They are considered a third tier grading company. The actual grades they deliver may vary either way of 'actual' so, as with any TPG company I'd recommend "Buy the coin, not the plastic? Are the coins they grade any less valuable than those of ANACS, NGC, or PCGS? No, but as with any service you get what you pay for... Bone
As a general rule most of the numismatic community considers the coins graded by NTC to be grossly over-graded - anywhere from to 2 to 5 grades over-graded. The same is true of most other grading companies. As has been said countless times - only NGC, PCGS, ANACS and ICG, for US grading companies, are considered to be worthy of respect when it comes to their ability to grade coins. ( ICCS, a Canadian grading company, is also highly respected ) NONE of the other US grading companies garner this respect & trust in the numismatic community. As a result, coins found in the slabs of these other grading companies sell for a fraction of the price that a given coin of the same grade would sell for if it was in a NGC, PCGS, ANACS or ICG slab. That being said, if an individual has the ability to accurately and consistently grade coins for themselves, gems can be found in the slabs of these other companies at true bargain prices. The reason this is true is because most knowledgeable collectors won't even give a second glance to coins found in these slabs because of the company's poor reputation. However, this does not happen often. And you really need to know your business to do so.
Is NTC pretty good at authentication and detecting cleaned coins? I don't own any of their coins, but might consider it if the price looks right for the coin, taking the grade inflation into account. Sometimes I'm mor afraid of counterfeit and cleaned coins than I am about grading.
I wouldn't trust them with cleaned coins here is a nice coin but I think its been cleaned. A member here on this forum just got a nice coin from NTC...a proof Barber but I think that is one of the few good coins from NTC. Speedy
Yep. As it so happens I'm also getting a couple of $20 Gold pieces as well. Both of these happento be graded by NTC, and both are graded at MS63. I'll let you know what I think of it all once I get them (a few weeks). Overall, I think *any* grading company is pretty subjective. Proof of that is when people crack and re-crack out coins and resubmit them hoping (and often getting) a higher grade. It's an art, not a science. I've seen slabbed coins by all companies which honestly, I disagree with the grade and/or the coin lacks the eye appeal of a lesser grader coin. If it were difinitive, then you'd be able to submit any single coin, to any and every grading company, 10 times and it would come back the exact same, every time. Has anyone every done this just to see what the results would be?
Of course, it happens every day with PCGS and NGC. Most of the time the coin comes back graded the same, but not always. This is easily evidenced by the resubmissions. Otherwise why would they have to send them back 5, 6 or 10 times. As for sending it to any grading company - wouldn't be much sense in that there would there ? I mean, after all - no two of them use the same standards.
Yeah, well that's people grading the graders. not exactly what I was after. I want to see the results if a single coin were submitted to each of those grading companies listed say 5 times. What is the grade of the coin. That just says that not only can't they agree on a grade, they can't agree on the standards by which to grade. Even less of a point IMHO. This really is why I wouldn't send a coin in to be graded. For dealers, it's wonderful (since if they can get an MS63 coin graded up to MS64, they've made bank), but buyers (IMHO) should be wary of the plastic and the numbers on them. Of course it could be used as a general guide. One would guess that an MS66 coin would be in better condition than an AU58, but when the price level between MS63 and MS64 or MS69 and MS70 is so great, it goes beyond a "general guide" IMHO. I know all of this has been discussed to death 1,000 times already.
But it doesn't, it says the opposite. If a coin is sent in for grading 5 times, and all 5 times it is returned with the same grade on the slab - that says the grading is pretty consistent and that they DO agree. Although upgrades, and downgrades, do happen - they don't happen often. Not nearly as often as most people think. Percentage wise I would estimate it is less than 5%. That means the TPG's are consistent and DO agree on the grade 95% + of the time. That's pretty good in my opinion. This one is a given. I do understand why they don't agree on a standard - it's what sets them apart from all the others, makes them each unique. And they need to be unique, each in their own way - if they hope to stay in business. And since being in business is the point of their existence - they stay unique. Of course to me this is the crux of the issue. For if the TPG's did all agree to accept one set of standards - then grading as a whole would become much more consistent, even among different companies. But in a business sense it would remove all competition - there would be nothing to set one company apart from the other. And they fear this would cause them a loss of business.
I just got to read a great book online http://www.coingrading.com/ GDJMSP had posted the link many times but I never had time to sit down and read it untill the other day..... It was great. He says that most grading Co. have a consistency rate of 85%-90%. So I can see even better now how a off name grading Co. can hit the mark a few times. I think NTC has graded some coins good....but would I suggest a newbe buy one ??...nope. Speedy
So what do you think about "The Official American Numismatic Association Grading Standards" book? I just bought this the other day and have been using this when checking out coins.
It is the one I recommend most often. But then I also recommend reading anything & everything on grading you can find.
I like it....I used the 5th edition--the newer one is good to most people but I won't get into that....search this forum for Market grading and this ANA Grading Guide and you will find much talk about the topic Speedy
