Is ICG really as bad as many people say?

Saying that a registry is a gimmick is one reason why they are last in the top 4

 

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I think your probably right. I was just curious if they had an official mission statement that stated something like that. Many companies do.

 

The registry is a gimmick...there's no other way to say it. It is a way to get collectors to spend inordinate amounts of money on coins that ever so slightly different in the hopes of getting more "points." PCGS and NGC created their own demand by doing it. It's a gimmick and it's brilliant.

 

you call it a gimmick if like but ANACS and ICG is only hurting themself for not having one

 

What happens to ICG when Skip and Randy are gone. Skip is 75 and Randy isn't far behind - you can't work forever, and no one is immortal. The company seems to currently be propped up by so few "experts" - I wonder what the succession plan is.

 

I agree that it has greatly helped their business...I'm not denying that. But, it's still a gimmick.

 

I want to clarify something in my earlier post. The reason I sent ICG slabs to NGC was because I wanted a uniform look to my collection of Norwegian Commemorative coins, everything else being in NGC slabs. It wasn't because I doubted the grades.

Steve

 

CamaroDMD, posted: "Let me ask you this then...since clearly ICG's company mission/goal isn't to get into the competitive games that PCGS/NGC have used to build their companies so large. What is ICG's mission?"

I cannot speak for all of us but several of us go to the Open Arms of Grace Mission on 15th and Broward in Tampa. Perhaps we need to put that mission on our web site.

Actually, our mission is to fly under the radar until we get so well regarded that even @Lehigh96 uses us.

 

Stevearino, posted: "I want to clarify something in my earlier post. The reason I sent ICG slabs to NGC was because I wanted a uniform look to my collection..."

You are not the ONLY one. All of our NON DEALER crosses from NGC and PCGS are made for the same reason - uniformity.

 

No one is forced to use the registry, no one is forced to hunt points, most people use it more as an inventory management tool. The people that want to compete can do so and enjoy it, but calling it gimmicky really sort of diminishes what they enjoy.

I would bet there are far more people using the PCGS registry for the virtual album to display their collection or inventory management than there are people trying to hunt points.

 

One member posting in this thread will understand this:

False

 

The word "gimmick" is usually used in a negative connotation to mean a trick, con, grift, ruse etc. There is no doubt that the coin registry idea is a stroke of genius and benefited NGC & PCGS greatly, but to characterize it as a gimmick designed to fleece collectors is mean spirited and petty.

The registry allows the collector organize, catalog, and display their collection using very user friendly software. It makes completing and upgrading your collection much easier, and it allows you to enjoy your collection while keeping the actual coins in a secured location such as safe deposit box. Furthermore, NGC presents monetary awards at the end of each year in many different categories. I personally have won the Best Presented Set which carries a $500 award in free grading fees. Coincidentally, the deadline for 2020 NGC Registry awards is 10AM tomorrow, 12/4/2020.

Personally, I think the coin registries are one of the most valuable tools available to coin collectors, and if you an Skip are going to continue to characterize them as gimmicks, you can expect pushback from people like me who don't view the registries in a negative light.

 

If you think the separator are registry sets or that it's a gimmick to trick collectors then false

 

@Springford CC , we were discussing the idea of uniformity yesterday and less than 24 hours later, here it is.

 

Yeah, but without use of the quote function, we have no idea what you are calling false, only that you are trolling @baseball21

 

I rank them above the Need Glasses Charlie boys. I think ICG badly damaged their reputation during the period when they were grading lots of stuff MS70 and PR70 when Teletrade was fading. It's unfortunate the marketplace doesn't see them as equals of the "Big Two."

 

To each his/her own. But you would be the only person I know who rates ICG above NGC. It's not even close...especially for world (non-USA) material. ICG is completely out of their element grading world coins. I trust their authentication, but their grading team is way too small to know how to grade non-USA coins.

 

Lehigh96, posted: "The word "gimmick" [a SLANG TERM for an ingenious or novel idea used to promote sales] is usually used in a negative connotation to mean a trick, con, grift, ruse etc. There is no doubt that the coin registry idea is a stroke of genius and benefited NGC & PCGS greatly, but to characterize it as a gimmick designed to fleece collectors is mean spirited and petty.

I posted that the Registry was: "...one of the best marketing ploys ever devised and on par with plastic slabs and photo services!

Lehigh96, posted: "Yeah, but without use of the quote function, we have no idea what you are calling false, only that you are trolling."

Trolling? Someone is or . I am posting EXACTLY as the member you mentioned has posted in the past. I learned this technique from him: If a member posts something you disagree with, all that is necessary to do is to post "false" right below their comment.

 

coinquest1961, posted: "I rank them above the Need Glasses Charlie boys. I think ICG badly damaged their reputation during the period when they were grading lots of stuff MS70 and PR70 when Teletrade was fading. It's unfortunate the marketplace doesn't see them as equals of the "Big Two."

ICG and ANACS will NEVER be considered equals of NGC or PCGS. The game is rigged. Even if folks would say that ANACS & ICG grade OK and if CAC stickered their slabs they would not be considered equals.

I personally don't wish to be considered equal. A member here mentioned "mission." My mission is to make any service I've worked for better in every respect than any other TPGS; yet have that ideal a huge secret. Sort of like a fungus that gradually takes over a big toe.

As for the 70 grade. In my experience, at least 40% of them from any TPGS are NOT. The use of that grade - finally, as perfect coins DO EXIST - was another slow to develop EXCELLENT marketing decision on par with the others I mentioned above.

 

I think the point side of the registry is a gimmick...I think the rest of it is fine. I think the idea of creating a points system is a con to encourage sky high prices...especially when the company who set it up is also grading the coins.