I do this full-time and for a living. I carefully look at hundreds, if not thousands of coins each month in my niche, which is US type. Ignore me if you want, but there are differences in the proprietary grading scales between PCGS and NGC. They overlap greatly, but that overlap is not consistent between series. There is a difference and they both have head scratchers out there, but PCGS is overall a bit tougher on grades.
hmm. just one question, if most people prefer PCGS, how come NGC has been the first to grade 20, 15, and 30 million coins? make 0 sense...
your contribution to this thread helped me a lot. thank you. and thank you all for helping me out with this. i think i will go with the cheapest option for now (the cost for PCGS is higher than the reward) So again, thanks again!
I would like to see unbiased data showing consistent higher prices with PCGS coins. I personally have seen the opposite. And NGC is bigger. And NGC holders are better; and SCIENTIFICALLY more protective. PCGS is literally a $75 dog collar; the $2 WalMart dog collar will do the same thing, is made of a more durable material, and comes in better color selection. But people think because the $75 dog collar costs $75 it is better. Dont be an overpriced dog collar. GO NGC!!!
Would the ANA support the inferior TPG? NGC is the fastest growing TPG in history. WHY ARE WE DEBATING WHY PCGS IS EVEN A TOP TIER TPG? BECAUSE THEY CHARGE MORE? NOT A REASON!!
You can read the observations of someone who works in this industry and has been in numismatics for decades or you can selectively choose numbers and ask what might be rhetorical questions. This thread is rapidly losing traction for me.
The ANA auctions off the TPG sponsorship and NGC bid more money last time for the rights to use the logo.
makes sense. I do agree that PCGS would be better if i were to sell them and want to make money, but from reading these posts, it seems to me that since NGC is cheaper, and since my goal is to have a few nice coins graded, NGC is the way to go. sorry for the rhetorical questions, i can get a little "nutty"
There is one factor that I have never seen addressed in this type of discussion - when will you be selling your coins? My bet is that both TPGs do about the same job on verifying authenticity. However, the price bump that PCGS brings over NGC is based on the market now. There is no way of telling if the opposite might be true five years from now. People move from place to place, companies change owners, etc. I don't know how many times I've a quote similar to "They used to be good, but not any more" applied to some of the lower tier companies. PCGS could be in that category 10 years from now. At one time ANACS was at the top. So, bottom line is - will you be selling your coins in today's market, or the market twenty years from now. If the latter, I'd bet it really won't make a difference then.
First you have to realize that NGC was grading world coins long before PCGS (one reason for more coins graded). And two, all the huster that hock there wares on TV ussualy use the cheaper NGC label (second reason for more coins graded).
If you just want to have a couple nice graded coins that you want to hold onto (and not sell)...then buy a couple graded coins. You are young and I don't think you have yet learned how to assess a raw coin and determine how it will grade or if it is worth being graded. If you start submitting coins, you could very quickly "waste" (for lack of a better word) a significant amount of money getting these coins slabbed...when they might not warrant it. Why not instead, use that money on a couple of nice slabbed coins instead of using them to submit coins you already own.
Any opinions as to whether PCGS or NGC is stricter at grading proof coins as ultra or deep cameo? After watching Rick Tomaska's presentations, I realize that there is a lot of variability within the UC/DC sub-grade, to the extent that he has resorted to issuing his own "ECC" (exceptional cameo contrast) label to coins previously graded as UC or DC that fall within the upper portion of those definitions. My problem is with buying slabbed coins on Ebay where a photo is provided but the quantity available is greater than one, and thus there's no way to know if you'll receive the coin in the photo. Given that, does anyone have a preference for NGC vs. PCGS PR69 UC/DC coins?
As I was contemplating this post, Caleb took some of the words right out of my mouth. I was also thinking of what PCGS didn't grade, but NGC did...and besides world coins, they also graded So-Called Dollars. So, I don't know about NGC being 'bigger'.....but, let's not forget, in regard to total # of coins graded, they MAY be (I don't know the totals of either), but you'll see more coins graded by NGC for 'sale' by any/most of those TV hucksters, and a lot of those are American Eagles, of one PM or another, modern commems, and a lot of Morgan's, mostly common dates. At least, that's what I see, (ANACS runs a close 2nd, especially on HSN, with that Mezack character). And, as Caleb mentioned, PCGS lost the world coin business, and So-Called Dollars business right out of the box, simply because they wouldn't grade them and NGC did. In regard to the TV guys, you DO see, on small occasion, PCGS or ICG graded coins, but the vast majority are NGC. I'm guessing the reason there are so many being graded by NGC, is because of the more than likely HUGE discounted grading charge offered to these companies, on top of the cheaper grading charge NGC has to begin with. When sending in 'green monster' boxes, they send in BULK 'monster' boxes.... that's a LOT of coins. Not to mention, they seem to get graded immediately, for some reason. Those TV guys always seem to have them first. Look at the amount of HOF coins ANACS already had graded and delivered to HSN for immediate shipping... they weren't 'pre-orders', they were in hand. It seems like they were selling them the day after they first went on sale, almost as if they were selling them even while some were still in 'the waiting room'. Keep in mind, that if a bullion coin they send in, doesn't make a 69 or 70, they don't get slabbed, nor charged for it. They get them back, and those are the coins you'll get in the 'rolls' they sell. Just because they MAY have graded more in total, does NOT mean they are necessarily 'bigger'...it's because a select few/big submittors send in A LOT at one time, and the non U.S. coins/exonumia PCGS didn't grade. Not saying PCGS doesn't have submittors like NGC, but that's what I see on those TV spots...mostly NGC, then ANACS, and very few PCGS graded coins. If I'm wrong, someone please correct me, but I DO watch those shows...what coin collector isn't drawn to seeing a coin on TV, and watch some of these shows, simply to see coins on TV, not to mention to see how ridiculously high the prices are, then you wind up watching much more of it than you intended??? Though I never purchase from them, and usually use them to go to sleep by, you actually CAN learn a LITTLE sumthin' sumthin' from watching them, on occasion. But, next time you see one of those shows, pay a little attention to the grading co. the coins are graded by. Rumor has it at least one of them drives trucks to the mint's distribution ctr, hauls them straight to Florida, and has them poste haste. Wouldn't surprise me if they had certain graders specifically for these accounts (and again, we're talking mostly moderns, going either 69 or 70). How could they get those coins graded that fast, when a 'regular' submission, say, by any one of us here, takes about the stated timeframe to get graded??
