As long as I can remember, the CDN has featured a run-down of grading services like PCGS, NGC, ANACS, ICG, and then others which are much lesser known: SEGS, PCI, plus grading services I have never heard of. The percentages vary from time to time, but have no known correlation to coin figures I am aware of. Does anyone know how long those percentages have been posted on the left side of the CDN and did they ever have usefulness?
Did they ever have usefulness ? No. How long have they been doing it ? Pretty easy to find out. Just buy yourself a few copies from the '90s and look. Think the old issues are $2-$3 each. You can get old issues back to the 1960's. TPGs have only been around since the late '80s at best, and most of them much later than that.
It is something they keep listing without any apparent bearing in reality, and they do jigger the percentages as you can see slight changes from week to week. They list defunct grading services; no listing though for Accugrade or NNC and other Mickey Mouse TPGs. They said they will be listing CAC prices in mid-April in Bluesheet, that should be interesting. Look, statistical analysis is not that hard, why can't the CDN get up to date on that? All they would need to do is have up to date programmers who could download all significant transactions into a weighted system to adjust prices accordingly; transactions from auctions, CCE, and other invoiced items they list. This is not that hard!!!
Owle do you realize what those percentages are ? Those percentages have nothing to do with completed sales. Those percentages are based on sight seen Bids for coins, in those slabs, that are currently available for purchase. And only on 10 different series of coins. Read what it says right next to those percentages. Example - when it says PCGS - Low 58% High 89% What that means is that the current low bid is 58% of the CDN listed value, and the current high bid is 89% of the CDN listed value. That's all it means.
Yes, but is that relevant to most or only to CCE bids? Plus it lists that as active with SEGS; with NCI; and with INS. What the heck are the latter two, never heard of them? People reading this have no idea what it applies to. I was speaking with Dean Proctor in St. Johnsbury, VT last week and he said it meant what the coins were worth *over* the CDN bids and asks!!! And he has been in the business since the 60s. I have known known dealers who can hardly even read the CDN, on type II and III $20s especially. They will look up in the quarterly on MS64/MS65 $20s instead of the weekly which is more accurate with type gold prices.
Again, READ what it says right in the CDN ! It's always right on the front page of every issue. It says - "Prices reported derive from the highest legitimate Bids and the lowest legitimate Asks seen nationally. They do not necessarily reflect the levels at which any particular dealer might offer to buy or sell that coin." Does that include Bids and Asks from CCE ? Yes. But it does not include Bids and Asks from only CCE. It includes Bids and Asks from many different dealers throughout the country. They were TPGs just like NGC, ANACS, ICG etc etc. I don't even know if they are still in business. But that doesn't really matter. There are still coins in their slabs that are bought and sold every day. That's because they don't READ it ! Instead of reading things they make assumptions, usually wrong assumptions. It applies to exactly what I said it applies to. And that is written right there next to those percentage tables. Then he is a fool, and he is wrong. No ifs, maybes, buts, or anything - he is wrong. Where is it written that to be a coin dealer you have to know what you are doing when it comes to the CDN ? Maybe they think it is easier, maybe they think it is close enough, maybe they don't know how to properly use the CDN. Who knows why they do it. But even more so - who cares ? Everything there is in the CDN is spelled out exactly what it is and what it means. All anybody has to do is read it right there in the newsletter itself.
NCI started in late 1984 and went out of business around 1990, INS began around 1975 I think and is a bit more questionable. It seems to have gone out of business in 1992, but there is at least one piece in a 1997 slab. You are MUCH MUCH more likely to run across Accugrade slabbed coins than either of these.
