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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;mac266, post: 2325334, member: 26371&quot;]OP, as a rule of thumb, there are two top-tier, highly respected third party graders.&nbsp; Those are NGC and PCGS. </p><p><br /></p><p>ANACS is generally accepted as a second tier service, and some people group ICG in with ANACS as a second tier.</p><p><br /></p><p>If a coin is not certified / graded by one of those four companies, its certification / grade is WORTHLESS.&nbsp; The most important thing about these top four companies is they do NOT sell coins.&nbsp; Their service is in certifying authenticity and grading.&nbsp; Period.&nbsp; They do not buy or sell coins, so they have no dog in the fight as to how a coin is graded.&nbsp; Companies that certify / grade and sell coins are tempted to &quot;overgrade&quot; so they can sell a lesser coin at a higher price.&nbsp; Browse through the web sites of NGC and PCGS and learn who the people are that are grading coins.&nbsp; Their expertise and experience levels are astounding.</p><p><br /></p><p>Keep in mind the adage, &quot;buy the coin, not the slab,&quot; and judge for yourself.&nbsp; It&#039;s possible that one of these lesser companies have a coin worth buying.&nbsp; That&#039;s why it is important for you to learn how to grade (the ANA has a correspondence course on this to help get you started), learn how to spot counterfeits, and learn how to spot problems like cleaning or artificial toning.&nbsp; If one of the junk companies has a good coin, buy it, cut it out of the junk slab, and submit it to NGC, PCGS, ANACS, or ICG.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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