Featured CAC Lesson Learned......

But are they solid or high end for the grade ? That is the question.

I think you have to remember and ask yourself a question, why does CAC even exist ?

They exist because the widespread skepticism and doubts of the market regarding the grading of the TPGs reached such a level that the founders of CAC knew the market was demanding some sort of gut check. That they (the market) wanted reassurance from somebody that hopefully knew more about coins and grading than they (the market) did. They wanted somebody to say - OK, they got this one right.

But at the same time CAC "wants" to make money and wants to stay in business, that is the purpose of a business after all. So they (CAC) are only too well aware that they have to accept/approve enough TPG grades to be able to do that. That they have to walk a fine line in other words. Approve too many, and the CAC sticker becomes nothing more than a rubber stamp that carries no weight. Don't approve enough, and submitters will soon stop sending them in because submissions become an effort in futility and submissions will soon dwindle and stop.

So now realize, CAC's standard is good for the grade, high for the grade, or undergraded (gold sticker). Nothing else will do, nothing else will get a sticker. BUt hey, that's 3 out of 4 chances, not bad odds. And what have the TPGs done by coming out with the plus grade ? They have invented a new grade. It is no longer just a 64, it is a 64+. The odds just got a whole lot lower.

So now, with plus coins, CAC, in order to stick to their standards, has to say yes this plus coin is good for the grade, high for the grade, or under-graded, in order to sticker the slab - or not. And what does that do for CAC ? It puts them between a rock and hard spot is what it does. Now they have to micro-grade even closer than before. Now they have to say yes this coin deserves a plus and gets the sticker or no it does not deserve a plus and does not get the sticker. That means the line they are walking to keep submissions coming in just got narrower. So what do they do ?

Easy solution - ignore the plus, and simply treat the coins as before. The line they are walking just went back to the way it was before, 3 out of 4 odds, and business continues.

Never forget, it IS a business. And the purpose of a business is to stay in business.

 

Keep in mind, JA is on the record as saying that there are already "too many grades", so of course he would disregard the + designation, plus they have clearly said this is the case.

Of course, I submit to CAC and learned a few things along the way. There are a bunch of FAQ type questions / answers I think they need to add to their site to help out newbies or people interested in learning about CAC.

 

I don't agree with this at all. Have you ever submitted to CAC yourself? I have 60 coins there right now. I got the results last night. Of my 60, only 22 got the green sticker. JA is incredibly tough on many series. If you think they just sticker everything that comes in the door, you are nuts. I have now personally submitted 110 coins, and only around 59 stickered (2 gold). So my personal average is ~54%. The overall average of all submitters is ~40%.

The reason you see many CAC stickered coins is because they are established and respected by enough people that they have stuck around and more and more coins are being submitted, it this has been going on for years.

Sure, there are plenty of people how don't care about CAC, and there are some who are extremely anti-CAC (spend some time on the PCGS forums), but don't think the CAC sticker is ubiquitous, there are still millions of coins that should pass under JA glare.

 

Is he ? Or are the TPGs just too lenient ?

I would tend to think the latter before I would ever think the former.

 

Yes, I agree with you. I was refuting the fact that green stickers just get tossed around. I didn't want to start another "Doug says the TPG's are too lenient" thread, LOL.

 

Well if nothing else what this thread should be telling you is that it is not just Doug who says it

 

I can taste your sarcasm, but I thought it was funny, so you still got the "like".

 

Dave you seem to think that I am the one who came up with the idea that TPGs over-grade coins. Not sure why that is, but it is most definitely not true. There are a great many collectors and dealers, some of them acknowledged as authorities in numismatics, and they think so too.

And yes, if you want I can provide you with quote after quote where they say so.