I’ve had this belief for a while now: The difference between a 66 and a 67, or a 67 and a 68 is often just one slight imperfection. That imperfection, if removed, would sometimes add hundreds or even thousands of dollars to a coin’s value. But besides registry sets, is it really worth it? There is often no major difference in eye appeal between the high MS grades, and you’ll only find that imperfection if you look for it. I don’t mean to criticize anyone’s collection by saying this. I fully respect what everyone collects, but sometimes I have a hard time understanding and I just want to ask, what’s the point of paying so much for a coin just because the TPGs say it’s perfect? Is it just because of registry sets?
I've felt this way for a very long time, but we must remember that it may not always be an imperfection (I'm presuming you mean a mark) that separates coins in adjacent grades, and that it may be a difference in luster, strike or toning. Still, like you seem to, I find the differences in market value to be obscenely high in most instances.
Has basically nothing to do with registry sets. There are visible differences between them and it’s not always the highest grade that sells for the most. For a lot of series your options are very limited in those grades and if you want it you’re going to have to pay up.
To answer your question sometimes it's worth paying the premium and other times it's not. It depends on the series, the person's preference as well as the exact coins in question (you know the old saying about coins and holders). Personally I would never even consider paying for an MS68 38-D Buffalo for instance where you'll need to shell out $5k+ and you can get an absolutely knock your socks off 66 or 67 for $100-200 instead. I do however consistently shell out multiples of the grade below for my type set example because often it is worth it to me. I don't care about registry points but I do care about getting high quality coins for the long term that I won't tire of. Unfortunately those ones cost more than others (even if they're not the higher grade - quality costs in this hobby).
My hobby is collecting, not collected. If I were to give 20 grand for a coin, that would be the coin that I collected.
You pay the dough to see the show. There is a big difference between 66's and 67's as a whole. After that not so much but if you have the dough why not?
Depends on what your interests in the hobby are. If you want to collect perfect coins then go ahead. But my interest in coins leans more towards the history of money and I am just as happy with a lesser coin then a perfect coin. Don't get me wrong: if I can pick up an uncirculated coin for a decent price I will buy it. But I don't think a huge premium for a high-MS coin is worth it. If I were an investor and not a collector (or sometimes an accumulator) I may think differently. But I reserve investing for other methods.
Are high MS grades really worth paying a premium? In answer to your primary question I would say yes, high MS grades are worth a premium. The real question to me is how much of a premium ? But I think the bigger question is are US coins really worth as much as people seem to think they are ? In other words, are all values inflated, and if so how much ? And I think this simple picture answers at least some of that. Bottom line, you are obviously not alone in your thinking
Often there are significant differences in eye appeal between high MS grades due to the subjectivity of grading. One coin may have gotten a bump due to eye appeal and another might have a minor defect, etc. You just have to evaluate them on a per coin basis. I have several coins in my type set that are lower grades than are available, but I keep them due to the superior eye appeal. In general though, I go for the higher grades if they are properly graded. For moderns/ultra moderns, there's much less of a difference between the hyper gem grades as there are with classic coins. Toning, strike imperfections, etc. are much less of a factor on these coins and it homogenizes them so that coins of the same grade are often virtually interchangeable. This is not true of classic coins though.
