In my opinion it has nothing to do with graders. Seems everyone always gets told it's being finalized. Only they know the truth but I believe it is the process after the grading slowing them down, whether they just don't have enough slabs in house or a supply problem or can't slab them fast enough I do not know but with everything that happens grading is the fastest part of the coins process.
What do you think pays the bills and keeps the lights on? Not to mention being the training ground for the next generation of graders...
I don't know if anyone else is like me, but I have stopped sending them coins until the delays are ironed out. NGC has my last 2 orders, and I'm preparing to send them a 3rd order next week. To me, time is money, and PCGS is costing me too much.
Pays the light bill, training for young graders + cheap labor. Sorry Burton...Just started firing away before reading the ENTIRE tread (as usual).
I have three orders at PCGS now: World Economy, since 6/3 - all coins populated except one, last updated two months ago. US Economy, since 7/15 - all coins populated except one, just updated today. US Regular, just received today. I have a bunch of crossovers to send in, too. But I'm with you, I'm going to wait until they get things sorted out.
Just checked shared orders - they just shipped an order they've had since 5/24. A single coin. Gold $5 from Canadia... seems like an excessive period of time for a single certification.
If your regular order was received on July 15 and just shipped today then my regular order may take 2 more weeks???? Say it ain't so! @Jdiablo30
Would it be too snarky of me to suggest that the confusing, to me, idol worship of PCGS and long turn times might not be mere coincidence? They do it because you put up with it, in other words.
So you think they have made up their minds to be purposefully slow just to be jerks? That seems far fetched. Saying they don't care about wait times is more feasible. Saying they go out of their way to slow down when there is no reason to... that's a bad business practice that the investors of a publicly traded company would not put up with. Imo...
Two different orders: One Economy received on 7/15, one Regular they just received today. Sorry. Keep waiting like the rest of us...
I'd take either job in a heartbeat! You can flip coins on the weekends! Just the prestige of being able to say "I work for PCGS" is worth it. No one needs to know you answer phones or scrub the toilets ...If anyone at PCGS is listening...I'm just a few hours away. Wait, should selling myself also be placed in the Buy-Sell-Trade section? lol
Ah, yes, but my theory DOES comport with my previous opinion of them, which isn't good. I've always found PCGS staff to be the "you need to have a glass of wine and breathe" people in the TPGS universe. In other words, I believe their attitude is, "you aren't important enough for us to worry about."
On the OTHER hand, I recently sent a single coin submission (a 1893-S Morgan) with one thing that might be subject to misinterpretation on the form. Within 3 days of sending it, I got a personal telephone call from NGC. I like that kind of stuff.
The factor which needs to be added to this thinking is that "maximizing shareholder value" these days is an entirely short-term outlook having everything to do with adding every last basis point to this quarter's margin, while totally ignoring the company's long-term outlook. PCGS will never have more than a bare minimum number of qualified employees, because showing shareholders profit is more important. Like most publicly-held companies, the tail is wagging the dog. Run the motor at full throttle until it blows up, then sell it. Which is why I like the more-nimble, not publicly held NGC to eventually put them out of business. All they need is management with that mindset; PCGS is ripe for the picking.
My results are in. Finally. Grades are what I thought they'd be, exactly, actually. But I was on the fence on a 2 cent piece being 62 RB or 63 RB. They gave it the 63. But I missed on a variety, much like @Paddy54 did. 1966 DDR lincoln cent. Thought I had it, but I guess they decided it was Machine Doubling. Ah well. We miss all the time, but every now and then, we hit!
C-B-D, did you ever post that Linc here? That DDR is tough, and I do not trust PCGS attributions whatsoever. They don't even have images of it on Coin Facts. I don't think a half-dozen are known, and it's a 4-figure coin. Variety Vista has good usable details on it. Don't take PCGS as gospel; this one's too big (and too clear if you know what you're looking for). Serif splits should be clear on the S's and T's of UNITED STATES, and all that will be clearly and equally doubled as it's (probably) a Class 1.
