Up until this point, my adventures in this hobby have been more closely related to "coin hoarding" than "coin collecting." I'm trying to change that now but I still have a lot of questions. While I have been hoarding over the years I have come across some nice AU - BU wheats, and I would put my two of my new Morgans in that category as well. I also have some really nice Proofs. How do you guys select which coins to send in to PCGS or NCG to have slabbed? Thanks for the help!
Whitman publishes several books concerning the art of grading a coin. Usually circulated coins are fairly easy to grade. The various grades of Mint State (MS60-70) are somewhat more difficult to tell precisely.
I select coins for grading that have the highest chance of increasing in value when slabbed. Said a bit differently, it makes no sense (to me) to submit a $5 wheatie. It costs $20 to grade, about the same or more to ship, and the result is a coin and slab that are worth $25 -- a losing investment. Change that tune to a coin that raw is worth $1000 dollars, but slabbed is worth $2000, then, of course, the investment in slabbing makes sense. Hope this helps....Mike
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. So let's say hypothetically you have a Morgan in my collection that is of a relatively common date but would be considered BU by appearances. Would you send it in for grading? I understand how the same scenario doesn't make since for a wheat. Thanks for the help.
As a point of reference, I'll point out that at last Sunday's coins show a dealer was selling PCGS graded MS64 Morgans for $72 (ask, discount for multiple purchases). They were not dogs either but some very nice common dates. Ask yourself if the purchase price of your coin and the cost of grading (which includes postage both ways, a phony handling fee and the actual grading fee) would allow you to make a profit. (Modified to add that I didn't actually see anyone buying the coins @$72. I did not purchase any, despite the dealer's offer to give me a discount if I purchased several.)
Again, it depends on the value of the coin and how much it is likely to appreciate in value as a result of slabbing. If you post the actual coin in question, I'd be able to give you a much more responsive answer.
There are a couple things to consider before sending your coins in. Why are you having the coins graded? If you just want them authenticated and slabbed to keep them then you have to decide how much is that worth to you. If you want to sell them after they are graded then there are different questions you have to ask. How many coins would you be sending in? If its just 1 or 2 then you are talking about $30+ per coin factoring in all fees. Just because a coin is ungraded doesn't necessarily mean it would sell for less than a graded coin in the same condition, especially if you take great pictures. On ebay, an ungraded common date BU morgan that would probably grade in the MS60-63 range might sell for $40, but, you could buy a PCGS MS63 morgan for $50. If you are paying $30 in fees, then you would be better off listing it on ebay ungraded for $40, rather than have it come back a 63 and sell it for $50. I would estimate the grade of the coin, and then see what its worth (numismedia and pcgs offer free price guides), if the coin isn't worth at least $100, then its probably not worth having graded, unless its just for you and not to resell.
To put it another way, if a common-date Morgan won't grade at least MS65 or, possibly, MS64DMPL, then it isn't worth submitting. Chris
This is a pretty nice way to see various grades for the different coin types: http://www.pcgs.com/photograde/ Couple that with the descriptions of each grade, and you can start to brush up on your grading skills! http://www.pcgs.com/grades.html
Mike I don't know of a single coin where that would happen. I know your comment is supposed to be illustrative, but there are too many people who think such comments are literal. Yes bhaugh, getting a coin slabbed absolutely makes it easier to sell and to achieve the best price. But, you could achieve exactly the same price by selling the coin raw to an educated buyer. As to when to spend the money to get a coin slabbed - to me if the coin is not worth at least $200 then it is not worth it. And in many cases it is not worth it even when it is worth $200 because it is too easy to sell it raw and get the same amount. Like Mike said, it really depends on the specific coin in question.
I agree, if a coin isn't rare or in fantastic condition, it just isn't worth the cost of grading. There have been many times that I see graded coins selling for less than the cost of grading. My local dealer has a bin full of PCGS MS-64 Ikes selling for $10 each and they're not going quickly.
This has really helped a lot. My collection is more for long term purposes. I may sell a piece here or there, especially if i upgrade pieces, but I'm not in it to make money. I appreciate you guys taking the time to help me out with this. I know grading plays a very important part in collecting so that you know what you have and you know you aren't overpaying, so I'll definately look into all of the material you have shown me.
This brings up another question. How/why (in your opinion) does this even happen? Are people that upside down in their collections, or is this happening by other means? I've seen a lot of BU cents that I thought it was rediculous to have slabbed at over $30 a pop, but I figured there was a good reason for it.
Why - because some people who only THINK they know how to grade coins believe their precious coin is gonna come back with a high enough grade that would make the fees worthwhile. I'm glad they do it though. I collect certified Roosevelt dimes, even the clad ones, and most of the series isn't worth sending in for certification. I managed to obtain a very large lot of clad ones in one lot on eBay a couple of years ago for about $5/coin, which, of course, is a mere fraction of the grading fees. I constantly monitor eBay for the certified clad ones I still need but, other than proofs, they simply don't show up much. Proving, I suppose, that people have more common sense than I generally give them credit for!
Hello bhaugh, You have received some good advice in this thread. IMO you should go to a large coin show & search out the dealers that have plenty of slabbed Morgan dollars similar to your own. Inspect the coins & note the prices & grades on the holders. Show the dealers your coin(s) & ask their opinion about slabbing. If you have access to NGC & PCGS population (census) reports, check into how many of your particular date has been slabbed by these companies. If it is a common date, then you may find that thousands & thousands have been slabbed in various grades. It is all good information & might help you better decide about slabbing your coin.
The grading services also offer "bulk" submissions for 100 coins or more; if the Morgan grades 63 they charge say $7, 64, $8.50, MS65, $11 or so. They also have their minimums on what must grade a certain level, if they don't you pay a per coin fee. If you have a tremendous group of blazers that might grade 67, 68, or 69, then you hit a homerun if they actually do. People are trying to complete their registry sets and will aggressively compete in bidding for such coins. So what may have been written off as just another common Walker, quarter, dime or cent, may, presto-chango, suddenly be worth lots and lots of money. Those are the exceptions of course.
I get all excited reading through this thread and then read this?!?! C'mon man! You make it sound like a 3 hour task! Post 'em!
Taking pics, decent pics, is not as easy as some seem to think. I've often spent 3 hours trying to get 1 good pic of 1 coin.
