TLDR version: it's complicated; there are good, bad, and average coins in all slabs; see bottom for some nice coins.....but better yet, read the whole thing. Every so often a thread pops up where we debate the merits of the grading companies (which is better, who is more consistent, and whose slab brings the bigger return). Well I don’t think that will be completely solved here (or anywhere) but I still wanted to reflect on my own journey and what has shaped my opinions on the subject. It all starts with the 50 State Quarters series-that is where my collection began; first it was simply filling the holes of an album with one of each mint. In those days I had no idea what grading services were and had not signed up for any forums. Raw quarters from circulation were followed by discovering the US Mint website and adding the proof sets. Eventually I picked up a Redbook and became interested in wheat cents (again raw in an album). Those could not be completed from pocket change so it led me to visit the local coin store. This was still the early 2000s and the shop did not have slabs. In fact, I recall one time when someone asked the owner (who was an older gentleman and had been in business well before the services started) about slabs, he dismissed it as not something he was interested in. It would take several years and a change of ownership before slabs showed up at that store. And my first slab bought was a high grade ICG wheat cent for $5 that I picked up as a curiosity. A side note-that was also the first coin I ever sold on eBay (I was happy to get something like $35 for it). My first forum was CoinTalk and that is where I started reading more about the various slab companies. Now I don’t think this is quite common, but what caught my eye were the threads about the “lesser” third party graders (particularly from the likes of Conder101). So my first main slabbed collection was a hodgepodge of these slabs (ACG, NTC, Compugrade, Blanchard, etc). I enjoyed finding the unusual ones and it was a bonus if the coin inside was nice. The next major undertaking for me was cameo Franklins. There I did not go with the less known TPGs but stuck with NGC and PCGS. I did not have a preference for one over the other; I just wanted to find the nicest example of each at the most reasonable price. I had more NGC examples than PCGS but did not give it much thought. After a few years, the Franklin collection was dispersed. I did not keep records of which coins sold faster (PCGS vs NGC) but I do recall that one PCGS Franklin that fortunately did not sell later received a gold CAC (then it sold quite well). The only Franklin that I did keep from that collection was an NGC. The next phase of collecting saw me drift towards a collection of toners (mainly Morgans) plus some type/world coins. Here the focus is on eye appeal and the grading company is not the primary focus. Ok so that was not always quite true. Initially I had a mix of slabs. Actually my first ever grading submission was to Anacs (in large part because they had a special and the coins were not worth the grading costs at the other services). A few years later, I tried NGC for the first time. And finally I gave in and went to PCGS. That included cracking several of the NGC slabbed coins. I had partially bought in to the belief that PCGS was better and did see higher auction results for certain coins. I also heard many people praise TrueViews and some even would not buy a toned coin that did not have one (how times have changed!). There was a period where I had no NGC toned Morgans, only PCGS. I never got to the point of having only PCGS coins (because I still liked my NGC, Anacs, etc slabbed coins but could not justify the costs of reslabbing all of them at PCGS). I would say that over the years my total PCGS slabs outnumber any other slab in my collection. However, I believe there are good, bad, and average coins in all slabs. I won’t pass on a coin because of the slab it resides in and I will pay an appropriate premium for eye appeal in any slab that holds a coin I like. I have not submitted anything to PCGS in a while now (combination of nothing worthy, the wait times, and the current state of the photos) but could see sending something in the future (including cracking some NGC or Anacs slabs if I think the potential value increase justifies it). And what is a thread without some photos! Here are two of my favorite Morgans that were cracked from NGC holders and sent to PCGS. NGC MS 65 * to PCGS MS 65 NGC MS 64 * to PCGS MS 64 But there are coins that I have kept in NGC holders and don’t intend to change that. A favorite is this Columbian.
You know what is funny, I am currently reflecting on my opinions of the grading companies as well, in my own way. I don't want to reveal too much, but my thread "The Giant Full Step Jefferson Nickel GTG Thread" is more than your average GTG thread. While we navigate our way through this crazy hobby, we learn, without intention. We learn things we didn't know, learn that we were wrong, and learn that we were right. You and I have always had an affinity for toned coins with great eye appeal. And while my area of specialty has been Jefferson Nickels for the last 15 years, prior to that I had a huge collection of toned Morgan Dollars. In fact, I once created a custom registry set of toned Morgans on the NGC Registry where I fielded two baseball teams: The Battlecreeks vs The Great Falls. I have since sold my Morgan collection, but I kept the best from each team. It was so long ago, that the only photo of I have of either coin is this slab photo of the Battlecreek "Pink Eye Dollar" which is also my avatar on the NGC forum. Maybe tomorrow, I will dig out the Great Falls coin and try to photograph it one more time.
I've only used NGC for grading purposes as I'm a world coin collector and I think it's established NGC is the go-to for those. But, I've seen an increase in world coins in PCGS holders, so this could be changing. As of now, i have 46 NGC slabbed coins and 41 PCGS, all world. A year ago that number would have been skewed heavily to NGC. I was a raw collector for many years. As I got older it became apparent many of the nicer coins were slabbed. So, as my tastes refined and I began picking up higher grade and scarcer coins, my slab collection grew. I then felt the need to certify my own nice raw coins, mostly for the fact that graded coins are easier to sell, people like the security. I learned about 25% of my submissions earned details grades, but I took it as a learning opportunity. I'm still not great at spotting tooling. I tried the crack out game only twice. I cracked a type 1 buffalo from an ICG slab in hopes of a same grade. It downgraded one point. I cracked a stunning silver Danish 10 ore in an ANACS slab that proceeded to grade up one point and earned a star! I personally like the process of grading. Selecting the coins, sending them in and getting excited to see the grades! I do wish they'd work on economy turnaround times, but I just can't see myself sinking anymore money into grading. That would change of course if I get something really valuable! I've rambled enough. Here's a toned Bamberg 3 heller for your enjoyment.
Well life is lost when you find a coin that fits a spot in your collection, and you don't buy it! Slabs are just a mere shell to protect it. The coin is what I am after.
I now buy almost exclusively with the intent that I'll send the coin in to be graded, so I still peruse lots of raw coins. I still have about 40 raw coins in my collection that I won't send in because I know they'll details, but are scarce. I buy those little NGC looking self slabs for coins like that.
I've yet to send a coin off to be graded. Have toyed with the idea, yet it still hasn't happened. Nothing against you fellows who do though. I greatly admire and respect you all for doing so, but at this time (fifty years into collecting) it just ain't in my nature.....
Reflections... I've had three phases of collecting. 1. Young newbie (1971-1976), kid's income, raw (no TPGs existed), trustable coin shops. 2. (Long hiatus for phase 1.5.) Older (circa 2004), disposable income, stupid, mostly raw but also hodgepodge slabs. 3. A lot older, more disposable income, smarter, ANACS NGC and (cough) PCGS slabs but still some raw ones. Phase 1. Obviously there were no TPGs. Poor, Fair, Good, VG, Fine, Extra Fine, AU and BU was all you saw. Only shopped at a couple places in downtown Chicago, very old businesses where reputation was everything, what they wrote on the cardboard you could trust anyone would agree with. Sure, there was probably a lot of dipping, but the coins labeled BU weren't brightened up lower grades. Spending $5 in a coin shop was a huge deal. I had to mow an acre to earn that much, and we're not talking about riding mower or even self-propelled. I never felt that I was ripped off. The glory days. Phase 1.5... Phase 2. Circa 2004, enter the ebay era and I'm past phase 1.5, where I loved the coins I'd gotten from grandpa and purchased as a teen, but money went to essentials and fun, and for almost 30 years I didn't buy a single coin. During phase 2, I decided to start buying coins again and my goal was to expand grandpa's more valuable coins and get all the Canadian George VI silver across years and denominations. All from ebay. My stupid phase. I still believed everyone existed in phase 1. I bought quite a few raw coins from ebay with fluffy descriptions that showed up scratched cleaned and 6 grades lower than advertised. As well as even purchasing an NNC-slabbed coin (puke emoji). Disenchanted. Phase 3. Circa 2006-present. I learned how to grade myself. I learned that coin collecting after the phase 1 years became an "investment" to everybody, that everyone can "get rich quick from pocket change", and that everyone is a scammer. I still buy raw coins but am much smarter about it (or so I think), but it's almost entirely ANACS, NGC, and (cough) PCGS because that's what the auction sites I trust restrict themselves to. And those TPGs exist because of phase 2. I learned how to research and find undocumented stuff in places where people haven't looked because they can't make more money there (cough cough Barbers cough cough), and bought the coins that had the stuff I found. Then I endlessly promoted them on coin forums (cough) so that maybe my kids who will get my coins can make more money. Phase 4. This is where the marketing budgets have taken over, and not only does it have to be in a certain slab because we're infallible and if it's in our slab, you can make more money, but it also has to have a sticker because no they're not infallible so with our sticker you can make more money, and on and on. I can't wait to see how phase 4 turns out. PS - bah humbug.
I started about a decade earlier but your phases pretty much like up with mine but I have a few additions. I was one of the ignorant ones who thought that they could buy some semi key and key raw coins online and send them to NGC or PCGS to get straight grades. My experience was that about half of those coins had problems (cleaned or altered surfaces) and got details grades. Of the rest, most straight graded at a point or two lower than I expected. However, I did have a couple really big wins as well. But overall, I probably spent more than they were worth. Although, there was still some entertainment factor in all of this. Now, I don't buy raw coins anymore as I'm concentrating on high end coins and have already significantly downsized my collection. Phase Last: RIP
I have been a coin collector since I was a 7 year old kid. (1967). I collected Lincolns like everyone else. I branched out into other types of coins and have done; collecting from circulation, searching rolls for silver and wheats, building sets, forming type collections. The closest I ever came to quitting this hobby was in the early 1980's. I discovered that even advertisers with big full page ads in Coin World could be outright crooks. All those alphabet soup designations of fidelity were worthless if there was even one crook in the system. I was then and am now a huge fan of slabs and believe they have in many ways saved our hobby. However, I learned an important lesson around 1989/1990. At that time I was VERY fortunate that most of the slabs I bought were as type coins with high end circulated coins. Before my eyes I watched grading standards implode. In many ways it was like watching the famous tulip collapse that happened with investors in Holland. I learned that I, I repeat (I) was responsible for grading my own coins and that their true purpose (grading companies) was to make sure my coins were authentic. Today I swear no oath to any grading service. I put the new CACG grading service coins in the same basket as I do all other coins. I will decide what is or is not graded correctly. James
I have been a coin collector since I was a 7 year old kid. (1967). I collected Lincolns like everyone else. I branched out into other types of coins and have done; collecting from circulation, searching rolls for silver and wheats, building sets, forming type collections. The closest I ever came to quitting this hobby was in the early 1980's. I discovered that even advertisers with big full page ads in Coin World could be outright crooks. All those alphabet soup designations of fidelity were worthless if there was even one crook in the system. I was then and am now a huge fan of slabs and believe they have in many ways saved our hobby. However, I learned an important lesson around 1989/1990. At that time I was VERY fortunate that most of the slabs I bought were as type coins with high end circulated coins. Before my eyes I watched grading standards implode. In many ways it was like watching the famous tulip collapse that happened with investors in Holland. I learned that I, I repeat (I) was responsible for grading my own coins and that their true purpose (grading companies) was to make sure my coins were authentic. Today I swear no oath to any grading service. I put the new CACG grading service coins in the same basket as I do all other coins. I will decide what is or is not graded correctly. James
I collect the coin, not the slab it’s in. So I have a number of slabs from different companies but I have way more raw coins than anything else.
My attitude has definitely changed over the years. I'm still not a huge fan of slabbed coins, and have only ever bought a few that way. Three I bought slabbed I broke out to put into albums (one was a trade dollar that because it is faked so often, I bought it slabbed just for the peace of mind of knowing it was authenticated). I have sent some off to ANACS not so much because I care about their grading opinion as for just the convenience of preservation and storage of a few coins I thought was worth it. (I have some coins in slabs that are worth less than the cost of grading lol, some were just fillers to get to a certain number of submissions to qualify for package deals.) I own the only 2007 $5 silver tuatara coin in an ANACS slab as of now lol. I think I've reached the point of, I'm not completely against what TPGs do, I'm just not hugely interested most of the time. P.S. Don't get me started with toned coins... I don't deny that some of them can look nice, and I have a few with some light toning, but for the most part... I just don't think they look right and I definitely wouldn't pay a premium for such, in or out of a slab. For me "toning" will forever be euphemism for corrosion that some people subjectively decided they think looks nice. Let such people have them; I'll pass.
