ICG - Would you?

I'm going to a local show tomorrow, and ICG will be there doing onsite grading for $10. Part of me says it's a waste of $10, but the other part says it's worth the on-the-spot slabbing.

I just sent 30 coins in to ANACS on the Fall Insider special, and may be putting together another 15, but the idea of getting them back in minutes vs weeks/months is certainly appealing.

How far off have you found ICG to be off from the other 3, if any? What would you do?

 

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What type of coins are we talking, and what do you intend to do with them?

Generally speaking, ICG isn't terribly bad with classic coins, but with moderns, not so much, or at least this is how it used to be.

 

If it were me, I'd stick with ANACS, or the other 2 big TPGs.

Maybe do just one coin with ICG and see if you get buyer's remorse.

That said, if you're selling your coins for cash or to trade up, I definitely wouldn't do ICG. Otherwise, they'd make a decent option to organize coins...

 

What are the value and type? I'd probably use it for the style of low value coin I would use the ANACS special for. There's not a whole lot of difference between the two and I'd rather have it right away than wait two months, but as mentioned don't bother if it's modern coins.

 

I'm thinking they will grade it at the show but send it to you in the slab.

 

I sent some hobo tokens to them to be slabbed. I should be getting them back soon.
I think there are only 2 that slab hobo them ans SEGS.
These are the ones struck by Ron Landis and they don't fit right in the slabs I use.

 

I think for $10 I'd submit as many coins as possible. If they grade high, you can still try to cross them over to PCGS. If they grade low or details, I'd not submit them again. What I usually do when looking at an ICG/ANACS graded coin, I ask myself if I'd still be interested if it would grade a point or two lower. If so, I buy it.

 

GDJMSP, posted: "I wouldn't give any of them my money for their opinion on a grade. It has gotten to the point that all 4 are just as bad at grossly over-grading as any of the others. And in any case, the only time that plastic it is in matters - is to plastic buyers. People who buy the coin, and not the slab - don't care what kind of plastic it is in."

I'll have to mostly agree with Grandpa EXCEPT for one thing. Grandpa, me, and many older collectors are "stuck-in-the-past." We have seen the older, strict, grading standards deteriorate so much that former AU's are now traded as Uncirculated by folks as knowledgeable as us who should know better. Unfortunately, the world changes. For example, my father stopped going to movies when the cost for an evening movie went over $4 because he remembered 5c movies.

Here is the thing: If you know what you are doing, the plastic does not matter. If you don't, you better ONLY buy coins already slabbed by the four major services. Additionally, all coins within a grade are not equal so you still better know what you are doing.

Now, if you have some coins that need authenticating - any of the 4 will do just as well as the others. And that is the only time that I would recommend that anyone even bother to use them - ANY OF THEM!"

They are all good for that.

PS I know both collectors and dealers who send coins to ANACS or ICG for their cheap and fast personalized service. It's like a pre-screen. Then, they crack the better stuff out and it crosses at PCGS. At a show this weekend, a dealer told me that out of 100 ICG coins, 85 crossed at PCGS. He did not do as well with forty high-grade red Lincoln cents as PCGS was tougher.

 

@Insider, great answer. I once blocked you, undid it later. I really appreciate this type of response!
Steve

 

Thank you, that is so nice of you to say and it put a big smile on my face. Now, I need to bring @SuperDave around as we all can learn something from each other.

 

The only time I'm going to worry about the plastic is when it's time to sell and the cost of grading is nothing in relation to the value of the coin.
I think I know what I'm doing but still question myself with many coins.

I may use ICG or ANACS to screen stuff I'm not sure of. If nothing else, I'm spending $10 for a hard plastic holder.

 

Not unless they're all contemporary counterfeits / electrotypes

 

Oh, and Doug is a dinosaur

 

ICG slabs all counterfeits in the yellow label "educational" slab. From ancients to Modern Chinese crap.

 

I would use them to weed out potential fake coins. I need to find out if they attend any of our local Calif. coin shows.