Of the various coin grading services, is one viewed more favorably than the others (or held in higher regard)? I'm considering assembling a set of graded Franklins and I've never dabbled with stabbed coins. Thanks!
I'm sure there are as many answers on the subject of third party graders (TPG's) as there are coin collectors. The three most popular TPGS are: ANACS, NGC and PCGS (not in that order). There are many others (like ICG), but I would recommend to stick with the top three. As far as the top three are concerned, PCGS is widely regarded as the "top", although an excellent case can be made for NGC being the best as well. Many argue that NGC is the best to buy, and PCGS is the best if you are selling. ANACS has been in business the longest of all these. They all have their pros and cons. For my graded Franklin collection, I buy NGC and PCGS, and have not noticed a difference in quality.
It's kind of like this.......which do you like best? Ford or Chevy? [with the top two grading services]
Here is some info to help you choose between PCGS and NGC. PCGS only considers the lower set of bell lines when determining whether a Franklin is FBL or not. NGC, however, considers both upper and lower bell lines. The above information is from http://www.franklinlover.yolasite.com/
Do you care about FBL? If so, there absolutely is a difference between PCGS and NGC, and is due to their individual standards required in order to meet said designation. PCCS concerns themselves with only the bottom lines while NGC requires both sets.* Unfortunately, and as with many things in life, it's all too easy to make a complex question into a simple one. PCGS fanboys will often press that they're the best, while NGC fans do the same, but all comes down to individual wants, desires, and of course the coin itself. As the other gentleman said though, and right or wrong, certain coins generally do better in certain holders. That said, and even though ANACS appears to be doing a better or more consistent job these days (or so it's been said), their holders carry a lot of baggage and generally lack the liquidity of the top two while often achieving lesser prices. This isn't to say it's always warranted, but is something to consider or keep in mind if you follow through with this set. If genuinely able to properly grade for yourself and not wishing to play the registry game, you'd be wise to focus only on the coin and not the holder as they've all slabbed utter dogs, and such coins often bounce around until ending up with people simply buying the plastic. Here's a link that may interest you... http://www.caccoin.com/reference-sets/franklin-half-dollar-reference-set/ * written before seeing Rick's post.
PCGS is arguably not the "best" of the TPG's, but their slabs generally bring the highest prices at auction, sometimes by wide margins. Once you're at the point where you're completely independent of a slab in terms of accurately evaluating coins on your own, you won't understand why either.
ANACS is significantly cheaper if you're paying for the.slabbing and they attribute more varieties than the others. But you pay for that when you go to sell. NGC and PCGS both require 'club' memberships $$ to submit. ANACS does not. However, NGC has a free membership tier for ANA members.
