Coin Grading Companies

---I have bought 3 SGS slabs from a friend...cracked none of them yet....but will sometime.

You can say that again.

Speedy

 

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Hope you paid no more than PR65 or MS64 "raw" money for them...your poor friend. He got taken.

 

Unless you know the person, or can see the coin befor you buy, never buy until you come to this forum first.
There are some very knowledgeable coin collectors here that have seen a lot over the years. And they are
more than happy to help us all out, just ask. As for tpg I only buy n.g.c. coins remember come here if you
need help.

 

Nah.....my friend also knew....he is a collector....I think I paid $2 each.

Speedy

 

i AM Brand new to coin collecting. This thread helped me dodge the SGS bullet. I almost purchased 2000-2005 Silver proof dimes from ABONCOM for $20. I'll now spend that money on a coin I can look at over the counter or something that is in a reputible grader's plastic case.

Thanks helpful experts!:high5:

 

I would suggest not useing that $20 for coins over the counter yet.....take that $20 and buy books....the old saying is--Buy the book BEFORE you buy the coin.

Speedy

 

Cleaned coins versus over-graded

I too have bought a number of MS70 and PR70 SGS graded coins. Not being an expert collector nor a grader of coins, the coins still looked nice both in the pictures and when I received them. Now I'm wondering if these coins were cleaned up before being put into slabs to make them look more like the grade they were given or are they just overgraded coins? Anyone know how to tell if a coin has been cleaned (without taking it out of the slab and looking at it under magnification)? Also anyone else heard about disreputable grading companies that might have cleaned/scrubbed coins?

 

Hi Coinked,
A couple months ago I ordered two coins from SGS/Aboncom.
Fortunately I was skeptical of their claim the coins were perfect MS70, as I know that relatively few coins can meet that grade at the more reliable grading companies.
However, with that said, I did get coins that are obviously business uncirculated. The coins were good enough for most of us amateurs who need to fill empty spots in our albums.
Only one time have I received a coin from them that I felt was well worthy of a really good grade, but still not MS70. It is a beautiful Buffalo nickel that is a great uncirculated MS+ example.
The last time I ordered one coin from them, they had changed their shipping costs. They were going to charge me twice+ for postage than I paid for the coin.
No way was I going to do that. Apparently they are now shipping only UPS, which is more expensive than the post office.
I went back to the ad and discovered a section in their shipping quotes that said you can request post office shipping, which is what I demanded, as it was ten dollars less.

With any auction or direct purchase you need to do a little research and determine what you are willing to pay for the coin based on its actual worth and the amount of money in your budget. Even though other collectors might disagree with me, I think a copy of the Red Book of Coins (for US coins) is a good starting place. In time you will likely want to branch out into specific areas of interest. Because I was most interested in completing my Lincoln cent set, the first three books I acquired were the 2008 Red Book, the 'Photograding' book, and the 'Looking Through Lincoln Cents'.
These books gave me a fairly good foundation for knowing at what price the coins are valued, and the grade my wallet can afford.
Later I purchased more books, including 'Cherry Pickers Guide', 'The Lincoln Cent Double Die', and for nickels the 'Official Red Book, A Guide Book of Buffalo and Jefferson Nickels'. And, of course, the new 2009 Red Book.
As for affording the books, try Amazon and stores that sell used books, and you can probably find a bargain or two.

I guess I have babbled on enough for this post, so I will let it go at that for now.

Do not ever feel like you are bugging the knowledgeable collectors on CT because they really do like to help. Maybe someday I can be knowlegdeable enough to be counted among their flock. Until then, I keep asking questions, posting pictures for opinions, and hoping I am doing something right when it comes to purchases I plan to keep for a long time.

Good luck on your searching and acquisitions.

jeankay

 

I won't disagree with you. In fact I would be surprised if most of the advanced collectors out there didn't purchase the Red Book as one of their first references. The quibble I hear from many folks is that the pricing given in the Red Book is not very accurate. I would expect that to be true given the dynamic nature of coin collecting. The Red Book may not be everything to everyone, but for a survey book for the beginner and as a handy quick reference guide for more advanced folks, you can't beat it.....of course, this is all imho. Your mileage may vary.

 

Just about exactly what I was thinking. So I quoted it again.

 

greetings!
please trust the opinions of the experts and long timers. there is a vast amount of knowledge here. all want to help and try to educate another collector. i have studied as much about grading that has been available to me and you will find a huge amount of info on various grading services and grading by searching this site.

i rarely comment on moderns as to be truly honest...i doubt my ability to tell the difference between an ms or prf 69 or 70.

i fully encourage you to study grading and listen to experts. a slab is packaging w/ an OPINION assigned to it. the opinion may be subjective or, depending on the source, a mere marketing tool....on the other hand.. a coin is a coin...it is worth what you are willing to pay for it (to you) and is worth whatever someone else deems it is worth when you are selling........... i wish you the very best in your collecting.........steve

 

If you must use tpg services use PCGS , ANACS , NGC .
rzage

 

All coins have a certain look to the metal when minted , it is caused by the pressure of the dies forcing the metal to move when striking the coin , this can be seen most readily on larger coins like Morgan dollars , it's called the cartwheel effect . when looking at a coin rotate it at an angle you should see the reflection moving , sort of like the spokes on a wheel . If a coin was overdipped or harshly cleaned a part of the coins surface is removed , leaving an even or no luster coin . sorry I'm not better at describing this . The next time you go to a shop ask the dealer to show you . Or someone else at this sight can explain it better .
rzage:smile:mouth::smile:kewl:

 

I know that this is an OLD thread. However I feel the need to vent again.

I read the message that Speedy posted back in 2006 and I am sure by now has changed thoughts regarding collectors submitting coins to SGS.

Has anyone here ever submitted any coins to SGS?

Unless they are extremely valuable (TO THEM), I don't believe SGS would even accept them.

Check out THIS thread.

Back in 2006 Coin Word had an article regarding Grading Companies (SGS in my opinion is NOT remotely a third party grading company) and the writer receive a similar reply that was received regarding grading the 1964 proof set that was received in the thread referenced.

I obtained the January 2006 issue of Coin World and here is the author's response from SGS...

The first, SGS, said in part: "Sorry, but we are so busy we are not able to take care of our long time customers so we are not answering any requests right now from new customers."

Funny how they have a 9 month waiting period and cannot grade my common 1964 proof set but JUMP at those 10 unopened 20th anniversary silver Eagles!

So do they really grade coins for collectors or is there a hidden agenda to possibly bait-and-switch, coins they receive?

After the responses I received, I wouldn't let them touch my coins with a 2457 MILE LONG POLE!

And reading all that BULL on the SGS web page makes me think even less of them.

SGS is a coin grading
company with the
highest standards of
quality and integrity.

They lost all integrity when they made two entirely differing statements regarding their ability to accept coins for grading.

And having already seen their grading standards with regard to not seeing obvious things on coins and Silver Strike casino tokens, they have no standards when they can't even see. THIS LINK is ample proof of their eyesight and standards. With regards to Silver Strikes they just jumped into that collectible area without any attempt to learn about it and didn't even know the difference between a casino chip or casino token. What integrity does that show?

We've all seen the quality of their grading of coins so I won't even go there.

Regarding the ANA sending them an offer. Yes, I do believe that they did and I think that the ANA used the list of those companies listed on the PNG ITCA GRADING SURVEY to send requests to. I do believe that this was a BIG mistake made by the ANA.

A while back I posted HERE that I had contacted the ANA regarding the statement made by SGS. I did receive replies from two ANA officials but have heard or seen nothing more from them regarding this issue.

I do say the only way to STOP SGS, is DO NOT BUY THEM! If the market dries up and they cannot make money they will cease to exist.

PROOF??? Why does ABON no longer do Sports Card Grading AKA = A.G.S.(ADVANCED GRADING SERVICE)? The claim was that they were an A.G.S. distributor but you could only get your cards A.G.S. graded through a distributor. YEAH RIGHT. Just like you get your SGS graded coins via Aboncom!

Abon used to be...

Abon Cards & Coins, Ltd.

This is listed on their ABON ENTERPRISES e-bay page HERE.

Go to their website Abon.com and you see that name only listed on their ABOUT US page. Are there any other references to sports cards? Can you find any "graded" sports cards listed by ABONCOM on e-bay? (They do have 3 lots of ungraded sports cards.) I remember when they used to sell sports card supplies.

HERE is what was listed on an e-bay forum regarding A.G.S. Advancedgrading.com.

SGS and Abon have an interesting history but...

Is SGS a third party grading company?

Is their claim "SGS is a coin grading company with the highest standards of quality and integrity" true?

I say NO! You decide for yourselves?

 

Why NGC

Why buy only NGC graded coins , NGC is one of the better tpg , but no better than PCGS , or ANACS . Also you should buy the coin not the slab .
You are really limiting yourself if you only buy from 1 service . TPG are used best for authentication , if YOU agree with the given grade .

rzage:smile:kewl::hail::mouth::smile

 

GD had made some very interesting arguments on this a few years ago. he had suggested that you submit to all the top 4 TPG's so you would become familair with how all 4 graded and become a better grader yourself inthe process. while i endorse the theory myself i cannot think to go beyond PCGS and NGC

 

Stop it!
This belongs in Phoenix's joke sections!

You are killing me, too funny!!!!

 

I like PCGS best , but don't want to limit myself . I have slabbed PCGS, NGC , and ANACS . If I like the coin I'd even buy sgs . Buy the coin not the slab is a very good saying .


zage:mouth::whistle::hail::mouth::smile
BTW I think the new ANACS is doing as good as the others , it seems each Co. tightens its standards for a while , then relaxes them and so on and so on .

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1966-PERFECT-SMS-LINCOLN-MEMORIAL-PENNY-CENT-/120843736889?pt=Coins_US_Individual&hash=item1c22d91739

listed as sms70 by SGS - not to mention the 5 dollar "price"

according to pcgs grading, they've only seen one get up to 67! Lol....as jeff foxworthy says greatly...HERES YOUR SIGNNNNN
http://www.pcgs.com/Prices/PriceGuideDetail.aspx?MS=1&PR=1&SP=4&c=47&title=Lincoln+Cent+(Modern)

i may be reading the wrong tables tho,so dont take my word for it

 

my name jim jim i sent coins to be graden at anacs . they are horrible they switch coins on me . saying they cleaned them so if your coins come back cleaned chances they are not your coins people should know about there stealing coins