SGS among others!!! I know, I know... SGS didn't fair well at all on this report but, giving SGS any credence as a grading service is well, in my mind, ABSURD! LINK TO PNG 2006 GRADING REPORT An article in Coin World lead me to the report. I do not understand why PNG included SGS in the list for dealers to report on. Quoting... Listed as "unacceptable" were ASAAccugrade, Numistrust Corp., Hallmark Coin Grading Service, American Coin Club Grading Service and Star Grading Services. It's bad enough, and "I seriously doubt", if any of the dealers have actually sent coins to the listed unacceptable services so how can they accurately complete the surveys in several of the areas listed in the report? Unfortunately, this report, in my opinion, will only give these unacceptable graders some credibility as a true grading service, which they aren't.
Understand your point, but I gotta tell ya that I think it is better to have them included and let the world know where they rank than it would be to have excluded and have some people say where they would have ranked if they had been included. Either way, these PNG surveys have to taken with a grain of salt to begin with.
GDJMSP, I would tend to agree with you IF the reports were all inclusive of every so called TPG grading company out there at the moment. And with major disclaimers regarding the services such as whether or not coin submissions are readily welcome from regular collectors or through recognized authorized dealers. Just putting up these so called TPG's that grade and sell their own items should be explained within the report. Unfortunately, now SGS/ABONCOM can make the statement. SGS grading is ranked 10th by the Professional Numismatists Guild. And I seriously doubt if SGS/ABONCOM would provide a link to that report. I also seriously doubt if they would attempt such a statement. BUT??? We know what ranked 10th really means but do the new collectors understand what it means? I don't think so. What I do know, is that the new collectors are seeing a lot more than 10 different TPG's on e-Bay, so they might be lead to believe being ranked 10th is GOOD! Oh well, time will tell if any of the TPG companies on this report will attempt use it to their advantage.
This is a really tough issue to me. For one, I hate to see SGS given any credence as a grading service whatsoever. However, they do slab and "grade" coins (note the quotations) and are a very strong presence on ebay. They claim on their website to have a 7% market share of graded coins on ebay, certainly a significant number. Therefore, I think it was probably a correct decision to include them in the PNG survey, and hopefully alert collectors of their unacceptable grading standards.
PNG lists what they feel like listing, they are no better than the ANA, And the ANA will do anything for a buck.
