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Message:: [QUOTE="ziggy29, post: 19599, member: 1113"]Sure, with the coin in hand, it's much easier to *completely* buy the coin and not the holder.  Even the "leaders" like PCGS botch it once a while, and even the lesser-esteemed TPGs get it right sometimes.  I'd just as soon buy a "Fred's Grading Service" MS-65 as a PCGS MS-65 if the coins looked roughly identical, and I actually could *examine* the coin in person. But when you don't have the coin in hand, it's harder to trust the opinion of the so-called "lower tier" slabbers.  And that's why, sight unseen (or with only a picture to guide you), the more respected TPGs with a reputation for being more conservative will get higher offers. I think ANACS and perhaps PCGS would be closest.  ANACS is very tough on moderns.  I think an NGC 70 would sometimes be a PCGS 68 or 69, and an ICG 70 may not be more than a 65 to 67 in some cases. But for something like an MS-63 classic coin, or for circulated stuff, I don't think there's much difference.  It's mostly in grades above (about) MS-64/65 when you start seeing some discernible average-case differences in standards.[/QUOTE]