getting coins graded for $ and NOT breaking the bank

so I just found a Liberty/Mercury dime 1942 over 41. WOW pretty excited! so now I would like to submit it for grading and authentication. I checked PGCS and it looks like that would be $65 ??? !! am I reading that right?? yikes. that really takes the fun out of it.
What is the best way to submit a coin like this and do it for reasonable $

Guess I have always had several coins that I though about grading, but the cost turned me off. So it there is a way to do this at a fair price, I would probably do others too.

 

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Grading can be expensive and if it's an error coin, then the cost is usually even higher.

The 1942 over 41 Mercury is an expensive coin, so it may very well be worth the $65 fee to get it certified.

If it's a problem coin (i.e. cleaned, damaged, etc) and you only want to verify authenticity, then Anacs or ICG would be your options (both have lower grading fees but note that the market usually prices coins in those holders at lower levels, especially for problem-free examples).

 

Would you show Meow a pic of it?

 

Sounds like exploitation to me.
They look at a coin for 10 seconds. It's not worth $30, much less $65.
And let's see a picture of this beauty.

 

Let us see a pic.

I want to believe you, but we see people all the time who think they've found a rare and expensive coin, but they really haven't. Maybe you have, maybe you haven't.

If we can see a picture, maybe we can tell you with more certainty whether spending the money for certification is worth it or not.

 

Just commenting because I want to see a picture.

 

Exploitation? What would you rather do? List it for sale, raw, on FleaBay and be lucky to get 25% of its true value?

Chris

 

Is it a 42 Philly or a 42 D?
It would be worth the cost of grading if real and not details.
To me a coin is a coin and they should not charge more to attribute the variety/error/. That's a gouge to me.

 

I'm working on that. I don't have a camera that will get even a little bit close enough to show the detail

 

yea yea, I have too. Trust me, unless its a counterfeit its a real 42/41 and given the source, less likely to be counterfeit, but not impossible. Anyway, is there any trick to getting discounts with PCGS or ways to get grading done for less?

 

Philly

 

Not to rude, but its it not like yanking a Cats chain to post about a coin without having a pic? Meow tries to have the best take able pic of the coin even before writing the post. Its like showing Meow a can of tuna. Open it, then put it away in the cupboard.

 

It would be 67 total but that includes the return shipping fee. Submitting a single coin is more expensive because of the shipping but the grading fee itself is only 35.

They take the time that they need too. Most coins are quick some take longer.

The 1942/1 merc is an automatic designation there is no extra charge

 

So a few options for you. You could ask local coin shops or dealers around you if they are sending a submission in and if you could add your coin in to their submission. There’s also group submission that you will see advertised on here from time to time that work in the same premise. PCGS will visit some of the major shows every now and then and will grade on the site. I’m not sure how much cheaper but I’m guessing because there’s not shipping involved you should be able to save some money that way.

 

They are, like, in Irvine, California. Expensive area to be in.... You are helping pay for their choice of location.

 

NGC is an option too. The thing is you likely wouldn't be able to submit it using economy (the cheapest option) because of its potential value. They have an $8 handling charge per invoice. Early bird standard to get it done within 12 working days (which is lightning speed for them) is $30. That's for coins valued up to $3k.

If you want to upgrade to a scratch resistant holder it's another $5. Return shipping would be about $30 and you would have to get it there. So on your own you're looking at $68+ shipping it to them. You could probably eliminate the invoice fee and some of the shipping if you can piggy back someone else's submission or find a dealer submitting. Which is the smartest way to do it. Submitting yourself is strictly for convenience depending on how far away your LCS is.

I've sent 7 orders to NGC this year and always go for the scratch resistant holders. One of my biggest pet peaves in life is getting a nice coin in a beat up slab. It's so simple to keep them nice.

If that coin is legit, spend the money and send it in. I probably wasted $200 just in shipping to them this year because I didn't wait and send it all in one batch. I've got 2 coins down there now that have been there since 11/30 that still aren't graded fwiw.

Economy still runs $20 a coin for 21 business days so to drop it to 12 days for one coins for the extra $10 would be worth it to me anyway but you won't have a choice. BTW from talking with a rep recently, it sounds like "changes" are coming as in price hike changes this year.... I'm glad I got everything in that I had planned on sending.

Lastly, whatever you're thinking about sending, send it all in. Once you get the stuff back you'll regret holding other stuff back and wish you would've sent it all in one order.

 

The 42/1 shouldn’t require much magnification to see. You should be able to snap a regular photo to show us. But if you have any sort of magnification, a magnifying glass or a loupe, put it in front of your phone camera lens and snap a shot.

 

Show grading is more expensive due to the fact that you get it done so much faster. About the only thing you can do with that to save money is to submit it at the show as a normal submission and then you at least don't have to pay to ship it to them.

 

Starting January 2019 NGC pricing for Early Bird/Standard is $35, handling charge has been raised to $10.
Not sure about shipping charges, but probably in the $20-$30 range.

For the same service level PCGS prices are the same. $35, $10 and $22 shipping.

Grading fees are per coin. Handling fee is per submission. Shipping fees go up depending on how many coins in the submission.