PCGS and NGC are the leading grading services. All the rest fall into lower categories. I could discuss why that is, but that’s not what I want to do here. I want to compare the two services. I have long contended that PCGS is slightly more conservative than NGC overall for U.S. coins. The trouble with that blanket statement is that it does not apply in individual cases. Each coin is different. Each service has issued coins in their slabs that were “dead on” or conservative for the grade assigned, and each has issued some clunkers that were over graded from the get-go. Today it seems that there are more PCGS fans in the U.S. coin market than NGC fans. For foreign coins, NGC is the leading service. There seems to be a growing number of PCGS – CAC fans. They don’t seem to have much respect NCG-CAC approved coins. As an experienced grader I find far more PCGS graded U.S. coins that I like than NGC coins at the shows. Why is that? First, as I said earlier, PCGS is a little more conservative overall, but that tells only a tiny part of the story. The really important part is that many of the properly graded NGC coins have been crossed to PCGS. If you are on the PCGS blog, you read it all time. “I am going to cross this NGC graded coin to PCGS because I prefer PCGS!” The NGC mistakes stay in their holders, which drags down the perception of their product. A well-known dealer said to me, “There really isn’t much difference in the grading room,” and I think that he is right. NGC has graded many good or great coins properly, but much of their product has been crossed over to PCGS. I’d like to hear some of your views.
This is a great observation and one that way too often is ignored in conversations concerning ALL of the TPGs--not just NGC.
15 years ago, when David Hall "ran everything", it wasn't unusual for someone to be banned from Collectors Universe for complaining about something that they didn't like about PCGS. At the same time, someone on the NGC Collectors Society could complain about something that they didn't like about NGC, and the folks at NGC took it all in stride and responded only when they felt it was necessary. No CS member was ever penalized for speaking their mind. Granted, this has nothing to do with grading or crossovers or whatever. It's just that it told me a little about the character of the people who ran the business. That means a lot to me. Chris
It has been my observation — maybe right, maybe wrong — that PCGS does a superior job of marketing its service.
yea so they can put a higher value on the coin when they sell.. so chances are good that your not buying a PCGS coin, your buying an ex-NGC coin..
Both PCGS and NGC slabs are both fairly easy to crack open with a hammer. Neither slab has an advantage in this regard as far as I can tell.
I'm not going to say anything bad about either service, but I totally agree with your observations. Customer service at PCGS was horrendous for years although I admit I haven't dealt with them for quite some time. Maybe things have changed.
Unless you believe you're buying an ex-hunk of metal it would be the new companies coin once it is in their holder. Agreed, and they offer more tools which especially appeal to younger collectors, but their holder is also optically the best in many peoples opinion which plays a role as well. NGC also hasn't done themselves any favors by being penny smart and dollar foolish by insisting on charging extra for their scratch resistant holder below the express level when that is a standard feature of the PCGS ones.
The plastic tells me how much I can sell the coin for. The plastic also protects the coins. The authenticity of the coins in the plastic is guaranteed. Other than that, slabs are useless for me. I like NGC better as a company. I like the PCGS holders better. In the end, however, the coin itself determines whether or not I buy it, not its fancy packaging.
I used to like PCGS holders coins until I needed to get a coin graded. I picked NGC because their membership costs less. Someone here stated that PCGS includes scratch resistant holders and NGC charges for them which is a correct statement, but your paying a lot more for the membership which in reality covers that cost of that holder so no difference there. Another reason NGC is better imo is theor customer service. I called NGC and they always answer the phones and are happy to spend a little time helping answer questions. I cannot say the same about PCGS. If they do answer they are impatient.
I have recently joined NGC and upped my PCGS membership to Platinum. I wanted to send my Norwegian coins to NGC and my US coins to PCGS. I was pretty "green" and needed to phone both with questions about my first ever submissions. I found customer service at both excellent. The reason I chose NGC for the Norwegian coins was that in Norway NGC is far more common and some day I will need to sell these (or my children will). In the meantime, the only slabbed Norwegian coins I had were NGC and I want uniformity for display purposes. Another reason I sent the Norwegian coins to NGC is that I see a LOT of slabbed Norwegian coins on ebay. IMHO the PCGS coins appear overgraded. In one case it was at least by a couple of points. Steve
I collect world coins primarily and a lot of world coins are graded by NGC so most of my collection is NGC. I do however buy pcgs, anacs, or icg world coins if I like them, no bias. As for grading my coins, I go with NGC for my world coins.
Most of the important coins in my collection are NGC or PCGS. The last several years have me feeling that my NGC coins are seen as second rate in the market. I never cared to have all my collection in PCGS plastic with a bean.
There's no membership fee for either. NGC gives you equal submission credit and the 8 vouchers at PCGS are worth more than the cost for them. You're doing it wrong if you're paying for a membership to either
