PCGS vs. other coin grading services

Why do PCGs graded coins sell for so much more then a coin graded by a company like ANCS or NGC?


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Some believe PCGS to have tighter grading standards than the others. Whether true or not is debatable, but that's how the market works.

 

oh, it's this thread again.

because in many cases, a PCGS MS65 is an NGC MS66. And so forth.

 

And in many cases a PCGS MS66 would be an NGC MS65. Some think that PCGS grades more conservatively, and others don't.

 

Decades of experience in the coin market have taught me that PCGS grades slightly more conservatively and slightly more consistently than any other TPG. This is across the spectrum of coins. Obviously, individual coins (individual data points) will show fluctuation, but if we ignore marketing, hype and personal preference and only use the product then I see no true challenger to PCGS at this point.

 

One example , in RLMS_cents guess the grade contest that went on for years teaching us to grade Lincoln cents PCGS was a lot more conservative on giving 67s . This is pretty factual with all the examples he showed . I think PCGS is slightly more conservative on most coins than NGC but this can be debatable .

 

Marketing.

 

That is a lot of it for sure.

 

It is a tough question to answer. if you want a simple answer I suppose it would be the old " it's worth whatever someone is willing to pay".

The lager part to the answer includes the following:

• Marketing
• Registry sets
• Conservative grading and/or consistency
• These new conservation AKA Cleaning that NGC does
• Special labels produced by any grading company

 

PCGS is perceived to be better, and that's enough for people to pay more, as long as that perception holds. You can debate whether PCGS deserves the reputation they have or not, but you can't deny they have it, at least for now.

Personally I avoid buying PCGS graded coins precisely because sellers up the price on them just because of the slab. I don't consider the plastic around a coin to be worth anything at all and won't pay extra for it. NGC, ANACS, ICG, and heck even raw, can save you big money if you can judge for yourself what the coin is worth.

Last coin show I went to, a lot of dealers were telling me yellow-slab era ANACS were improving in reputation, and they were able to sell quite a few because being in such a slab doesn't up the perceived value (buyers love what they perceive to be a bargain). ANACS' reputation seems to be recovering slowly but surely.

 

I thought that is the new one?

 

PCGS simply has a stronger Market presence.

 

I would honestly say that PCGS and NGC are approximately equal. There is somewhat of a premium for PCGS coins, but the two are equal in accuracy and reputation, IMHO. I find myself buying more and more NGC coins in the past few years, as there are an awful lot of beautiful coins in NGC holders for less money than PCGS equivalents. When it comes to toned coins, NGC has an advantage with the star grade.

 

PCGS is better than NGC because (this is good) because I like their holders better than NGC. PCGS coins crack out easier than NGC in most cases.

In all seriousness I think PCGS is a little more consistent in what I collect. Of course most of my collection is raw, but here lately I have been cracking coins out for my large cent set. When I was doing a graded set of IHC's it was just about equal between PCGS and NGC - with a few white slab ANACs in it. Right now most of my graded coins are NGC, but I do have several NGC coins in the collection. Not sure of the break down.

 

And...none of these biases and old-wives-tales apply to anything outside of USA coins. NGC is much more consistent in world coin grading, and has far more experience grading coins of that type.

In short, every series is different (even restricted to USA coins), and for every PCGS coin that sold more than an equally graded NGC coin, I can probably hunt down an NGC coin that sold for more than that PCGS coin. I would much rather collect Franklin halves with FBL designation from NGC than PCGS (as the designation is much more strict at NGC). Etc, etc, ad infinitum...

Do a search here, and you'll probably find a dozen topics similar to this one in just the past 2-3 months. This is the most recurring theme of any topic posted here...

 

NGC also has registry sets -- that allow both NGC and PCGS coins -- so I'm not sure what that has to do with anything.

The last time a study of consistency (repeatability) of grading was done back in 2003 or so PCGS was actually the poorest of all those included in the study.

WRT conservation: What the heck are you talking about? PCGS also conserves coins...I don't see how that has anything to do with the price of tea in China.

Both NGC and PCGS have a litany of special labels. They are both off the deep end -- again, not sure what that has to do with why PCGS coins sell for more (supposedly).

Believe what you want to believe, but you might want to at least do a small fact check before you created a bulleted list. Or maybe you're okay with being 1 out of 5 statements correct. LOL.

 

Kool Aid

 

PCGS vs other companies= stay away from PCGS slabs due to their inflated prices mainly from sheep-like thinking.

 

I was not stating all of those in favor of PCGS.

NGC is more consistent
they both clean coins for an extra fee
They both do marketing, PCGS has a larger presence.
They both have their own special labels. one collector may only buy PCGS labels other ngc and some others may buy both. it comes down to preference.