For those of you that are new to collecting, a few words of advice. Too often, new collectors search for "deals" when buying coins. After searching around the internet, they ultimately will come across the grading services. There are many out there, with new ones popping up yearly. Four are considered acceptable by the hobby standards. 1.NGC 2.PCGS 3.Anacs 4.ICG Some companies will make abreviations that are very simular to those above. Be careful when looking at coins graded by any other company than those listed above. While grading is and will always be subjective, value is ultimately assigned to that graded opinion. Many new collectors see other graded coins selling for much less, and get tempted into purchasing these coins in order to get the deal. They will almost certainly find that their deal only cost them. Be careful out there. Learn all you can.
Is there a case to be made (bracing myself) that these four are "equal" in their grading standards on average, and that any perceived differences are personal coin "religion"?
Equal? Not really. PCGS definately holds the market price NGC in many opinions holds the best standards Anacs holds the best variety attribution ICG is making the best strides overall, but that is a new trend
I just meant from the intrinsique grading averages. I know they are stratified across the group in their niche areas, but on par and averaged over 1000 MS-65 coins, would their grading measure up within less than a half a point delta between the companies? The answer is very probably a subjective one, but I was wondering if the grading service of choice had something to do with accuracy or personal preference in this group of four?
Personally, I think that NGC is the best as far as average standard grading. PCGS and ICG are really about the same these days. Anacs still seems to be about 1 point ahead of the standard on most issues.
In a nutshell - no. There are several reasons for this, but one of the foremost among them is time. Now that may not make sense to most, but once you understand the market grading system it does become easier to understand it. Market Grading You see - the answer is dependent not only on the grade assigned - but when it was assigned. For grading standards have changed many times over the years and they will continue to change in the future. This is the nature of market grading. So before you can make a fair comparison between the grades assigned to a given coin or group of coins - you would first have to have them all graded in the same time period. Even then, the grades would be the same on some coins and perhaps 2 points different on others. Some grading companies grade coins of different series differently because they use different standards. And before you can begin to judge which company would be considered the most accurate you must know what those standards are for each grading company and for each series of coin they grade. I have said in the past that true gems can be found in the slabs of all of the top 4 grading companies. This is very true. But by the same token I can also say that you can find highly overgraded and undergraded coins in all of them as well. So there is no hard and fast answer for the answer is dependent upon too many variables. But as a general ( stress general ) rule of thumb, and this is my personal opinion, NGC is far and away the most consistent of all the grading companies.
Thanks for the explanations, everyone! This confirmed my personal belief of this: Each grading service provides a similar service with varied niche specialties. So long as you are playing with this group of four, it is hard to go wrong (if you know your coins). NGC has the market lead position from the standards applied to their grading. And there is a bit of "coin religion" when it comes to grading services. Not to say that I would never buy a PCGS encapsulated coin, but between equal coins in NGC/PCGS holders, I will pick NGC.
It also doesn't hurt that yesterday's 63 is today's 64, when it comes time to make good on your "guarantee".
That depends on the market, right? Solid 64's turn into weak 65's when the market is hot. When the market turns cool, that Solid 64 turns to a strong 63.
BTW, GDJMSP, aren't you the author of that WINS article? Very well written, and obviously a lot of thought went into it. Good job.
Thanks Jody Yes I do. But not many collectors can recall the only time it happened - with slabbed coins. But happen it did in the late 1980s. And if it happens again - many will likely not notice. This is the first real bull market the coin industry has seen since the late '80s. And because of that the conditions where coins that are re-submitted for grading and subsequently downgraded on large scale have not existed. But they will eventually. For the coin market does not stay in an upward trend forever - sooner or later it begins to fall. And when it does - so will the grades. That is - if anybody decides to re-submit their coins. This is why not many will notice the change. For in a bad market - coins are not re-submitted - there is no incentive to do so. And few collectors sell in a bad market - instead they hold their collections and wait for the next upwards trend. And when the bear market comes, the coins that are submitted for the first time will likely be a disappointment to their owners because they have become accustomed to the grading standards being looser.
I haven't sent a coin yet to be slabbed, but if I ever do, I would pick between NGC and PCGS. Depends on the coin though. Phoenix
While I couldn't agree more concerning purchasing coins in second tier TPG holders, I think it is a real mistake to subscribe to the opinion that buying from TPGs deemed "acceptable by the hobby standards" equates to being "safe" in purchasing coins in these holders. There are more losers than winners in PCGS/NGC/ANACS/ICG holders, and over time this only gets worse. Buying blindly because of the company that has slabbed the coin is a sure way to end up with overgraded crap in plastic. Learn how to grade and value coins before you buy them, regardless of what a TPG says, and you'll be much better off. Do not fall into the trap that "If PCGS/NGC/ANACS/ICG graded it, it must be a good coin". It is a trap that many intermediate collectors, myself inclued, fall into, and one that will lead to a rude awakening when it comes time to sell the coin. I often tell new collectors that they should look at hundreds or thousands of examples of a coin they are interested in buying before pulling the trigger -- until and unless you know what's out there, a TPG will just give you a false sense of security. Just my $0.02, respectfully submitted...Mike
