How acceptable are old ANA slabs ?

[Bill in FL]

Another question for you pros....

I have some coins slabbed in old "official ANA" holders.

They are mid 1800 gold pieces.

The grading looks accurate to me, but who knows ?

How acceptable are these slabs in today's market place compared to PCGS & NGS coins ?

Your comments will tell me if they should be re-slabbed.

I'd like to avoid this additional expense, but not at the risk of selling at lower prices.

Thanks.

Bill in FL

[Mozin]

ANACS started their #11 style holders, in the approximate size of the current slabs, around November of 1989. These holders should be acceptable in the marketplace. If you are talking one of the earlier style holders that looked something like a 3X5 card you should probably submit your coins for grading with PCGS, or NGC.

[Bill in FL]

Mozin

You are correct as to the timing, as I probably had these graded early in 1990.

And, I am wondering if the grading standards have changed enough since then, that the coins might grade out at a higher grade than they did 15 years ago ??

Your thoughts collectors ??

Thanks.

Bill in FL

[michael]

got to see the coins in hand sight seen to let you know

 

a guesstimate based on what you wrote is that there might be a good chance they are correctly to undergraded

[James_OldeTowne]

Depending on who you talk to, you'll get opinions ranging from those grades being "inconsistent" to "looser than the big two". Here's my unbiased opinion.

 

As some of you may know, I recently acquired a small hoard of certified coins purchased in 1989. About a third were old ANACS slabs. In my opinion, those coins were very conservatively graded.

 

The fact that you see those old ANACS slabs even less often than PCGS rattlers should tell you something . However, ALL of the slabs from 16 years ago were conservatively graded. I did not find even a single coin out of the hoard that was overgraded by ANY of the three services.

 

Gradeflation is a very, very sad reality .

 

James

[Connecticoin]

If you plan on keeping the coins in your collection for a while, leave them in the current slabs. The coins will still look as nice, and, who knows, those slabs may be big collector's items 20 years down the road.

 

If you might sell them in the near future, and you think they are properly graded, you will probably get more for them in PCGS or NGC plastic. I would crack them and submit raw -- everyone seems to be getting killed on crossovers recently!

[crazyboutcoins-migration]

Does anyone know of a ranking system among all of the old/new grading companies? I think everyone agrees currently it's #1PGCS and #2 NGC (old ANACS are in there too) but what about the others? NNC, United, SEGS, etc. Any thoughts?

[gmarguli]

Does anyone know of a ranking system among all of the old/new grading companies? I think everyone agrees currently it's #1PGCS and #2 NGC (old ANACS are in there too) but what about the others? NNC, United, SEGS, etc. Any thoughts?

 

There is no real ranking system. And ranked in what way? Personally, I would like to rank the services based on consistency. It shouldn't matter if a service is strict or loose with grading as long as you know what to expect for a given grade. Based on this:

 

1) NGC

2) ANACS/PCGS (ANACS better with circulated, but PCGS better with uncirculated)

3) ICG (Seems to be getting better with classics)

4) Who cares.

[crazyboutcoins-migration]

Thanks Greg. Just where are all of these grading services coming from and how do they exist? I know the pros like yourself would only use one of the top two (okay, you'd probably use only NGC) but I would guess an amateur wouldn't even know of the others. How are they in business? One of my guesses would be a few people use them (heavily) to get high grades and then unload them on ebay. Strictly a guess though.

[gmarguli]

Just where are all of these grading services coming from and how do they exist?

 

Many that you see on eBay are homemade grading services. They do not take submissions. Others are usually set up by dealers to move their problem coins.

 

 

I know the pros like yourself would only use one of the top two (okay, you'd probably use only NGC)

 

I submit to NGC, ANACS, & ICG. I like NGC for the consistency, value, and salability. ANACS is good if you need a lower priced coin expressed thru. They're also good for varieties. I've been using ICG for coins that NGC won't grade - medieval & ancient coins, certain varieties, notegeld, and coins that might get bagged at other services. I like the fact they only charge a couple of dollars if they bodybag a coin. I'm willing to try these coins with them that I would not at a service that keeps 100% of the grading fee.

 

And, if I needed a coin to be in a PCGS slab, I'd consider using them. However, that day has not come along in the past few years.

[Connecticoin]

4) Who cares.

 

Or, in other words:

 

4) Bottom-Feeder slab, consider the coin raw, and watch out for problems!!

[James_OldeTowne]

((( Does anyone know of a ranking system among all of the old/new grading companies? )))

 

I'm not going to specifically rank them, but here's the important point. Rank ALL early-generation slabs by ANY of the big three over the current generation. In other words, as a general statement, an old ANACS slab is better than a new PCGS or NGC or ANACS slab. Same holds true for an old NGC slab - better than any new slab.

 

Again, this is a generalization, but given a population of un-picked over first-generation slabs, I'm now convinced that they are as a whole graded much better than current-generation slabs. And that's irrelevant of the particular service. All three were more conservative back then.

 

GRADEFLATION GRADEFLATION GRADEFLATION!

 

James

[Oldtrader3]

I think that the worm has recently turned on grading. NGC and PCGS are grading pretty tightly now and the last couple coins that I bought were very conservatively graded.