The crack out game can really hurt.

This is a story of a crack out that went bad.

I sold a Lincoln Cent using Great Collections about the first of this year. It was in an old small white ANACS holder. It was graded MS-66 RB. It sold for $575. I was really happy.
It was in my collection for 25 years and only gave $98 for it.

The buyer cracked the coin and had it graded at PCGS. It came back as MS-65 BN. Ouch.
At this point the buyer had paid buyer fees and grading fees. Rough math would put his cost at about $690.

The coin was listed again in the new PCGS holder and it sold for $316. After fees the seller would get about $300. About a $390 loss on the coin. That's a double ouch.

It takes thick skin to play the crack out game.

 

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You really need to know what you are doing with the crack-out game. I would never buy something with the assumption that I would get a grade like MS-66. Those grades are very hit and miss UNLESS the piece is some sort of a spellbinding Gem Unc.

When I played the game, I was looking a MS-62s and 63s that could turn into MS-64s. Most often it was with gold. ANACS went though a very conservative period with their grading of gold. It does not apply to ALL ANACS slabs. It was only some of them about 30 years ago. I image that most of them have been cracked an upgraded or even down graded. Very few probably exist today.

 

Just a question, was the coin still RB? or did it turn BN in the holder?
I believe that NGC only guarantees their copper for a limited number of years. 10, I think?

 

When I bought the coin the obverse was RB, actually a pretty purple with great luster and the reverse was still red. When I sold it the obverse was BN and the reverse was still red.

 

My question too!

 

I'd be very hesitant to break out a coin already slabbed at MS-66. Much more downside than upside I would think. I get the perception that PCGS has more caché than ANACS in the marketplace, but I still would wouldn't risk it.

 

I got lucky with an 1860 IHC I purchased in a second generation green PCGS holder. It was graded MS64 but the main reason why I bought it was that it was a pointed bust variety that wasn't labeled as such. I sent it back to PCGS to get properly attributed and it came back a point higher at MS65. The difference in value between a rounded and pointed bust 1860 IHC is significant; especially with a one point boost in grade!

 

Yes, 10 years.

https://www.ngccoin.com/coin-grading/ngc-guarantee/
"Coins made of copper, bronze and brass or are copper-plated can change over time. Accordingly, with regard to copper, bronze, brass or copper-plated Coins, the grade portion of this Guarantee will no longer apply after the 10-year anniversary of their date of grading."

I only played the crack-out game once, but I've only ever had coins graded once (so far). I wasn't in it for profit though, I just wanted them all in the same holder with grandpa attributed on the label. All Canadian George VI silver. There were 2-3 in ICCS MS60 holders that got MS62 (I knew they would; old ICCS was very strict), and my avatar coin PCGS graded as SP, UNC Details Cleaned. After much research I knew that PCGS mistook die polish for cleaning, and it turns out it was also lacquered which ANACS removed with conservation and straight-graded it SP62. Big score on that one. My 1946 CAD$ was also a good score partly because it's the short water lines variety and wasn't attributed - I paid $83 for it and one being auctioned is currently $408.

What year/MM was your Lincoln cent? Is the market value really $259 different between the two grades, or were other factors at play?

 

This the reason why I don’t like red copper. I refuse to buy old red copper, which is not a great sacrifice since the stuff is usually very expensive. I prefer brown or red-brown when I am sure that the coin is a never been dipped, original surface piece.

 

I feel safest buying BN for this reason, or RB with a lot of remaining red. Older holders are a bonus.

 

This 1897 Proof cent is graded PR-66, Brown. Something like this will be very stable given proper storeage.

 

When you crack out a coin and send it to be graded does that introduce one more coin the the population, or is the original removed?

 

Unless you send in the slab label with the crack-out, it's one more coin in the population. That's why scarce coins, like the 1854-D Three Dollar Gold Piece, appears to be more common than it is according to the population reports. Many AUs have been sent in repeatedly to get an MS grade. I heard of one piece that was submitted five times.

The slab companies used to pay 50 cents apiece for returned slab labels. I don't know if they do that any more.

 

I would much rather have higher grade brown copper than red copper. I think the brown allows the details of the coin appear easier as well.

 

@ldhair

 

I agree. If an old copper cent still shows a lot of red in an old (10+ years) holder then I feel pretty confident that it will retain that color in that holder.

 

Was going to post the same. I've had good luck with ICG to NGC and have never had a PCGS coin downgrade at NGC. They've at least crossed. I think as the sample size gets larger there would be more "adventures".

I hope there's some way to clean up the population reports with better technology some day. If they offered small incentives to report it could be done over time. You can assume population reports lean to the heavy side by some small, but variable percentage.

 

I’ve never cracked and resubmitted but I did recently send an NGC slab to PCGS that didn’t cross. I guess I’ll try to sell as is but the comps are drastically different.