Just had a submission post the grades and hit my credit card. Problem #1 is they charged my card instead of applying the grading vouchers. That will probably be straightened out. Problem #2 is a 1914 Revolutionary Mexico 2 Peso. The coin has a planchet flaw and because I didn’t mark it - and pay - as a “Mint Error” they graded it as AU - details and noted the planchet flaw. If I had paid them $15 it would have been straight graded as such. At this point, they won’t correct it and told me I have to submit it again and request it as a mint error. I refuse to pay them again for this coin. I maintain that it’s not an error. It is as struck with a planchet flaw and doesn’t deserve to be called an error. They should have contacted me if they thought it should be submitted as an error.
A planchet flaw, especially one of that size, definitely qualifies as a mint error (not details!). However, they absolutely should have contacted you and asked if you wanted to upgrade/pay the fee for the error category, instead of just details grading it.
There are two types of errors, planchet flaws and minting. Minting errors are obvious, like off centered or incomplete planchets. But planchet errors can be laminations, cuds, etc if large enough. I think yours is large enough that it qualifies as an error.
A professional grader would assign the correct grade to the piece from the beginning. A greedy, unprofessional grader wants more money to give the piece the proper attribution. I am not comfortable with basing the grading fee on the absolute value of the piece, not a price range. Paying a percentage of the grade seems like you are buying the grade.
I would ask them to remove the Details designation from the label . . . it is not a damaged coin. It is a perfectly minted coin on a damaged planchet, and does not qualify for the Details designation.
The customer service at PCGS continues to decline. There have been many thread on the PCGS forum about all sorts of issues (image quality, registry not working properly, charging incorrectly, etc). Unfortunately there is no sign any of this will be improving. I have not sent anything in to be graded in several years and don't plan on it-the headache is not worth it when most coins can be bought already graded or left raw. I know there are cases where it makes sense to grade but with all the issues, I would recommend avoiding it (or doing show grading for something truly rare/worthwhile).
it was because of very poor customer service that I no longer use PCGS to cert coins. Greed has replaced common sense in their offices.. NGC might not have quite the premium pcgs carries, but they have been very helpful when I have had questions/issues. For that reason they tend to get most of my grading business (not a whole lot to be honest as I buy few raw coins in recent years)
So they actually told you that a details code 93 planchet flaw becomes a straight-graded "mint error" if you pay them? Sounds like customer service was yanking your chain. "Metal impurity or defect in the planchet. Small, unobtrusive planchet flaws are acceptable. Large, obvious, poorly placed, or distracting flaws are rejected. Context is also important. Planchet flaws on certain U.S. Colonial coins are expected; planchet flaws on Morgan Silver Dollars are not. For Chinese Ancients, this also includes cast hole(s) and cast flaw(s)." Here's one coded as a mint error, not a Colonial, likely falling under their "context is important" criteria. https://coins.ha.com/itm/errors/182...a/60374-53423.s?ic4=ListView-Thumbnail-071515 Considering that the three examples of this coin in their gallery (https://www.pcgs.com/valueview/2-pesos-1915/1914-gro-2-peso-km-643/5390?sn=526934&g=93&h=coinfacts) all have planchet flaws, I would raise a stink.
That’s what they said and even crazier, they said vouchers only apply to regular level submissions so they are still charging me for these economy level coins. From the Customer Service email: I do apologize, but that would be the only way to get the coin changed from the "98" damaged grade. If you do not want to have it resubmitted, then I can go ahead and have the order taken off ship hold for you and sent out. Also, pertaining to Order #25846957, when you were providing the authorization to add the vouchers, to your orders, with the prior representative there was no indication you wanted to use the vouchers for this order. As he did look for your authorization to add it to the submission it was only for Order #25846724. Vouchers are also only valid for the Regular service level, which this order was not. Unfortunately, we would not be able to provide a refund for the order as well.
PCGS customer service has always been horrible. I sent in a Hawaii Dollar to be graded I knew was cleaned and even though I indicated on the form to encapsulate it no matter what they didn't. Had to send it back. Later I sent in a Morgan Dollar, they got the grade right but put the coin in upside down! Had to send that one back too. After that I let my PCGS membership expire.
One thing that has really irked me about PCGS is that they have posted a very limited number of pictures of the coins they have graded. I think that they are doing much better on that score now, but of you go back 20+ years, most coins, even expensive dates, don't have pictures. This is one of the protections against counterfeits and other "games." If the coin in the picture does not match the coin that shows up under a given serial number, it's trouble. NGC has done a much better job in this respect. Some of the pictures might not be great, but they almost always good enough for identification purposes.
"The Collectors Club voucher may be applied to either the Regular Standard or Gold Shield service. You may submit your coins for either Raw, Crossover, Regrade or Reconsideration service. You cannot submit U.S. and World coins together and you cannot mix raw coins, Crossovers, Reconsiderations or Regrades on the same submission form. Voucher is not valid for Mint Errors, Special Issues, First Strike fees, Variety Attribution fees, Oversized Holder fees, Guaranteed Premium fees or coins valued over $2,500." This just seems like money-grubbing to me. Put a $ value on a voucher and apply it to whatever the customer wants, instead of all these silly restrictions. With NGC premium and elite you get a $150 grading credit, and as far as I can tell (no personal experience with it) it's a $ balance towards whatever service you want. But I'd never use PCGS for anything anyway, due to what I experienced on their forum.
I recall that they purged all of their coin facts images because it was evidence of "grade inflation." This was quite a few years ago so someone correct me if I'm wrong about that. If you're talking about cert verify, yes a ton of them don't have images.
I think he was referring to cert verify (where NGC does a much better job given that all coins get the scanned photo; they did not start right away but NGC has been doing it long enough where a ton of coins have the scan now). And you are correct about them purging the coin facts images. Laura at Legend was one of the big supporters of getting rid of those photos.
