PCGS vs. other coin grading services

The truth is that a good TPG reputation is a lot easier to lose than to get. Each change of ownership is essentially hitting a RESET button. If even one owner does anything to compromise a TPG's reputation for accuracy or fairness, that ruined reputation sticks to their initials like glue. ANACS used to have a reputation just a smidgen below NGC and PCGS. Somewhere when I wasn't looking, that changed. Some say it coincided with the slab upsizing, though that wasn't the cause. ICG was hot stuff for a while, and then something happened. I don't know what. I wish I knew how to improve as fast as you can lose a rep. The world doesn't seem to work that way.

 

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Agreed--however, both PCGS and NGC have maintained a good reputation because they're generally consistent, and accurate, despite the myriad of complaints that come from individual collectors ("My coin is under graded."). Every collector thinks that their coin will grade higher, so said complaints are of minimal value. Also, die hards think that TPGs have variable standards, and that they can grade better than the TPG--nothing new about that. However, the companies that have lost reputation (ICG, for example) was never very good to begin with--as a longtime collector, I have always found them marginal--Not ACG, but not anywhere near adequate. As regards ANACS, their ace-in-the-hole was always attribution of varieties, and they still do that well. They were never in the league with the big two.

 

I have a coin club friend who uses ICG a lot, but he "says" because all it's about is authentication, and not grades for "most" collectors. Anybody buying that line? Anyway, the club we both are in has a 49 year uninterrupted run of having produced an annual medal set. Lo and behold, in 2012 our vendor misspelled Joseph Wharton as Warton, and had to do a new master die for us. They offered us a shot at having 5 100% copper errors struck so we could use them as a fund raiser as a rarity. We did, and since neither NGC nor PCGS slabs that stuff, we went to ICG to have them slabbed, and they did a beautiful job. Two PR69's, and two PR68's, and the one in our club archives left raw. I own one of the 9's.

The "rarest" third tier slab I own is a Franklin half in an NNC slab that I swear is UNDER GRADED! Talk about rare!

 

Just curious, but why was ANACS not considered?

 

Frankly, I have to say that nobody I've ever personally spoken with cares for the rounded top slab.

Oh, that plus we piggy-backed our medals with that one member's "regular" ICG set of cons, err, I mean coins .... I think, maybe.

 

So you wouldn't mind switching all your slabbed coins over to NNC then?

Look, I agree with you that it's about the coins. Having said that, differing TPG preferences due to factors like reputation, special services, registry sets, etc. do have a very real impact on both the market value and the liquidity of a coin in one slab versus another. These market differences affect all collectors, even if you don't personally care about the plastic.

 

Maybe I'm just unnecessarily cynical, but I swear that when everybody says, "I deal in coins, not plastic", what I HEAR is, "if we're dealing with an MS65 slabbed coin, if I'm buying, it'll become an overgraded 4, and if I'm selling, it'll instantly become an undergraded 6." And maybe worse.

 

I'm an ANACS customer and do submit coins to them. I've been very pleased so far.

 

Matter of opinion there. I dig the yellow slabs of ANACS. The shape and color really stand out from the rest. By the way, SEGS coins stack the best too!

 

I've seen some "uncirculated" coins PCGS and NGC graded and was shocked at what they were allowing into number graded slabs. I was looking at some lower priced Vermont, Bay Bridge, Bridgeport and Connecticut commemoratives and just shook my head like how could they not see these coins have been cleaned???? It just tells me slabbed coins are meaningless, all they do is simply house a coin. One needs to be his/her own personal grader these days as the pros don't get it right as much as we would like to think.

 

If the NNC coin looks undergraded BEWARE! Somewhat of a chance something could be amiss with it.

 

Do your research, I would only buy NGC or PCGS. If you check the population reports for these companys you will see their history. PCGS does in fact have lower population of higher grades. If you look at the 2014 clad Kennedy's you will be very alarmed by ANACS 2014 SP69 for both the d and p coins. NGC and PCGS only have 18 to 36 each of the high grade sp69's. and sell for 700 to 2000.00 for each coin.

Meanwhile Anacs has 65 sets completed auctions on ebay. The ANACS label graded according to their special label a total 1968 sets, thats just this label?? they have other labels.
They also did a First day of sale label with 1964 sets? REALLY?

NGC has 36 coins graded SP69 P mint mark. 2014 Kennedy clad
NGC has 22 coins graded SP69 D mint mark 2014 Kennedy clad.

So to date NGC has 22 sets and ANACS has over 4000 sets graded sp69


I would never buy an ICG or ANACS graded coin.

 

Yes, that was my first thought too, but I've examined it with a microscope (Swiss made) and I am convinced its NGC grade would be +1 AT LEAST, and maybe +2 from what NNC said. It's not a particularly valuable date, and I keep it in NNC plastic just as a reminder that NO rule is 100%. We are talking some very stout trends here, and not absolutes. It is from my "TRY to keep some humility, dude" collection.

 

I'm confused. So now you are able to recognize cleaned coins?

 

No, wouldn't mind at all.

 

Interesting discussion