I just read on another forum that James Taylor will be the new C E O of I.C.G. as of 1-1- 07 anyone here this also ?
Since the person who originally posted the information on the other forum is an ICG employee, most likely the info is accurate. I agree with the person from the other forum who wrote:
It is amazing how one man or a change can make the difference in weather a company stays in business .Only time will tell if they go from number 4 to three.
No no no... It's like this: Step One: Collect Underpants Step Two: Question Mark Step Three: Profit That's the formula.
I heard that miles standish (was lead grader at ANACS) has left as well. I am not taking this as a bad omen for ANACS, if you view it from a buisiness perspective it is very comon for companies to bring on new managment during a restructure and then have those people leave once things are settled. It has happened to companies that i have worked for to no ill effect. I'm am on a wait and see view of the whole thing, I have an order at ANACS and will be bringing in some more for them soon (trade dollars, concerned about authentication more than grade)
How easy is it to replace people like this without becomming another second tier company? There doesn't seem to be a depth of talent in the industry at the highest levels. This seems more serious than it would be in another company where you just hire another accountant or engineer.
Should one blindly put their faith in the people at the company or blindly put their faith in the company itself? Seems to me it don't much matter, unless you follow all that "first tier, second tier" piggywash. Seems to me that a "first tier" grading company (if one believes there is such a thing) is nothing without "first tier" company leaders and a "first tier" grader(s).
I would agree to some extent, but in every industry their are "self promoters" that have very well known names. name another "known" grader? maybe you can pick out one more other than standish... does that mean their are only 2 or 3 good fair graders on the planet? I don't think so. name 3 programmers. John Carmack (DOOM) Tim Sweeny (UNREAL) and??? are they the only good programmers out there? no. I am kind of reaching a little outside of the realm of coins for my examples, I hope I have made a point... ANACS has made a lot of strides to be a more respectable grading company, they are trying which is more than i can say for some of the grading companies. Competition is good! yay capitalism!
I may add that when it comes to TPG's its important to look for consistency, no single grader should have so much pull that he is the only grader there. That's just not good business (all the eggs in one basket type thing) If a company is consistent it means they have good standards and they adhere to them. I beleive this is why NGC and PCGS are at the top of the pile, they have pretty solid consistency. ANACS has had somewhat of a bad history when it comes to this, but it appears that since the restructure they have gotten much better, lets see what happens.
I'm not a big fan of ANACS. Last year I send them a bunch of coins for certification, and waited forever for them. Numerous calls has all kinds of excuses. Finally I received them, with a letter of apology, and a certificate for three free slabs with a submission of three other coins. I went to use it a couple of months later, since I am an accountant, it was tax season and I couldn't do it immediately. Then I re-read the letter, and found out that it was only good for 30 days-- which is less time than it took to get the original coins back. I was supposed to be faster than they are. ANACS sucks.
Did you call them and tell them what you just wrote? I would agree that only giving 30 days is just dumb.
Excuse me while I jump for joy...... I was a huge fan of ANACS before they went down the crapper. Then I became a fan of ICG. I'd just hate to see ICG go down the drain as well. They are some very nice and knowledgable people. Not saying Taylor caused it but it's kind of odd when you retire to your family and then rejoin the company you left.
I think the people at ICG have enough common sense to know not to do drastic things like what happened at ANACS. With a little better marketing ICG could really propel itself into the marketplace with some authority. They've got a lot of things going for them, but not using them properly (IMHO). They'll never unseat NGC or PCGS as #1 & #2, but they could be a solid #3. Whether it was Taylor or the owners of ANACS making the decisions, they went about becoming a "top tier" grading service all wrong. Their slabs had no dealer network support and without that they're never going to be a top tier company. I could more easily wholesale out an ICG slab than an ANACS slab. There is just no wholesale market for them. The prices you'd get for ANACS slabs was awful. I could sell the coins raw for the same price.
Just got back from the Michigan State show. Straight from ANACS Jan 01, 07.. James Taylor is CEO of ICG Miles Has went back to PCGS effective immediately.
wait, why should i pay more for a coin (or less) because of the plastic it's in? If a coin is an MS64 its an MS64, even if the holder says MS65 or 63 etc... the market can be so screwy some times.
I have a number of ANACS coins in older slabs, but none in newer slabs. I think the older slabs will command at least a slight premium over the newer as time goes on.
Because the slab provides ease of saleability, insurance for the purchaser, and the ability to convey the grade to a person who only sees the coin in a picture. I may say it is MS64, but that doesn't mean it is to everyone.
I know, i was trying to hard there. I still think that PCGS is WAY over rated, its amazing how many collectors i come accross that refuse to buy anything but PCGS. I have always been of the opinion that you should buy the coin, not the holder (as many are) Oh well, more for me.
