"Beginners' Advice"

No, it is actually a really good question. I misunderstood your original question.

I think there should be some books that we refer people to when appropriate (Red Book, ANA grading guide, Art and Science of Grading coins, etc. )

But, I think it would also be useful to have a repository of forum knowledge that we can easily refer someone to. Given that Cointalk has been around for many years, this may be best accomplished as an anthology thread (basically, a thread with links to threads that we think are essential). Heck, there may even be a thread like this already, that someone else can link to.

 

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Yes exactly!! I dont even know where to start or what is a waste of time. I feel overwhelmed by the vast amount of error coins, etc and I wish I knew what to look for and what to leave alone. I know that's basically impossible. In my case, I came across tons of pennies and I've always had an interest in their potential values.

 

Great idea! IMHO it might make a better forum than series of threads

 

What's "nonsense", sir, is this response to @green18's perfectly reasonable post. The fact is that new and/or the less experienced do have no business submitting until they've acquired the necessary knowledge/experience to do so wisely, and until they're well familiar with the requirements of individual TPGs, at least without the assistance of someone genuinely possessing said skills.

There simply isn't any "advice" which can be quickly written up that will allow such a person to do so, and was Green's entire point. Scanning through a home medical guide doesn't make one a physician, and the same is true for one scanning a coin forum or even one of the better grading guides available; there's simply no way around it.

 

Even more nonsense. Are you saying that no one should ever submit a coin to be graded because everyone has to start somewhere and they should not bother starting until they know it all? Are you saying that there is nothing that can be offered as advice to someone who is knowledgeable about coins but wants to find out how to traverse the intricacies of TPG.

It is clear that neither you nor Green have any interesting in helping others learn but there is no requirement that you do. You can sit in your corner alone and not share your knowledge if that is what you choose.

Fortunately there are many here who do like to share their knowledge. No one needs to type all they know in one post. But the accumulated knowledge of hundreds of members, with a few sharing part of the knowledge as they have the time, will add up to a substantial thread which will help anyone trying to get their toes wet.

You happen to have picked an excellent example to illustrate the need for this because it is one area where I am a beginner. I know plenty about the coins I am interested in but now nothing about submitting, as I have never done it. And if no one cares to point me in the right directions and share some tips for submitting then it is going to take me a whole lot longer to figure it out and I am probably going to make some mistakes along the way.

Your answer is equivalent to telling someone to join your coin club so they can pay their dues, but don't expect anyone to welcome you or help you.

 

I'm probably the king of one and two 'liners', but until a beginner reaches an intermediate level, they should refrain (IMHO) from submitting coins for grading. The reason being, that they will be throwing away a lot of money (on grading fees) on coins that don't belong in holders in the first place. How many times have you seen a newbie come into these forums, and ask the multitude here, if they should have an (usually well worn) common coin graded? Until they can determine the worthiness of what should be holdered they should save their money.

On the other hand, I would encourage the 'beginner' to buy holdered coins (from the so called big three) because these examples will assist them in their education of grading coins. @PennyGuy has assembled a grading set of two cent pieces from AG (I believe) all the way up to MS and it's a marvelous educational tool.

 

More nonsense. I know perfectly well which coins should be graded. I've seen enough of them, both slabbed and raw. But I am a total beginner when it comes to submitting for grading. So you are telling me that I should not submit until I have learned more about how to submit, but that I should not try to learn anything I have more experience submitting! Sounds like Catch-22 to me. And that is why I propose that we all try to help one another by consolidating all the tips we have into one thread so we can all learn more quickly.

Please explain how buying more slabbed coins will help me understand the process of submitting coins.

 

I don't think you're a 'beginner'.........

 

I am a total beginner when it comes to submitting coins. How many times do I have to explain that I have never done it and have no idea where to start?

 

You folks are writing at cross purposes to each other. There is more than one kind of "beginner". Someone that come in knowing nothing about coins is definitely a "beginner" and could use one type of "Beginners advice" thread. Someone who knows say a lot about Morgan dollars but who wants to get into Large cents is also a "beginner" and needs a different type of Beginners advice thread. Sakata is knowledgeable about coins and their values but has never submitted, he is a "beginner" when it comes to submitting. For him a Beginners advise thread abut how to submit coins to a TPG would be useful. But like a college course there are prerequisites, a good knowledge of coins is needed before the Beginners advice thread on submitted should be used. That should be a warning at the start of the thread. A "beginner" that DOESN'T have a good knowledge of coins and their values should NOT be using the Beginners advise thread for submitting.

I'm sure there are other categories where a Beginners advise thread would be useful to any type of beginner, and there are other categories where only certain types of beginners should tread. That doesn't mean the Beginners advice threads should not be created, but they do need warnings.

 

It's pretty easy once you've done it once. The coins need to be either in Saflips or sent in the OGP. PCGS will return the OGP for free with the order, NGC you have to select the option and pay a fee. The Saflips should be 2x2 or the 2.5x2.5. The 2x2 are fine for most things but use the 2.5 if silver dollars are going to be in the order, it's a tight fit in the 2x2 with those.

With the memberships for PCGS get the one with the 8 grading vouchers and use them on the secure regular service, the vouchers will actually save you money used that way. NGC get the 150 which gives you an even submission credit so you aren't actually paying for a membership with either like people always say you have to.

Each submission has to be either US or World, they can't be combined on the same order and one tier per order. You can ship multiple orders in the same box though to get it to them.

For shipping it there use either registered, express or priority mail. Ignore what they say about writing the submission level on the outside of the package it makes no difference and just draws attention to it.

https://www.pcgs.com/submissionguide

 

C'mon Man! The act of submitting coins is as easy as going to a website and following simple instructions, something you are perfectly capable of handling. What everyone else is talking about is having the requisite grading skills to determine if the coin in question is valuable enough to warrant grading in the first place. Otherwise you have newbies breaking open their 1970's proof sets and submitting the individual coins for grading.

Sometimes I think you just enjoy being a contrarian.

 

Thank you!