ANACS, ICG and James Taylor

What is going on with ANACS, ICG and James Taylor? Is he ruining 2 grading services or improving TPG services provided to the consumer?
First he almost ruined ANACS with the New Holder fiasco and quickly departed the company. Then he moved to ICG.
So he buys ANACS (probably cheaper than it would have been if then didn’t screw up there holder) and then steels all the graders from ICG!
Is ICG now going to hire all the ANACS graders? So ANACS becomes ICG and ICG becomes ANACS?
I just wish I knew what James Taylors' motives are here, is he friend or foe to the hobby!

 

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I'm thinking only time will tell but do have to wonder if profit motive has a lot to do with.

Yes, I know TPGs are businesses that are out to make money. Just wondering how much Mr. Taylor may be out to make.

 

Don't know and don't care...

Take Care
Ben

 

Wow, nothing like honesty.

 

i care...i also need and deserve to know who is going to be grading the coins i submit and the potential coins i may purchase.

 

i would also like a current copy of mr. taylor's credit report...Equifax, not Experian.

 

The coin owner should be the last individual grading, authenticating, and attributing the coin. They are the final authority in my humble opinion. But then again it's just a hobby for me...

Take Care
Ben

 

Who says that ANACS was screwed up by James Taylor? I hear that a lot and a lot of complaints about their new slab, but no facts to back it up.

Do you have any numbers to back up the statement that he ruined ANACS? Did submissions rise or fall after the holder change? Did profits rise or fall after the change?

As for stealing the graders from ICG, I was under the impression that the graders worked for ICG and were not actually owned by ICG. I suspect that the graders moved from ICG to ANACS because they felt it was in their best interests to do so. If in fact ICG owned the graders and James stole them, then ICG should consider calling the local authorities to report the crime.

 

haha ypu guys are hilarious

 

For the most part I think their grading on non-moderns has loosened, but not horribly. ANACS seems to have resisted the so-called gradeflation much longer than the other TPG, but they did loosen their grading to the market a little. They needed to in order to continue to get submissions. With moderns they did start giving out 70s pretty easy. If you're the only service not giving out 70s and your 69s sell for less than slabbing fees, it's not hard to see that you're not going to get submissions for the biggest segment of the market.

Now, do we know that James Taylor was responsible for the grade changes? The changes could have just as easily been the result of the new owners looking for more submissions or the loss of key graders and them being replaced with more market oriented graders.

Personally, I think that ANACS was a decent service. Same for ICG. I suspect that most people won't notice a real difference in the grading standards with the swapping of employees.

 

I liked the old ANACS grading and I own a number of their old slabs. I don't own a single new ANACS slab, partly because of the warnings issued by Coin Talk members. I think I might have one ICG slab around here someplace, but I generally avoid them because I don't collect moderns and that's all I ever seem to see.

This is a great thread because it's difficult for someone like me to keep up with and get honest opinions about the impact of management changes on grading standards at TPGs other than from Coin Talk.

 

Honestly, I'm with you on that one. However if people want to pay for a service that they feel is worth their money, that's there perogative and it doesn't bother me any, even if I don't think the service is worth paying for myself. However, anyone else out there think the hobby would be better off if prfessional TPG's just ceased to exist? I mean, <gasp> that would force collectors to actually become educated about coins they buy and sell without depending on someone else's opinion which no matter how studied they become at grading, will still only be an opinion. An opinion which may not even be consistent withing the same grading company, or for that matter, even the same grader. Remind me again why a grading service is worth spending any money for? Personally I'd rather use the money I'd otherwise spend on grading services or whatever amount of money people add to the price on slabbed coins, on coins instead. If a coin has questionable authenticity, I have no problem paying for an expert to determine if it's genuine or not, but as to what condition the coin is in, that I'll use my eyes for. I might not know what a coin grades on some 70 point scale but I can tell for myself whehter I want to spend money on a given coin or not.

Eh, don't want to go on an anti-TPG rant but I still don't understand why anyone cares whether any given grading companies standards go up, down, or sideways. It's ultimately just an opinion, and all opinions are by definition, subjective. Who's to say whehther a company is right or wrong by tightening or loosening standards? A coin's grade isn't engraved on the coin anywhere. It's just an opinion, and nothing more, that a given coin is of a given grade, and always will be.

 

I would never have a coin graded by anyone other than PCGS or NGC based on what I have seen out there. Given the latest developments with ANACS and ICG, one has to think about what is really going on. Why would all the graders from ICG accept positions with ANACS and move so readily. Something seems off about the whole affair and thus the reason I do not deal with any one but PCGS or NGC.

The numismatic community may never know the whole story, but I'm certain big money is one of the driving factors. That big money is the reason I don't care for the TPG's - they encourage resubmitting to bolster their profits. Kinda takes the "authority" out of it if resubmitting advances a coins grade...

-Steve

 

My take on the whole thing is pretty simple actually.

James started at ICG, got a better offer when new owners took over at ANACS. Left ICG for the better offer.

Went back to ICG with intentions of buying ICG, they wouldnt sell.

Bought ANACS and you know the rest of the story.

Why would ICG graders leave so easy to go to ANACS? $$$$$ <- pretty easy to figure that one out.

I just hope that they can and do turn things around. I have talked to James a few times and even had him read a thread here in CT regarding a bad experience at ANACS from one of the members here.

 

how much money would you require to uproot your family and move from Texas to Colorado? it would have to be a significant amount for me... very significant.

-Steve