Which company is the toughest grader NCG or PCGS?

Which company is the toughest grader NCG or PCGS?

 

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There is no black and white answer to this really. It depends on the type of material you're talking about. For the couple series I primarily collect, NGC happens to be the tougher grader, but that is not the case for every series.

 

Depends on too many factors including market conditions, coin type, and which graders, finalizers see it.

 

and.....

Which are they!

 

The following is merely a personal observation, and don't forget the plural of "anecdote" is not "data."

Both major TPG's have tightened their standards over the last few years, probably in response to the success of CAC. It seems to me that overall, PCGS grades more strictly than NGC, although the only area I'd consider NGC "deficient" is in their grading of MS/PR70's which concerns me not at all.

That said, PCGS is also issuing what I consider to be egregious errors in grading - both over and under - at a rate greatly exceeding that of NGC who appear far more consistent these days. Frankly, I'm at a point of advising going with NGC as long as the liquidation timeframe is over 5 years; at the rate they're going I don't see the "PCGS Premium" surviving much into the future.

 

US: capped bust quarters (1831-1838) by die marriage
World: Austro-Hungarian coronas (1892-1916), Hungarian type (1848-1946)
Exonumia: Habsburg coronation jetons

 

Thanks everyone the reason I ask is I sent coins to NGC and they got shredded. I am very much a novice so I have to look at the MS pictures and go very slowly and break the coin down into small areas for comparison purposes. When I look at other coins that NGC graded of the same variety they are in worse shape than mine but graded higher. It might just be that they were graded many years ago when NGC was not as strict. I don't mind them being strick I just want to ensure I get a fair and as best as possible accurate grade. I hope they aren't of the mindset that we are going to grade tough to show we are the best. Overgrading and undergrading are equally bad in my opinion..Thanks again everyone I appreciate your input

 

I didn't vote. I think experts here will tell you it depends on the series. Some series PCGS is tougher, others NGC is tougher. PCGS likes to tout they are tougher overall, but that is more marketing than anything. I have seen so many errors from both services both too high and too low that I don't have a firm opinion.

 

It may be - not wishing to give offense - that your relative newness to the hobby may have led you to overestimate a bit on some of them. Have you images of ones where you were beaten the hardest? We could possibly offer advice/instruction, or at least a little sympathy.

I would not be at all surprised if we ended up agreeing with your opinion, though - both of them have been applying the Customer Appreciation Flogging Stick with regularity lately.

 

Wish you had been more specific. "Shredded" is not specific enough to generate opinions. For example, IMO, when dealing with circulated coins, the photos on the Internet and the grading books SHOULD BE SUFICIENT for any collector to avoid being "shredded."

BU coins are different. Collectors need to learn/know much more how to grade them and books or the Internet are only a start. In my experience, most of the time someone complains about being "shredded" - the TPGS was correct and the collector just missed something. That may or may not be the case with your coins.

 

I tend to agree unfortunately. Many times beginning collectors in any field do not know things like, (for coins), cleaning, artificial toning, damage, whizzing, etc. can horribly affect the grade. There is a learning curve to learning how to properly grade coins, one which most new collectors ignore and therefor lose money by ignoring.

Trust me, I was not immune. I bought some horrible coins when I started. Post pics of yours and maybe we can help out why the TPG graded the way it did.

 

IMO don't get caught up micro-analyzing small parts of a coin, that's not how they grade it anyway. Need to keep the whole picture in mind when grading. Some things do need a closer look such as checking for varieties but you can't get caught up tunnel visioning small areas comparisons

 

I completely agree with this. Having submitted to NGC, PCGS, and ANACS, over the last few years I've switched to using NGC for just about everything. Their customer service is also superior.

 

I don't buy or submit any US coins but my understanding from the NGC and PCGS forums plus the market price is that PCGS is considered stricter or at least preferred, though this varies by series as other comments here state.

I also agree with the comment on 69 and 70 grades. Though I don't believe there is a dime's worth of actual difference between the two, I have noticed substantial increases in the PCGS 70 pops where I have looked, the prime example being the 1995-W ASE. Years ago the pop was two or three for like "forever" and now it is over 100. There certainly are no duplicates.

In world coins, NGC is clearly the market leader, generally. For the series I collect where the graded population is noticeable, I'd say PCGS is less consistent with South Africa but they seem to have higher quality coins in their holders (or did in the past) with the same assigned grade.

For pillars, I have disagreed with the assigned grades on both of them. I haven't inspected the coins directly but from images, frequently see coins where the assigned grade does not correlate to either the visible wear or apparent surface quality.

 

Ngc doesn't like to slab modern toners, especially ASE's but pcgs will without question if they deem it NT. It's almost like they have a deal with each other for pcgs to slab modern toners

 

Absolutely. NGC is significantly better than PCGS at attributing and grading world coins. Most of what I collect is world, and when I see a PCGS slabbed world coin listed online, I always assume the true grade is 1-2 steps below what's on the slab. I also always calculate the cost of crossing to NGC when I bid on those.

 

I didn't know PCGS even had a customer service...? Last time I called them they said... "errrr... can you please send us an email, explaining the issue again?" Well, I did but nobody ever got back to me... NGC replied to most of my emails on the same day with excellent answers to my questions.
So no matter which company is "tougher", guess which TPG I submit my coins to?

 

When it comes to Confederate currency, PCGS offers more consistent and accurate grading. In this market, PMG is their biggest competitor. As noted earlier in this thread, it depends on the series.

 

They forgot to budget it in the last year and a half lol.

 

Simply put....it depends on the type of coin you submit for grading. And they both make mistakes.