I've been stacking mostly silver for a while and have managed to develop a small collection of raw pre 33 US gold. Some of them I think are worthy of getting professionally graded. I just have the usual questions.... Which would be the best service for maybe 4-6 US gold coins per year? How do you mail your coins? USPS Registered? UPS? etc. Am I wasting my time? and money? Will they be worth more 25 years from now?
Either NGC or PCGS. I'd always recommend USPS, but the type of mail you choose kinda depends on how much the coin or coins are worth. Registered is always the safest, but it is also the most expensive, as a general rule anyway. With Registered you can insure a package up to $25,000. Other types of mail have limits as well, much lower, so that kinda dictates which one you can use. With the other types of mail it's not as safe as Registered, but they usually get there. And if they don't for some reason the insurance will cover you. Maybe, maybe not. Having coins graded and slabbed does several things for you. It authenticates the coins, the holders provide as good of protection as any other holder, and it makes the coins easier to sell should the need to do so ever arise. It does not however add monetary value to the coin. So the cost for slabbing and grading must be considered part of the cost of the coin. And since the more the coin is worth the more it cost to have it slabbed and graded, that additional cost can at times be significant. Honest answer, nobody knows. What most people don't realize is that the coin market is very fickle. Values don't just go up, but quite often down, and down a long ways. Sometimes it takes a long time for that happen, other times the drop can be precipitous in just a few months. I have seen coins lose 50% or more of their value in less than 6 months. Another thing a lot don't realize is that we have been in a bear market for going over 8 years now. Yes, I am saying that coin values have been dropping, and dropping steadily and significantly, for over 8 years. Currently, values in the coin market as a whole are as low as they were in 2004. And so far it shows no signs of slowing down. So, if you had bought coins in 2004, today you would be breaking even. If you had bought them at any time after 2004, today you would be losing money. And in some cases, a lot of money.
Haven't shipped anything of significant value lately but it used to be that the insurance on registered mail was cheaper than on other types of mail (so much per 1000 rather than so much per 100). Helped to offset the registered fee. Sold some gold to APMEX and that was what they recommended for safety and cost.
I usually buy PCGS graded coins or NGC, but I've recently sent some coins to be graded by ANACS, and was totally satisfied. If you go USPS, which I did, the amount you pay for insurance goes up in $1000 increments.
They tell you on their websites so the carriers may vary, but you pay the bill (in advance) in any case. To the best of my knowledge they are all self-insured.
For generic gold in non-numismatic grades (most of the value is in bullion content), authentication is probably more important than grading. Either of the two big TPGs is fine. The TPGs will require you to list a value and will insure the package on its way back to you based on that value, irrespective of what grades they determine. The method of return shipment also varies depending on value, but is of little consequence as it is fully insured. What you are required to pay for return shipping is based on the designated value too - so really you're paying for insurance both ways. As for shipping to the TPGs, you have several options. The cheapest is to drop it off directly to NGC or PCGS at a large show. If you don't live near one of these (Long Beach, Central States, FUN, Baltimore, Las Vegas, New Orleans, etc), you'll need to mail it. As others have said, Registered is virtually bullet-proof. Registered parcels are signed for and there is a chain of custody from drop-off to delivery. It's also crazy slow and can take a couple of weeks cross-country. I don't recall ever hearing of a Registered parcel containing coins going missing. Next best is USPS Express with a well-sealed small box inside a well-sealed large Express box. Many numismatic insurance companies require shipment in this manner. Large boxes are hard to conceal and people don't nab them very often. Using a box-in-a-box also makes it difficult to make a small opening and empty out the goodies inside. The parcel is also only in the system for a day or two - less opportunity for mischief. You'll pay around $40-50 for this, but it's very close to bullet-proof. The actual parcels are often handled by other carriers (think FedEx). Finally, regular USPS Priority is OK, but these parcels sometimes go on crazy adventures and it isn't unheard of for them to disappear, especially if they're labeled as insured and they display $50 dollars of postage for a little teeny box. It's like a big "steal me" sign. As for potential future value, my crystal ball is cloudy.....
Generally express for me unless the value it to high. Registered is cheaper but the extra cost of express for me is worth it getting there days if not weeks sooner PCGS usually priority mail though if the value is high enough sometimes it is express. NGC is registered mail which takes forever. Both will ship basically however you want if you have a commercial shipping account and provide your info so it is charged to you.
