PCGS vs. NGC - anyone send the exact same coin to both?

Not if you are truly collecting.

 

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The idea of collector/investor is really a topic for another thread. But I dislike the idea that a collector will blindly bid for whatever coin he likes, because he likes it, with no regard to value/market/liquidity/resell potential. I consider myself a collector (not an investor), and those things are important considerations.

 

As a collector, long term success translates into collection satisfaction. Not collection Value.

When I am Dead, my kids can reap the rewards and for them, $1.59 is a huge reward since it didn't cost them a single dime.

Now, if I were a coin "dealer" or in the "Coin Business" for my primary income, then I would go where the market is as my "long term success" would be anything on the plus side that didn't involve bankruptcy.

 

I suppose this is largely dependent on how you define "success" in this hobby, 19Lyds. And that is, yet again, another topic for another thread.

 

Ok I'm joining in a bit late as I was working all day but... Pcgs when they get it right do a good job. They have a nature of detailing coins for no reason especially qc for toners. They also pass some real crap. I'd say ngc the most consistent. I wanna see how they do with my latest submission which includes a few pcgs coins that had in my opinion bs details grades. I should know in the next week or so. Anacs coins I cracked out and sent to pcgs have usually graded the same or even upgraded unless they gave them a bs cleaning qc or altered surface detail. A ms 62 went pcgs 64 (didn't bean tho). A au 53 went 58 (my opinion overgraded 53 was right) just got conformation on one pcgs submission tonight and the $3 gold I graded xf 45 they called xf 45 in my opinion pcgs good with gold strictly original circulated early silver and white coins real tough on trade dollars ngc good with toners morgans and early proofs

 

You are forgetting that many collectors do still have to sell when they upgrade. Also, with the steep price jumps between grades on many series, a collector would still want to know the TPG grades and the market impact so he can buy more of what he likes. This is true even if he never plans to sell.

 

My experience is 3/3, PCGS Unc Detail -> NGC graded. Also, in my opinion, NGC grades Lincolns pretty loosely compared to PCGS.

 

You're absolutely correct.

 

I can get the best of both worlds! Buy the raw coin I like and have it sent to PCGS!

 

You may find it more economical to buy a coin already graded instead of buying a coin and sending it in.

 

That too! Good to compare both options.

 

I've done that plenty. I go to a lot of antique and estate auctions I seldom go for the coins but there's often some there. If there's any good original early stuff I usually buy it it's almost always raw. Then I send it in

 

When I'm dead I want my friends to sell everything (so someone else can enjoy owning it) and have a giant keg party and drink to the money is gone!

 

WAY to many collectors are buying based on plastic grades. If you want to collect, learn how to grade the series you like. And don't be afraid to buy raw coins! Most of my coins I've bought raw and been well satisfied.
I've also sent in some of those coins, better dates or for authentication, and most have come back where I thought they'd be, and a few better than I anticipated. I sent in (NGC) a 1888-O $ hot lips that I hoped for a -45.....it came back AU-53!
My favorite advice......buy the coin, not the holder. And if the coin has great eye appeal to you, it probably will to a future owner as well.

 

Yeah, I'll look further into how coins are graded by the TPGs, and how I should be grading them with a keener eye.

This is off topic and I know this is an older book by PCGS from 1997 (link below), but is it still good? There's a 2nd edition that came out in 2004, but... how much has coin grading evolved since 1997? A lot? A little? More or less constant?

http://www.amazon.com/Official-Guide-Grading-Counterfeit-Detection/dp/0676600409

 

Get multiple grading books....ANA standards, Making the Grade, Photograde

 

My collection is currently large enough that they would all die from alcohol poisoning.

Either I don't have enough friends to share the booze, or my collection is too large.

 

Or I heard about a new one, "The Art and Science of Grading Coins."

 

Me I expect the party to go on for over a year! Is not just the coins either. I got other collections and other stuff. I also have next to no family that I'm remotely close to and never married and no kids

 

The statements you make are far too broad. Realistically, there are differences in grading standards between the services that can cut both ways. These differences usually vary on a series by series basis. For instance, NGC is stricter than PCGS on strike designations, while PCGS is tougher on Capped Bust Half Dollars, for instance.

Edit: Typo.