Grading companies and World coins

Disclaimer: Not looking for this to become a "I love PCGS" or "I love NGC" thread.

Obviously, in the USA, we tend to favor PCGS/NGC (in some order) and ANACS tends to run a slow third.

In Canada, people seemed to prefer coins graded by some company (I think called) I.C.C.G., but maybe that is shifting a bit towards US companies.

What about the rest of the world?

I recently picked up a 1927 Great Britain Penny graded MS 66 RB by NGC and according to the logs, it is the top of the population as the only 66 graded by the big two - but there haven't been THAT many coins graded (~20 from the year). Is that because collectors in England do something else with their coins? Is there just no market so nobody grades them? It is virtually a one year type (1926 had a very limited mintage).

I am surprised that I got it for just a bit over $100 and love the coin - here's a photo of it - still trying to get a photo of it with all the color I see in hand:



Thanks,
-snewman

 

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I think the American grading companies have only had offices in Europe for less than two years. Ergo it takes awhile to gather a base. Nice Georgie V there. :hail:

 

In addition to the grading companies having only recenly opened overseas offices, many non-US collectors simply don't like their coins being slabbed.

 

Another problem is that many modern coins come with their own premium packaging (coin cards, coin cassettes...... ) and certificates. If such a coin is slabbed all the additionally paid accessories are practically lost and what collectors perceive to be a "unit" is taken apart and incomplete, decreasing resell value in effect.

On a personal level, I find the slabs impractical they're too large and hinder individual organization of a collection.

 

Even here in US, Old Fashion Coin Collectors does not like PLASTIC.:smile.. I love to wear my GOLD COIN as a pendant in my Necklace do not care about grading..Love to feel it and show the Beauty of it without Plastic..

 

I forgot about the offices opening overseas. Guess we'll see how that grows.

I suppose that the longer people keep them out of plastic the better chance that they'll drop a grade or two due to stray marks..

I know that the slabs are not necessarily air-tight, but with copper that still is partially red, I always feel better about it being in plastic.

 

The world outside of the US, doesn't care about TPG's. They don't follow the 70 point sheldon scale.

Not sure TPG's will ever catch on in other areas of the world.

And more than likely, most world coins that have been slabbed by the TPG's are from collectors in the US. With a very small world collector base (compared to worldwide) the population of coins being submitted won't grow very fast.

 

Yes, you are right! besides the FEE for slabbing is High. Too expensive for a regular collectors. So we juct collect coins not the PLASTIC.

 

And yet the world is not simply an enlarged version of the US. Grading standards and grades "here" are different from those "there". Also, TPG coins are probably more relevant if you consider coins to be investments. Ah well, fortunately the coins I focus on are not "interesting" enough to be kept in plastic coffins ...

Christian

 

every other british collector i know will not slab their coins much preferring to store them in a tray so that the beauty of the coin can be appreciated. personally i think that if you have to pay an exhorbitant amount of money to someone to tell you what you already know is a folly. as is the entombing of coins in a plastic coffin, the other argument that slabs make a coin more valuable is certainly wide of the mark as i sold my collection for a massive amount of money and none of them were slabbed.

 

:smile Well,,,, to each their own. Slab or not to slab, its simply a choice. No need to get huffy.

 

One benefit you overlook is that a coin in TPG plastic has an impartial third party offering their opinion on grade. This isn't simply a matter of "laziness" Doug, and you well know it. For truly rare or even marginally rare coins, this third party opinion levels the playing field between sellers and buyers. For example, we all know how every coin someone posts here you grade MS63, but I'm sure every coin you were trying to sell when you liquidated your collection was a strong MS66. LOL

Some of the most knowledgeable people around collect coins graded by TPGs -- not because they are lazy, but because many of the best examples of coins available have at one time or another been sent by dealers to be slabbed.

 

Makes some sense. Just as there is no point in demonizing TPG companies (if anybody wants to use their services, fine with me), there is no point in saying "Resistance is futile - you will be assimilated" when it comes to collectors in other countries.

Christian

 

I see this just a little different than most.
Anytime you are willing to have someone do something for you that you can do for yourself two thing will surely happen
#1 The service you seek will become so expensive you will not be able to afford it or
#2 It will become so sloppy you will not want it.
If weare willing to pay the price for coins we love and want to collect then surely we should know or learn how to grade those coins in a day and time where you can pull up any coin and view its grade and compare your coin to it.
Also you the owner of that coin are under no preasure or time frame to grade it.
You have days or weeks to give it a grade.
Ive given my coin a grade and in a day or two regraded that same coin.
Your mind isnt like a computor youll see a coin different everytime you look at it.
Posting coins on this site to me is a much better way to get a real grade as there are many who are good at it and love to play guess the grade.
Just me and my opinion isnt it great to be an American.

 

i have graded my own coins since i began collecting in the 60's, apart from a couple of blips in the early days i have been spot on with my grading, when i sold my collection it had to be independently graded for auction, and their grades and mine matched. so really what i am saying is take some time to become up to speed with grading your own coins and the money you spend with tpg's can be spaent on even more coins, as doug has said collect the coins not the plastic......................

 

Third-party grading does facilitate remote purchasing. Even if you're the "most accurate" grader in the world, if you are buying a coin remotely, a TPG opinion is valuable. You can always remove it from the slab later if you want.

 

In Canada, our choices are pretty limited. I do use PCGS, but it is a real pain dealing with cross-border shipping of coins and customs documents. I suspect the same goes for other international countries. I would really, really love to see either an NGC or PCGS office open up here in the Great White North...

 

when i wanted to purchase any rare coin i would make an appointment to go and view the actual coin before money changed hands. generally when i bought from auction sites i would study the photographs and then decide if it was worth buying, only once did i receive something which was different to the photograph and ended up threatening legal action against the seller if i did not get a refund. i also gathered a lot of coins through swap sites which were generally good and if they weren't up to scratch they would go back.