I have a perfect 2011 Chinese silver panda graded MS69 from NGC, and the same coin graded MS70 from PCGS with carbon and milk spots on it. So now, tell me again why PCGS is better than NGC?
Because what you're missing is that the reason why many picked the NGC one was because they allowed both. The PCGS software and the digital albums are superior to what the NGC site currently allows, their advantage was allowing both for those that wanted to use both. Then they took that away and that impacted people that had been building their sets there some of them for years. To make it even worse there was that absurd hit piece they put out to try and justify it. A lot of people were impacted whether it was them crossing their coins from one to the other (though from the internet sounds like more went to PCGS entirely), passing on a purchase because it doesn't fit anymore, losing interest in the registry all together etc. I don't do registry sets, but I can certainly understand why people are upset that all of a sudden with little to no warning people were basically told just kidding we're changing the rules
They don’t have to be good. Just sufficiently well lit to easily see identifying marks and/or color. Otherwise they are not that useful.
And coins can be swapped. Not to mention that they outsource their slabs to China. Labels are sufficiently easy to copy to a deceptive degree. The coin, however, would be a foolproof identifier.
@TypeCoin971793 Though the NGC verification pics aren't the best, it definitely is helpful in helping to verify if a coin is actually the one that NGC graded. Case in point, I bought a coin from a dealer in China. They had tons of expensive world coins and impeccable feedback, heck I bet some members have bought from this person. Just to be safe, I checked the cert # on NGC site and compared it to the coin the dealer was selling. I zoomed in and certain rim ding, hits, etc matched up. Very helpful feature.
Some coins (BU silver, for example) are very easy to identify because they are so bright. Darker coins (large cents, toned silver, etc.) are much harder to tell.
I buy and sell both. Some customers prefer NGC. I have never been a koolaid drinker one is better than the other. eBay lists 207k Pcgs (coins and currency), 213k ngc, 46k pmg edge goes to ngc / Pmg Ngc is the TPG of the ANA & PNG For currency I prefer PMG
PMG has nothing to do with coins. ANACS or ICG would be a comparison, PMG or PCGS currency is a different category all together
so what - For me it’s more pertinent include both coins and currency as I do both. The AnaCs / ICG numbers much smaller than PCGS / NGC and not what this thread about. PCGS currency stopped grading about a year or so ago (trademark renewal issue). Not sure if they even restarted. So NGC / PMG 259 k vs PCGs 207k. For awhile PMG offering free cross over service for PCGS currency crossover to PMG. Pcgs currency on eBay appears to be 7.1 k
FWIW I like the newer NGC slabs because it's easy to see the rim. PCGS not so much. +1 to the person who said if you are interested in pieces that are somewhat rare and aren't often found attractive and/or at reasonable prices grading service becomes sooooo irrelevant. Actually CAC certification is more important to me - if the coin I am looking for happens to have it.
The so what is being pertinent to what you are saying. That''d be like someone saying so what I sell hardware too and posting Lows vs Home Depot numbers. Completely different subject matter.
...and walmart has more pairs of pants for sale than eddie bauer. Does that mean walmart has better quality clothing? I don't understand what you are trying to say either.
Funny how a cloud image turns out to be a better certificate of authenticity than a hologram. Counterfeiters seem to put allot of effort into copying a coin, copying a slab, copying, a hologram... who's to say they can't copy the damage? I wonder.
What's interesting is that NGC appears to have better CURRENT slabs but you likely won't see much classic gold in them because most of that is in PCGS or older NGC holders. ALot of modern gold bullion and coins are going into the NGC slabs. Some of them, and their labels, are kinda nice.
In terms of just the slab itself the current PCGS one is the superior one as it's scratch resistant and water resistant/proof to en extent. NGC you have to pay extra for their scratch resistant slab for any tier under express. The optical clarity on the PCGS slab is also currently superior.
How do you determine “optical clarity”... this is rather subjective, isn’t it? I am concerned you might have a personal bias against NGC.