Anyone have experience with CAC submission's and normal turnaround time ? I've got two coins in for about five weeks now . I guess it's a good thing, I didn't get a quicker reject.
My average turnaround has been 20 to 25 days. John Albanese does not have the large staff of the TPG's so I imagine those times will vary with the volume of submissions. I sent ten slabs yesterday and will be glad to report their return if desired.
I don't know why there's a point in CAC. I know its used by some to verify the grade on slabbed coins. I've also noticed that they sell for alot more than the same thing without one. What I see is that you summit you coins, and they put a sticker on your slab after grading it again.
Your not alone with those feelings, though I have to disagree emphatically . That's another discussion, which has been tossed around this and many forums. If you care to, you might check the archived threads for those discussions.
FWIW, and not to start another argument about the CAC, the reason I sent my coins to CAC was to learn.
And, Mike, what did you learn? Did John give you a report on each coin? I realize that you are likely to have minimally learned whether John agreed with your assessment that the coin was accurate for the grade - certainly via inference whether the coin was stickered or not.
I'm not one that adamantly defends the usefulness of TPGs nor am I a rebel and refuse to but graded coins. However, I think CAC is a very useful service that uses a smaller group of people to re-grade your coins. It's easier to lose standards when you have a large group trying to collaborate (probably wrong use of words). However, as of recently I have seen some CAC'ed coins that don't look like they deserve it. By the way, that's by far the freakiest clown I've ever seen.
Here's a summary of the analysis (I removed some cost information and some by-dealer info): I did get a short explanation of each coin that was rejected, which I found extremely valuable. I also had Mark Feld, a dealer I've worked with for a few years now, evaluate the coins as well, and which I also found extremely valuable. The biggest eye opener was that I had a PCGS G$10 Indian that was puttied! That was quite a surprise and a lesson. In addition, I learned I had a pretty good eye or copper. Not so good for silver, and terrible for gold. Makes sense, because that's about equal with my familiarity with each metal. At least as far as "good for the grade" is concerned (which I'm not 100% bought in is a good way to gauge a collector or his collection, but that's another discussion for another thread). Hope this helps...Mike
Very good reason to use CAC. And even when getting a CAC coin it is good to compare it to other graded coins in your collection. Does not mean every CAC coin is a beauty or choice.
My turn-around times have been extremely fast at CAC. After CAC receives my coins, they have been completed within 1 week. With registered mail back and forth, the total time is about 3 weeks, but the CAC results are posted online the day of grading. Give them a call. I'm sure you'll get an answer.
Mike - it does. I remember your chart now and getting some feedback on the rejected coins combined with Mark Feld's assessment is a dynamite combination for learning. Now, you may have answered this in the past, but beyond the puttied gold, did you internalize your learning, become dissatisfied with the "rejects", and then sell those rejected? I ask because I think that would probably be my reaction. The increased knowledge would lead to my dissatisfaction and would likely overcome my original attraction to the coin!
