Why Does ICG Get No Respect?

But if you do it on the net they will never know. (Make sure the webcam is turned off.)

Doug has a big part of the reason. Yes ICG started late, and then in order to try and encourage submission they were very lenient in their grading and handed out 70's left and right. Eventually they did tighten up, but by then they had severely damaged their reputation. Then there was the shake up at ICG and ANACS at the end on 2007 when Taylor tried and failed to buy ICG, so he then bought ANACS and stripped ICG of many of their graders. For many months both ANACS and ICG were on life support and once again both companies took a serious blow to their reputations. (Many collectors who had coins at the two services didn't get their coins back for months and the companies were unable to provide information as to where their coins even were.)

 

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I have always avoided "second" and "third" tier services but I only pay what I feel the coin is worth raw give or take a dollar or two. My take is ICG and even Anacs are getting a bum rap because they have had to resort to hsn and littleton type places for dealer distribution. People overpay when they buy from these places and aren't happy when they sell their coins for less than they paid so they feel cheated by the companies and get it in their heads that the grade was wrong and that's what made the coin worth less money. Also going back to my preferences it just seems like ANACS and ICG just have a simplistic look that could be counterfeited. Granted there are fake slabs of every company out there but designs haven't changed that much. I think for that reason lot's of people trust PCGS and NGC more they are a bit more proactive. Finally, Ebay doesn't help because they feel that anyone other than PCGS,NGC or ANACS are sold as raw. So that tells novices too oh there's something wrong with that slab.

 

In reflecting on this, I believe it has a lot to do with marketing. Do the graders for ICG have less knowledge than the ones for PCGS? Maybe, but I equate it to the senior on campus syndrome. ICG is the freshman that showed up on the wrong block. To continue in the market they might have had to change their standards in order to survive. They might be operating out of a lower standard because this is what is needed to maximize their profit potential. You could twist this a thousand ways. Here is a twist for you, when people crack slabs whose do they crack? Do you actually believe that PCGS, NGC, ANACS, and ICG do not talk? Has anyone ever witnessed an oligopoly?

 

If you were considering buying a used, top-of-the-line Beemer for $50K from a private seller, wouldn't you want to pay to have a trusted mechanic check it out first? At the same time, if that private seller was asking only $10K for the Beemer that should be worth five times that amount, wouldn't you be a little bit skeptical and still seek the opinion of the mechanic?

Chris

 

I disagree. PCGS and NGC do make coins more valuable. A coin worth having is usually worth grading. But then I would rather have one coin worth $500 than a state quarter set that is inflated to $500 and might be worth $300. Key dates is the key.

 

ICG does an excellent job with Lincolns of any year. I've bought and sold and own many ICG slabbed Lincolns and they are all accurately graded IMO.

 

Randy Campbell is the senior grader for ICG. Great guy. Past president of Fun and was been the educational director for Fun for something like 20 years. The guy can really grade coins but as Doug said, he must follow the ICG standards. At the same time he may have helped create the current standards. I'm not sure.

I have no problem owning a coin in an ICG holder or any other holder as long as I can check it out in person before I'm locked into owning it.

 

bingo!

 

Thanks for explaining that one. My imagination was not able to make the leap right away.
:hail:

 

Sounds like the great graders are part of a very small universe.

 

I don't respect ICG because their website and logo are so terrible.

 

If you are a good grader, you can find some very good deals in ICG slabs.

That's a BIG "if", however.

 

At each Fun show Randy is at the ICG table giving free opinions. He has a really cool way of talking with folks about the coins they bring in. Good news or bad, he keeps it fun.

 

really? That is interesting.

 

:devil: what the @#$%ZZZZZZZZZZZ^%$#@)(&:hail: igc???