which is the best grading company?

Discussion in 'Coin Chat' started by aschwars, Jan 31, 2011.

  1. aschwars

    aschwars New Member

    hello,
    I want to know what you think is the best (most reliable) grading company out of these 3: PCGS, NGC, or ANACS.
     
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  3. Leadfoot

    Leadfoot there is no spoon

    Most reliable (which I interpret to mean "consistent")? NGC, in my opinion.

    PCGS is overall more conservative and their coins typically fetch more money in the same grade holder, but that's not what you asked.

    What coins, specifically, are you interested in -- because the answer may vary by series/type?
     
  4. Merc Crazy

    Merc Crazy Bumbling numismatic fool

    I prefer PCGS... nicer slabs, fetch better prices.
     
  5. EyeEatWheaties

    EyeEatWheaties Cent Hoarder

    submitting coins to grading companies is as reliable as buying coins from eBay?.... a crap shoot! :)
     
  6. hamman88

    hamman88 Spare some change, sir?

    I'm partial to the new NGC holders myself. The "edgeview" holders I think they're called. With the other type of NGC holders I defiantly prefer PCGS. ICG=yuck slabs. Never have had a new ANACS holder, but I don't like the old small ones.
     
  7. rzage

    rzage What Goes Around Comes Around .

    Either NGC or PCGS it doesn't matter to me , I'm looking at the coin not the holder , If you look at Heratige auction results it really doesn't matter what slab it's in can be in an ANACS slab and fetch more money if the coin is better . But if you want to know going blindly in PCGS is tougher on coins
    than NGC especially on toned coins .
    rzage
     
  8. jallengomez

    jallengomez Cessna 152 Jockey

    My knowledge of Lincolns tells a different story. While there may be the rare exception, on Heritage PCGS handily beats out NGC and ANACS by a long shot when it comes to auction prices realized. That doesn't mean a PCGS 67 is a better 67 than the others, but there sure as heck is that perception with bidders at the auction houses.
     
  9. mark_h

    mark_h Somewhere over the rainbow

    As you can see there are a variety of reasons to pick one and it usually boils down to a personal preference. I like PCGS best, but that does not stop me from buying NGC or ANACs coins.
     
  10. Merc Crazy

    Merc Crazy Bumbling numismatic fool

    Well, for my Morgan set, I want nothing but PCGS slabs. I'll buy an NGC or ANACS coin if I'm confident it'll cross in the grade I'm looking for and I get it cheaper enough to justify the cost of crossing it over. I don't like sets that have different slabs and stuff... it just doesn't look as good to me... and the whole reason behind me buying these coins is to display the set someday.
     
  11. mpcusa

    mpcusa "Official C.T. TROLL SWEEPER"

    Agree PCGS!!
     
  12. cpm9ball

    cpm9ball CANNOT RE-MEMBER

    Don't you mean submitting problem coins?

    Chris
     
  13. cpm9ball

    cpm9ball CANNOT RE-MEMBER

    There will always be those who prefer PCGs and those who prefer NGC. If you talk to a VAMmer, they prefer ANACS. No one can say with 100% certainty that either PCGS or NGC is more conservative or looser in their grading. The people who believe in PCGS because they get higher prices in auctions don't realize that not everyone is submitting only to resell the coin. So, for the collector who is just looking to build a collection, you also have to consider that it costs more to submit to PCGS than it does to NGC. I submit to both, but I prefer NGC because they have the best customer service. I don't give a damn what my coins will get at auction because it won't be my problem. I'll be dead!

    Chris
     
  14. spock1k

    spock1k King of Hearts

    SGDCGS

    spockGD coin grading service our tagline is coins are AU MS is a fantasy
     
  15. GDJMSP

    GDJMSP Numismatist Moderator

    Speak for yourself, because I've never said any such thing.
     
  16. blitzen

    blitzen Member

    I've been looking at the 2009 Lincoln commems ,proof and uncirculated sets and asking prices for pgcs 70 grades are north of $400 and you can get the ngc's for $250. Why should I pay $150 more for the same quality? Will both appreciate at the same rate or will the pgcs grow quicker? To me investing $250 to make say a $50 profit down the road is better than investing $400 to make the same profit down the road.
     
  17. nerarities

    nerarities New Member

    Just my 2 cents.....I prefer PCGS for the reasons listed above, as well as in the colonial market (I am a colonial coin dealer) the PCGS market is significantly more collected and valued by collectors. From what I have seen, NGC can be all over the board with older copper coins when compared to PCGS. (Of course there are some obvious raised eyebrows with both services on these coins) The comment by blitzen above seems to suggest the market agrees that PCGS is the more reliable service...(i.e. the market is suggesting you are not paying more for the same quality, you are paying more for a true quality but that is not my area of expertise)

    Again, just my 2 cents.
     
  18. GDJMSP

    GDJMSP Numismatist Moderator

    To be honest with you it's because of the past. And to a large extent it's specifically because of the 70 grade. Years ago it was extremely rare that PCGS would slab any coin with a 70 grade. This included the bullion coins and the modern commems, which are typically the only coins there are that ever get the 70 grade from either company. But NGC would slab those coins as 70 if they thought the coins deserved that 70 grade. PCGS on the other just flat would not, and they admitted publicly that they would not. It was simply company policy to not assign the 70 grade. Now for that reason, there were other reasons as well, but that 1 reason had more to do with it than anything else IMO, the public thought that meant that PCGS was tougher or more strict with their grading than NGC was.

    But that was not really the truth, it was merely what the public perceived to be the truth. In the coin collecting hobby, perception is everything !

    But in recent years all of that has changed. PCGS threw their company policies about grading out the window. They admitted this publicly. And they started assigning the 70 grade left and right. I've mentioned this several times before, but a good example would be the 2010 Proof ASE. Back near the end of the year, of the 44,000 total 2010 Proof ASE's that PCGS had graded, over 36,000 of them were assigned the PF70 DCAM grade by PCGS. 36,000 !! That's almost 82% of the coins graded PF70 DCAM. Not exactly what I would call tough grading.

    But yet the public remembers the past, not the present because for the most part the public is not aware of the present.Nor are they aware of how much PCGS has changed their grading practices in recent years. They only remember that perception they have from years ago. It's what they read in the coin forums - that PCGS is tougher.

    Well the reality is that PCGS is not tougher, and they never have been. The reality is that on some series PCGS is tougher, and that on some series NGC is tougher. And that's the way it always has been. And that's why, among knowledgable collectors, some series were always sent to one company or the other. But the fans of both companies only see what they want to see. They want to think that "their" company is the best grading company. So to prove this they point out this example and that example. But the examples they always point out are from those series where "their" company actually is tougher. They somehow conveniently forget about the other series where the "other" company is tougher.

    Thus we have the market's preception. Thus we have grading wars and threads like this one. They number in thousands on this forum alone. But rarely, very rarely, do we ever have the truth.
     
  19. blitzen

    blitzen Member

    That makes sense and thank you taking the time to explain why the difference in market value is so far apart. That said, doesn't it make sense to buy a coin for 40% less through NGC? Why would I care if it made $50 selling it at $300 or $50 selling it at $450....actually I like the lower out of pocket investment, wouldn't you?
     
  20. EyeEatWheaties

    EyeEatWheaties Cent Hoarder


    naaaaa I am talking about the actual grade that will come back..
     
  21. mark_h

    mark_h Somewhere over the rainbow

    How do you know you are getting the same quality? And if you can tell a 70 you should be buying raw and getting a coin graded. :) Save lots of money. Plus there is no guarantee you will make profit. I am not poking fun at you or the reason to buy ngc, but most people can't tell a 69 from a 70 - including me and my local dealer. So save even more money and get a 69 coin. Then remember that when you go to sell you don't want to go to a dealer - they pay bullion prices for modern issues. I think their are a few exceptions, but most are bullion prices. As a matter of fact I think my local shop is currently paying the same for proofs - raw or pcgs graded. The business strikes are flat bullion prices - even a 70. Just a humble thought or opinion.
     
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