Yesterday, while at the Fort Worth Coin show, my son asked me what was the difference between a MS62 and MS65 was. After explaining the grading system to him he seemed a little more interested and started searching for a MS70 coin. Then I had to explain why a MS70 ASE was no big deal. While we were walking the tables I came to a screeching halt! One of the dealers had a PCGS MS66 RB 1909s VBD Lincoln Cent with a Green CAC sticker. I pointed it out to my son and made a comment that that is what he could buy for me for Christmas. As I was explaining the sticker to him the dealer took it out of the case and handed it to me! Whoa! That was nice. He commented that he could not see why it was RB and not R. Beautiful coin. I told him that you couldn't ague the grade since it had the Green sticker on it, but it was a shame it didn't get the Gold. He ask me what the Gold sticker was so I explained it to him. The dealer, not my son! The dealer, or his attendant didn't know about the Gold sticker. Did I miss something? I was under the impression that the Green meant the coin was solid for the grade and the Gold was for a coin on the high end and possibly under-graded.
I am not big fan of a 3rd party that just looking+ puts a sticker on only certain coin series ."Like fishing in a Barrel" But Some are Gold is the highest CAC sticker a coin
Right, green means the coin is solid or even high end for the grade. Gold sticker means the coin is undergraded and would still get a green sticker at the next higher grade. In other words, a coin that could squeak into the next higher grade would only get a green sticker. To get the gold it would have to be solid for the next grade. Last I heard, CAC had given out about 1800 gold stickers.
"I told him that you couldn't ague the grade since it had the Green sticker on it, but it was a shame it didn't get the Gold." Just because a coin has a green sticker on it doesn't mean you can't disagree with the grade. I am a CAC supporter, but from time-to-time I disagree with them. As for the original question, yes, CAC still gives out gold stickers.
I used to not believe or care about CAC stickers, but there's no denying now that coins with the sticker bring a significant premium.
Yeah and all that proves it that some people are willing to spend more than they need to, or should. Between NGC and PCGS they have slabbed about 50 million coins now. Say that half of those are moderns, and maybe a couple of million are world coins. That still leaves over 20 million older coins in slabs. CAC has stickered what, a couple hundred thousand at most ? That still leaves a whole lot of good for the grade slabbed coins out there. And a lot of exceptional for the grade coins. All you have to do is have the patience and knowledge to seek them out.
This is also a type of self-fulfilling prophecy in that, in theory, only the nicer coins will receive a sticker and those coins should sell for more than the dogs that are in the same grade holders.
I haven't paid more for a CAC coin yet. I probably will one day. But to this point the sticker has only had an affect on my sales, not my purchases.
I agree Tom. But then you have be buying the coin and not the plastic, or sticker. Most will walk right by a nicer coin to buy one that has a sticker, because that's all they can see. I reckon the plus side to that is that it leaves more nice coins out there for those who have eyes and can use their heads.
you say people don't listen to you? I am glad they don't. leaves more for me, but I am retired, never mind
So it's agreed that a coin that is nice for the grade should sell at a premium compared to a dog? In that case, is there really a premium for coins with CAC stickers, or is it simply the case that there is a premium for nicer coins?
Your question is a lot more complicated than one might think. There are several possibilities with any given coin in any given grade. The coin can be - 1 - over-graded, meaning it really deserves the next lower grade 2 - under-graded, meaning it really deserves the next higher grade 3- low for the grade, meaning it just barely deserves the grade assigned 4- good for the grade, meaning it is graded accurately 5 - high for the grade, meaning it is exceptional for that grade and almost deserves the next grade 6 - it should never have been graded to begin with because it's a problem coin Once a buyer understands that and can recognize one from the other then that buyer should be willing to pay a premium for coins in the 2nd and 5th categories. But what do you base that premium on, and how much of a premium ? The premium should be based on the average price for coins in the 4th category - good for the grade. And coins in the 2nd category should be worthy of a higher premium than coins in the 5th category. That's common sense. How much more for either ? Well, that's up to the buyer to decide and that decision should be based on the buyers knowledge of the market. But if you don't know the market then you're going to have hard time figuring it out and you might just pay too much. By the same token coins that fall into the 1st and 3rd categories should be worth less than the base line 4th category. The same reasoning as used above applies here, but in reverse. Now we have the CAC coins. The coins with a green CAC sticker are those in the 4th & 5th categories. That presents us with a bit of a problem for there is no distinction provided by CAC that separates # 4s from # 5s, and they are definitely not equal to each other, # 5s are worth more, and should be. But not all buyers know and recognize that, so many often end up paying the same premium for both. And quite often the premium they pay because the coin has the sticker is too much, it is often the same price paid for coins in the next higher grade. - all because of that green sticker. It's a problem that is very similar to buyers believing that slabbed coins are worth more than equal raw coins. Only here we have slabbed coins vs slabbed coins with stickers. And just as many buyers are not capable of determining on their own that a raw coin is every bit the equal of one in a slab and thus worth the same price, there are also many buyers that are not capable of determining on their own that the slabbed coin with no sticker is every bit the equal of the slabbed coin with the sticker. And it is that group of buyers, which is unfortunately made up of the majority of all buyers, who are not capable of recognizing any of those 3 coins (the raw coin, the slabbed coin, and the slabbed coin with sticker) that are all 3 equal. So they pay too much of a premium for the slabbed coin with sticker. So yes there is premium for nicer coins, but typically only educated and knowledgeable buyers will pay that premium, and it makes no difference to them if the coin is raw or in a slab. And yes there is a premium for CAC coins, but typically those buying the CAC coins have no idea if that coin is in the 4th category or the 5th category. And since it is logical that the number of CAC coins in the 4th category is much larger than the number of those in the 5th category, most of those buyers are paying too much for that green sticker. Meaning the premium they are paying is too big most of the time. I guess what I am trying to tell you is that not all premiums are equal, nor should they be.
Makes sense to me. I guess the takeaway is, even if you prefer stickered coins, don't shut off your brain. You still need to buy the coin and not the slab/sticker.
my suggestion is to buy whatever is the cheapest all other things being equal don't pay extra for the slab or the sticker
believe it r not they are some big dealers based in the us. in their defense they mostly deal with world coins.
Believe it or not Joe there are still a lot of dealers out there who have no use for the TPGs, and they show a great deal of disdain for coins in their slabs. Even those who deal in US coins.
