The Conundrum- no more PCGS posted by Jackson

[CSJournals-migration]

Is it time to just move my sets into the "Custom" category?

 

Well I'm sure by now that many of you have heard. The Registry will no longer be allowing PCGS coins at all in the US categories either.

For those who have spent years loyal to NGC because of their inclusiveness this is disheartening. I have no PCGS registry sets because I have a simple axiom.--"Buy the coin and not the holder."--------

Now it has come to this. If one wishes to participate with registry or competitive sets, one must pick a single "SLAB" loyalty. No more picking an NGC coin that has better eye appeal over your PCGS technical coin or conversely, no more nice toner in one slab because it is the look that you personally like--if you want to fill a slot, it can no longer be strictly about the taste in coin, it must ALSO or maybe even most importantly, first and foremost be about the plastic casing.

WE had an uproar when NGC first did this with World Coins to increase the submission revenue several years ago. Those protestations went unheard and hundreds of Top Quality Sets disappeared from the Numismatic world and/or visibility.

Now hundreds also will choose to just leave the hobby or registry in lieu of crossovers or trying to replace thousands of dollars of worth of coins in their sets by ones that have the proper housing ( often with inferior coins to the decades-old slabs of higher grading standards gone by.)

 

I am done. I am tired of politics at this point--pick the red team or blue team, this side or that and now this slab or that.

Tired of elites creating division and profiteering off of their "magnanimous" and "altruistic" empathy towards us hobbyists.

Don't %&*$ down my neck and tell me it's raining.

 

All of my sets are now 100% for sale--en toto or as pieces. My Award Winning Walker Short Set is valued near $35,000--I'll take the first honest offer of $22,000 or we can discuss options.

I also have many other sets I will be re-listing to my page while I can and those are for sale also.

My theme-based Custom sets will remain for now as those are for family.

Best of luck everyone....PS: I just won 3 items from the Stack's auction yesterday, all beautiful AU+ SLQ's for my one-per-date set. Slabbed in older holders but unable to now add to my sets on the internet.....I leave you with my last post and picture 1918 AU55 PCGS SLQ.

 

See more journals by Jackson

[coin928]

I too find this policy change disheartening. There were many reasons I chose the NGC registry over PCGS, but the major one was the inclusiveness of both NGC and PCGS graded coins.

 

The quantity of coins in my areas of interest is very small. For example, the complete NGC population for the 1915S Ten Centavos is 10, with only two graded above MS60. The total PCGS population on the other hand is more than two and a half times greater at 26 with 14 graded above MS60. Two of the lowest graded NGC coins are mine, and the only reason I decided to have them graded was because these coins just do not come up for sale very often. There was simply no other way to complete my online set.

 

There are currently 16 distinct Ten Centavo set owners, so with the new restriction, there can be at most 10 complete sets. The fine print of this new restriction did however provide for grandfathering all PCGS slabbed coins currently in NGC Registry sets. (I wish NGC had done this for the World sets a few years ago.) I am assuming that as long as you don't remove a PCGS graded coin from one of your sets, it can remain there indefinitely.

 

My U.S./Philippine sets contain roughly 33% PCGS graded coins, and I currently have no plans to remove them or cross them to NGC unless there is some seriously compelling financial incentive to do so. I will continue to look for a mint state 1915S Ten Centavo coin regardless of the plastic it is encapsulated in. At this point in time though, the odds are seven to one that it will be in a PCGS slab.

 

If I can find upgrades in PCGS slabs, so be it. If there are enough of them, I'll just create parallel Custom sets to highlight my best overall collection. I still enjoy collecting and will continue to do so regardless of online policies that I can not control.

 

I can understand that NGC believes that they do a better job of grading than anyone else. Honestly, would you really want to send your coins to a company that did not believe that? I think they could have taken a little less heavy handed approach with the Registry though. For example, NGC could assert their superiority and still allow PCGS coins to participate in the NGC Registry by discounting the points earned by some percentage, say 10%. I hope they read this and consider an alternative to complete exclusivity.

 

Hang in there. We have much bigger issues to worry about, like the four years ahead of us before the next presidential election.

[coinsbygary]

While I can understand NGC's decision, I also wish that they had left well enough alone. That said, I was considering consolidating my competitive registry collection anyways. For collections like my type sets that are 100% complete, when I upgrade a coin, I'll just upload the pictures and make a note of the coin in my description. I am going to continue to buy the coins I like in whatever holder they come in. I am also not spending the money to cross any coins.

Gary

[Electric Peak]

I'm not in the registry for the competition, but to share love for the hobby and to share information. I do care that my coins are certified as being genuine, no problem coins. And I care that my coins are physically protected. But I don't particularly care what company does it. That said, I learned early on that only NGC and PCGS get any respect when it's time to sell, and now those CAC stickers make a difference too. So I buy only NGC and PCGS, or an occasional raw coin from a trusted dealer. But the bottom line is the bottom line: I buy coins I like for money I'm comfortable paying for those coins, regardless of plastic (and the grade opinions encased with the coins) & stickers.

 

If that means a future PCGS purchase won't be in the registry, so be it.

 

But I am disappointed in the decision not to accept PCGS coins in the future. And the justification in Salzberg's letter is laughable. Without identifying PCGS by name, he essentially accuses them of inconsistency in grading standards while claiming NGC has always gotten it right since their beginning. "The last time I checked": PCGS gets more respect in the buying/selling marketplace than NGC; PCGS gets a higher percentage of CAC stickers than NGC (in my limited observation [it would be an interesting study to look at that in more detail.]); and I own what to me are obvious examples of grading inconsistency on the part of NGC (and PCGS).

 

Nevertheless, I'll stay here until another inclusive registry appears.

[RWB]

You can still enter conundrum coins.