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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;GDJMSP, post: 20710, member: 112&quot;]This exact same coin and the same question was discussed previously in this thread - <a href="http://www.cointalk.org/showthread.php?t=2577&amp;highlight=1925-s+ms66" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.cointalk.org/showthread.php?t=2577&amp;highlight=1925-s+ms66" rel="nofollow">LINK</a> . But because it does present the opportunity for a good learning experience I will discuss it again more in depth. I urge anyone who wishes to better understand the grading process and the pricing structure to visit the Heritage site and closely examine all of the coins in question.</p><p><br /></p><p>My efforts here are an attempt to explain not only why 3 coins graded exactly the same brought such varied prices but also why 3 coins so dissimilar were assigned the same grade in the first place. All 3 coins - 1925-S Mercury dimes - were graded MS66 FB. Two were graded by NGC - 1 was graded by PCGS.</p><p><br /></p><p>Let&#039;s start with coin #5871, NGC, which realized $5,520. First of all, this particular coin, date &amp; mint, is known for its weak strike. So coins with even a fairly good strike are assigned higher grades. This coin has booming luster and few distracting contact marks in focal areas. It has excellent eye appeal and the strike is much better than usually found for this date &amp; mint. And it has well defined and fully split full bands. The downside of this coin is the weakly struck center areas of the fasces and around the ear and the die crack. Even so the coin as a whole is deserving of the MS66 FB grade.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now as to the realized price - this coin was sold at the Heritage NY Signature sale and had 5 bidders, not a large number but average. While the NY auctions are generally well accepted and successful they are not particularly known for bringing record prices. But since Heritage commonly has the same group of bidders watching its auctions this coin realized just above the average price for those same coins that are sold on Heritage. </p><p><br /></p><p>Coin #6055, PCGS, which realized $12,650. This coin also has booming luster, few distracting contact marks in the focal areas and possibly even better eye appeal than the previous coin. But like the previous coin, this one is weakly struck in the same areas, around the ear and fasces, and has less well defined bands than the previous coin. All in all the two coins are very similar but with strengths and weaknesses in different areas. It too is deserving of the MS66 FB grade.</p><p><br /></p><p>But this coin was sold at the Long Beach Signature sale. And Long Beach is known for achieving record prices and attracting the largest groups of dealers and collectors. It seems everybody wants to be at Long Beach. This coin had 7 active bidders, more than usual. And the competition undoubtably helped achieve the high price. Again, since it was a Heritage auction, many of the familiar bidders likely participated.</p><p><br /></p><p>Coin #5783, NGC, which realized $3,881 - the lowest of the group. The coin has great underlying luster which is slightly subdued and darkened by normal silver toning. It has no distracting contact marks in the focal areas but it does suffer from hairlines in a couple spots. Thus the eye appeal is not equal to that of the other two coins. But the strike on this coin is amazing. It is likely the strongest strike that could be found for this date and mint. Every area of the coin is fully struck and the amount of detail is unusual. And it is undoubtably because of this especially strong strike that, coupled with the coin&#039;s other attributes, it was assigned a deserving grade of MS66 FB.</p><p><br /></p><p>This coin was sold at the Pittsburg Signature sale, during the ANA convention. One of the nation&#039;s largest shows. Now you might think this to be a good thing, but it is not always so. At a show like this there is too much other material that collectors and dealers alike would be interested in buying. The coin had 5 bidders, again average for a Heritage sale. But because of the lesser eye appeal and hairlines this coin did not bring what it otherwise may have.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now there is one other very important aspect that has not been considered for these 3 coins that has a large impact on the realized prices. That is the registry program that NGC and PCGS both have. With the NGC registry program, coins slabbed by both NGC &amp; PCGS are elligible for entry. And NGC&#039;s program has a differently weighted scoring system for points achieved by a given coin. It is also not as popular as the PCGS program.</p><p><br /></p><p>PCGS&#039;s registry program on the other hand only allows coins slabbed by PCGS to be entered. Thus the competition for the hard to find dates &amp; mints is stiffer - there are simply more collectors competing to acquire the same coin. And they will pay even higher premiums above the recognized value of the coin in order to achive the highest point total possible. Plain and simple - it is a competition to have the best and they will pay to do so. Also, PCGS assigns more points for coins such as this one. This only adds fuel to the fire.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now by taking all of these things mentioned above into consideration, it should be obvious why the 3 coins were assigned the same grade. It should also be obvious why coin #6055 realized the price it did, even though it was equal in quality to the other two coins.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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