top 5 best and worst certification services

so in your mind what are the 5 best and worst graders (I'll be shocked if I don't see SGS on the list)

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Best

1. NGC
2. PCGS
3. ANACS
4. ICG
5. PCI
6. AGS (ANTONINIVS grading services)


worst:

1. SGS
2. NCS
3. any others.


stainless

 

SEGS is okay too.
CDN has them rated about the same as PCI.

NCS grades coins???
I thought they only conserved coins.

 

They grade them in a way. They put "F Details" on there coin, and that is very annoying

 

Here is how I would do it:

Best:

1 - PCGS
2 - NGC
3 - ANACs
4 - ICG
5 - PCI

Then I would add - For the first 2 be careful and aware of what you are doing, for the second be very careful and extremely aware of what you are doing, and for the last you better know what you are doing or you might get bit. As for NCS I do not have a problem with them and still consider them part of NGC.

Then for the worst list:
1 - SGS - Stay away from them.
2 - As stainless says all the rest. Be very very careful and an really know what you are doing.

With PCI I at least look at the coins before passing judgement. I pretty much skip all the rest of the alphabet soup of tpg's (NNC, NTC, WCGS, HCGS, etc...) just because it seems like a waste of time. I would probably at least look if they were raw.

This is just my opinion. Learned a lot from this site, but still have a long way to go.

 

I agree with Mark's order of grading companies, But GD also has a valid point where he says:

 

David Lawrence's Grading service is okay.
(Dominion Grading, the former PCI.)

 

I'll agree with the first part of that. That is true of many, many organizations.
As to no others should be used. Sort of like saying a Buick used to eat a lot of gas so never buy a Buick. Cars change, people change, companies change. I've heard people at coin shows say never go with PCGS due to all kinds of reasons. Probably just one bad episode and then they keep repeating this over and over and over.

 

Why does everyone rate PCGS over NGC? NGC is MUCH tougher in my opinion. They know how to correctly grade FBL's and FB's, and such. And, they are as good, if not better at actually grading the coin.


stainless

 

I agree, NGC all the way.

 

Has ANACS really gotten that bad? I knew that IGC had declined quite a bit...but I thought ANACS hadn't dropped that far. Am I mistaken?

 

Guys, when you say ANACS grading was declined, is there anyway to say which ANACS slabs are 'good' judging by the design of the slab?
For example all of my ANACS slabs are the small compact white slabs. As far as i know, they use a different design now.
Eduard

 

All services tied at worthless as far as I'm concerned. The only difference between the lies that the so-called top graders tell and the ones that SGS and others like them tell, is that more people fall for them.

 

Which two? PCGS and NGC? Didn't ANACS introduce a new slab not long ago? So if all of the ICG people went to ANACS, where did the ANACS people go to?

Ruben

 

Is it fair to say, that ANACS is now equivalant to what ICG used to be (which in my opinion was one notch below where ANACS was) then? Since they are basically using the same staff as ICG was?

Also, about when did this change occur? For example, was it about the same time they brought out their new transparent slab or was it before that?

 

The ANACS/ICG swap occurred basically in January of this year. I'm not sure which holder you are referring to when you say their transparent holder. They have had at least eight different holders since Feb of 2006, and I think they may have come out with a ninth one in the past month or two. If so then there have only been two holders since the Jan buyout. If not then there has been only one for the past 14 months and there is no way to know which management issued it.

 

I was mainly referring to the change to the transparent slabs...but that may have been longer ago than I realize.