plastic, you can always crack these out and submit them raw to NGC. They are still the same coins -- but I know that is little consolation given how much money is probably wrapped in the registry set "top grade" labels.

[RWB]

You are paying for an opinion....not a fact. Opinions change, as you and your bank account discovered.