PCI

[sakorick]

I sent some gold into PCI for grading.....then found out everyone thinks they are crooks. I thought the coins were fairly graded with the exception of one of the Eagles that was graded AU58 because of a scratch on the obverse. I had to look through a glass to find it and it may be all of 3mm long. The other 10 or so were graded MS60 to 63 and were right in line with what I expected. The turn around time was sensational. Too bad I won't use them anymore because of the bad reputation.

 

Also, what is the best source for current prices on Morgans? I've seen different sources on the internet and they are all over the place. Finally, what do you think of the GSA coins as an investment? I collect the CC's and am leery of some of the sellers on eBay. At least with the GSA coins I would think you could get a fair deal. Your thoughts appreciated. Regards, Rick.

[XpipedreamR]

The PCI coins may very well have been accurately graded, but I don't think they really make a habit of it. As for the price info, start a free account at Heritage and look at old auction results

[drwstr123]

I've been using PCI for a while. They caught one scratch I missed completely. Right on it. Turn around great and red lable, not bodybag them. They run monthky specials too. Mike

[SilverGigolo]

If you had a good experience with PCI feel free to use them again. No grading company has a monopoly at this time and shouldn't for our sake. I think the best way to think about this is to be careful and be cognizant of why some of PCI's competitors will bad mouth them. I've had medium size professional dealers tell me they can often pick up an accurately graded piece from PCI for a good discount. The only non-biased source for sight unseen bidding levels is the grey sheet-the Coin Dealer newsletter. ICG usually ranks #1 with that test but many brand loyal dealers will knock any competitor. I prefer ICG because no dealer or group of dealers owns them and I like that independence but the big dealers do not.

 

Of course, the site moderator's company is NGC and they are top knotch too. Try a few different grading companies and compare the accuracy and cost. A lot of it depends on why and what coin you want graded. A $20,000 coin going into a national auction seems to always have NGC or PCGS grading.

[jason888]

i treat PCI as "raw". i never had a PCI coin croosover to NGC even with a point lower minimum!

i once sent PCI a cleaned AU 1949-s Frankie. it came back MS64 CLEANED. i cracked it, let it retone and sent it back. now its a regular AU 58.

[James_OldeTowne]

Hello to another fellow Missourian!

 

Just be aware that PCI does not in any way, shape or form "certify" coins. They merely grade them. So they have no financial liability regarding the quality of their grades.

 

James

[jerseyboy]

PCI seemed fairly accurate when they slabbed using the green labels awhile ago, but the more recent gold labeled slabs seem to be overgraded. I recently bought on Ebay an "MS 66" PCI Morgan which had really pretty toning, but a hit on Liberty's cheek would render it no more than a technical 63 if it were graded properly.

[sakorick]

Thank you all...very informative. This new era coin collecting thing has become pretty complicated. Regards, Rick.

[GoYankees]

I've heard that the lower tier slabs will grade coins accurately if a collector sends them in to be graded. But there are dealers who send junk in bulk submissions that the lower TPGs will slab. Therefore, if one lone collector is submitting, that's one thing, if you're buy lower TPG slabs on eBay, caveat emptor.