Certifed Coin Grading Service (CCGS)

everyone who collects coins knows how to grade coins - fewer of those people know how to do it according to the market accepted principles - far fewer of those people know how to do that very well - vastly fewer of those people are aware that they don't do it very well - infinitely fewer of those people agree with the other people that get to this stage. I fall into one of the earlier catagories, and I'm well aware of it. I get better as time goes by.

Coin grading, by all business ethics, should be strictly independant of product sales. Reasons for this are right out in the open. The immediate issue being temptation for profits over truth in advertising.

Over refunds and guarantees - I want simplicity. A grading company performs a service. That service should be quality, constant (within reason), and consistant. If a grading company gives these things, they will catch on in the hobby, given time, a little luck, and good marketing.

The problem new grading companies face today is the dozens, if not hundreds, of unethical business that have practiced before them. Afterall, it costs close to nothing to open up your own - no overhead, no pesky credentials to worry about... It's a scam artist breeding ground. Still, there is room to improve - before you look to start a new grading company, I think the right question is: can I do better than the big three or four that exist now? If not, pick something else.

 

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Thanks everyone for the input...

And after consideration, here are the new policies

LIFETIME GRADING REFUND POLICY:

The original submitter would be the only person who could request the refund. There would be a form sent which would have to be signed stating the coin was removed from the holder prior to the refund being given.

LIFETIME COIN BUY BACK POLICY:

The original purchaser would be the only person who could request the refund. The coin would have to be returned in the original, mint condition holder. If returned within one year the person would receive a 100% refund of the purchase price. After one year the person would receive a 100% refund of the purchase price or the current retail value on the coin, whichever is lower.

I feel these are both good policies and would help establish the new grading company.

 

No reason to do that.

Remember, we're coin collectors first and moderators second. When we find a thread that interests us as collectors, we join in.

(When we find a thread - or a post within a thread - that violates forum rules , we don't generally participate, because somehow the thread just seems to disappear. )

 

Which is probably why none of them have a written guarantee on authenticity. So far they have always stood behind their product but IF at some time they decided not to back up a coin that turned out to be fake you would have no recourse because that don't have a written guarantee.

And how do you define what is professional TPG service?

 

I think ANACS will pay the market price if the coin is graded higher than it should be....but I don't think they do that to copper....and I might be wrong all the way around.....

Speedy

 

Why is it so hard to find these so called guarantees that they should be proud to show?

 

It's clearly printed at the very bottom of the page with the big "UNDER CONSTRUCTION" banner in the middle, in very small print using a combination of nanotechnology and gibberish.

 

Chuckle, maybe the person who initally submitted the coin is issued the only one?

Bone

 

Stick with the tried & proven sellect few gradeing people!, They are excepted sight un seen, But these others...If I seen a coin undergraded by them I would (If the coin was worth it,) crack it out and submit it to the PCGS and the others for sure.Otherwise I wouldnt buy from any other grader, just me.......

 

Is this something all PCGS Authorized dealers must agree to comply with?

What would happen IF they didn't?

 

This is the best of the three, and it still doesn't specify what the companies obligations are if something is found to be fake, Say "Aw shucks sorry about that."?

PCGS's guarantee is circular. They guarantee that you will have the benefits of the guarantee.

ANACS's discusses grading and doesn't mention authenticity except to say that the grading guarantee doesn't cover problem coins which are only have authenticy guarantees, but again doesn't spell out obligations.

Both NGC and PCGS used to have much longer gurantees of grade and authenticity, (I have copies of both.) and in both cases they went to great length to discuss the companies obligations if the grading was found to be in error. The only place authenticity was mentioned was in the title of the guarantee and no obligations of the company were spelled out in either one. If the obligations are not spelled out the company doesn't have to DO anything if they slab a fake.

 

There is something inherently wrong in this. How can you ever know the value of what your buying? There should be nothing inherently difficult about grading a coin (authentication is a whole other ball of wax). If there is, then there is something inherently wrong with the hobby.

the problem is definitions, not grading. Grading should be self evident and a 12 year old should be able to do it. the trouble is that there is/was no standard. There was/is just a market where nicer coins get more money in the coin baazar. Then so much money started to ride on the grades that a standardization was looked for. But is there really a stardardization? Can a computer grade a coin based on just plain facts? That is the question and the wiggle room. The problem is that a MS 65 and a MS 66 can have a 10 fold difference in asking price. IMO, there is not a 10 fold difference in grade betweent he coins so the 10 fold difference in the cost is very very suspect.

When I collect Comic Books I have similar problems (but if gets even more complicated do to the fact that paper decomposes rapidly). A corner is nicked to the degree of a pin point, without exageration, and 20 thousand dollars is lost on the book. Its a good reason why I NEVER buy mint comic books. Who can afford to loose that much capital for an uncontrollable event when handling the book, even with extreme care?

Ruben

 

that they guarantee the cost difference at market value is IMPRESSIVE. Who keeps the coin?

Ruben

 

I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with the grading, just the buyer's behavior. Until some sort of precision grading technology comes along that is generally accepted, grading will be an approximation that competent graders can still differ about. The problem I see comes about because of the enormous jump in coin prices between certain grades. To me, it is an irrational risk that buyers take when they pay gigantic incremental price increases for the same coin going from MS64 to MS65 for example. Nobody in any other situation in life behaves as irrationally over price/quality differences as coin buyers do. It would be as if someone went into a store and said, "I can see that this TV is in slightly better condition than that one. I'll pay you triple the price for it."

 

I didn't say I didn't grade....I just said I wasn't a good grader....I mess up just like everyone and I have lots to learn--there is nothing wrong with that.
When someone tells me that they are the best grader and they don't mess up....I wouldn't trust their grading much.

Its not difficult untill you get into it.....a 1881-S Morgan dollar can't be graded the way a 1888-O Morgan dollar is....you have to learn about that too....and then there is also the way a Dollar is graded one way and a dime another way.

There are standerds...the problem is this....some people go by the ANA Grading guide...some go by Market Grading....some go by PCGS grading guide....the problem would not be there is THERE WAS 1 WAY to grade coins.....as for the 12 year old....I think a 12 year old can grade...if he/she puts his/her mind to it.

So you think a coin with good luster should sell for the same as a coin with dark brown toning??....that my is baazar IMO

That is no problem....if the coin is a 65 then it should be a 65....the problem comes when someone says that their coin is higher than it should be.

Speedy