I am looking to get a few coins graded in preparation for selling. It seems there are a lot of issues. Price of course. Ease of transaction. Reliability, Integrity. What would you recommend and why?
Without specifics it's sixes - NGC or PCGS. But personally, I wouldn't use any of them because every TPG there is grossly over-grades coins in today's world.
And NGC & PCGS also require membership fees. ANACS does not require membership fees and often run "Insider" specials after you sign up and register. Right now they are offering 10 for $10.00 each + 2 for free, minimum 10 coins, attributions extra, return shipping as all of them do and economy tier only up to $500.00 value each. Ends at the end of august.
Well, the one I checked charges based on the value of the coin. Given how one point often makes a huge difference in price, they have quite an incentive!
Based on the SAE that someone just posted that ANACS graded MS70 with a big gouge on her wrist, I wouldn't trust them with Grandma's coins. Chris
True, they make mistakes, but the others do also. I guess a little part of me that sends people to ANACS is because (I) need to be frugal being on SS. Plus I use them a lot for errors and varieties.
ANACS grades Self-addressed Envelopes? When did they start doing that, and when did people start collecting them?
The 3 best are PCGS, NGC and ANACS. It all depends on what you want to have graded as to which is best. I think being a member is required except for ANACS.
Interesting about pricing based on value. Isnt having it graded the best way to value a coin? So, we are supposed to know its grade before its graded.
Mainly a few old Type coins. I find it hard to grade early copper due to not knowing how to determine Late Die State. LDS. A worn die gives a weaker strike. How do you tell that from wear?
Could be they've changed, but to the best of my knowledge they all do that. There's a lot to learn, even about the single issue of weak strike. A weak strike can be caused by a whole lot of different things - too little pressure, die misalignment, bad die spacing, worn dies, filled dies, poorly made dies, and that's not all of them. But distinguishing a weak strike from wear - yeah that can be done, once you learn how. Read this thread and it'll explain - https://www.cointalk.com/threads/morgan-1891-notoriously-weak-strike.344537/
As Johndoe says, yes, at least in the right ballpark. Under valuing a coin, in the case of a possible loss through the mail could have serious consequences when trying to make a claim with the carrier. The same could hold true for over valuing a coin. The best advice anyone could give would be to learn the basics of grading before undertaking having coins certified and slabbed. If in doubt about grading yourself, if you have a good relationship with a local coin dealer, they might be willing to help you with this as long as they are not busy. By not learning grading basics you run the risk of thinking off hand that your coin is worth much more than it really is and you could wind up getting a real, but nasty surprise when it comes back either body bagged or graded much lower than your expectations. And this could be a costly venture in grading/slabbing fees. Doug's advice, above this post is good advice also.
