I am bitter because I wanted to have all my coins in PCGS slabs and sent two to be cross slabbed. One was downgraded from MS67 + to MS67. The other crossed as expected, a MS68. I suggest the graders are just being stingy when using half grades. Seriously, a grader will have better vision on Monday, 9 am vise Friday 4 PM. I contend if a grader can tell the difference between a 67 and a 67+, then he may be looking at a 68. Again, I admit I am bitter because a "blind judge" cost me a loss on my investment and badmouthed my coin by degrading it. At this time in my collecting career, I send in higher dollar coins to determine if they are authentic. I already know the grade by using pictures from books and the internet. If a grader disagrees with me, he or she needs to rest their eyes. My post question of how much more is a 67+ worth than a regular ole 67 is a rhetorical question. "It depends on the coin, the population, who is buying, other factors, and can you really trust the graders." I cannot wait until the computers do all the grading on a 1 - 100 scale.Thanks for a place to vent. I will eventually get over it. It has been nearly two years and the lemon is still sour. I still can't stand to look at the coin, but can't stand to sell under-graded. LOL
You could actually be ahead if its as you say a higher value US coin or at the very least break even. IF you get a CAC almost certainly ahead but impossible to say without details That's not going to happen ?
To have to rely on someone else’s arbitrary opinion on your coin is beyond messed up. This is no longer coin collecting, this is gamification of a once great hobby. I’d respect a third party that only authenticates and slabs a coin, there is a need for that. Is the really a NEED for grading?
I agree but the graders provide a valuable service, authenticity. I have purchased three high dollar fakes over the past few years and was able to get my money back when PCGS kicked them back as counterfeit. By the way, Perth Mint Packaged gold bars are and have been counterfeited, including the package. I purchased one for a local Veterans raffle and it turned out fake. There is a great article on faked gold bars on evilbay's blogs.
For the TPGs while they aren't perfect as nothing is, they are the collectors best friend and their biggest protector from people trying to take advantage of them. They also allow multiple avenues of sale if they ever decide too, have allowed the internet to flourish and so on. There are far more positives than negatives. As far as grading, there has always been some form of grading as long as there has been collections. Even if it wasn't official back in the earliest days picking one over the other for being nicer or paying more is in essence grading
Of course there always has and always will be grading, but, the hobby thrived for thousands of years without third party graders. Did some people get ripped off? Of course they did, which is why people should not wade into the deep end without learning how to swim. TPGs have removed the need to actually learn about numismatics (sad) and now people assume that coins are an investment, which they most certainly are not. They are a collectors best friend? Yeah, with their hands in your wallets, extracting money that could have been spent on books and more coins. I’m sure no one is going to change their mind here but it’s fun to debate from time to time.
Yes they are. Not even something to discuss. Grading, authentication, online cert lookups, high res pictures, variety attribution, guarantees etc. that’s all GOOD for collectors.
FARRRRR more people got fleeced before them and now than the ones that utilize them. No and no. That's the derogatory view that holds no weight. People have always assumed coins could be an investment, and most people especially the intelligent ones use the TPGs to learn more about grading and honing their skills Not really, they are the collectors biggest protection and it doesn't matter how many books you read experience comes into play at some point. They're no more in the collectors pocket than a building inspector is in a potential buyers pocket, most of the people that think they know everything and can do it all themselves are the ones that need their help the most.
In my defense for buying counterfeits: I take chances, they mostly pay off. I do not risk it unless I am sure I can get my money back from the dealer if the coin is bad. By the way, don't badmouth me until you have had all your coins authenticated. 60,000 fakes per month come in from China and the SS does not bother with them unless the money involved is in the $100,000 range. Straight from from the agent's mouth. Sadly it is a waste of time to report a counterfeit to the SS. What is a dealer going to do? Toss the coin???? Maybe. LOL
Do you have actual data to back that statement up? How did people learn about coins up until the TPGs were benevolent enough to bring the ignorant masses out of the darkness and show us the way? Yeah, I’m being sarcastic here but seriously, the hobby has existed since ancient times and flourished. Many thousands of books and papers were published on the topic, collections exchanged hands, kids collected from loose change and filled Whitman books, knowledge was passed down from collector to collector, grandfather to grandson, etc. To think that the hobby NEEDS and can’t live without TPGs is sad. I’m also a voracious capitalist and completely applaud the fact that they’ve exploited a perceived gap in the market, geniously gamefied the hobby to get people addicted to submitting coins and resubmitting. How many new people show up here saying they are already a PCGS member, or are ready to submit coins before they’ve even bought their first RedBook? You can probably find 10 just today. That’s a major structural flaw in the state of the hobby today, directly attributed to TPGs.