Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;GDJMSP, post: 1227762, member: 112&quot;]Regarding a point that is continuously posted - that PCGS coins sell for more than NGC coins. </p><p><br /></p><p>I have been hearing that comment since before coin forums even existed. I have been reading that comment for as long as coin forums have existed. As a matter of fact, I have even said the same thing myself. However, what does such a comment prove ? Answer - it doesn&#039;t prove anything, and here&#039;s why.</p><p><br /></p><p>Take 100 examples of any coin you want, all of them graded by PCGS at say MS64. Then check the realized auction records for all 100 of those coins. Know what you&#039;ll find ? You&#039;ll find that the realized prices for that particular coin in that particular grade varied over a wide range. And by a wide range I mean that you&#039;ll find examples that cost more than twice as much as others. And that&#039;s for coins in the same grade and all graded by the same company.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now, look at 100 of the same coin in the same grade and all graded by NGC. You&#039;ll find exactly the same thing. There will be examples that cost twice as much as others.</p><p><br /></p><p>Given such a wide range to begin with it would be pretty hard to not find plenty of examples of the NGC coins where you could say that the PCGS coins sold for more. But by the same token you could also find examples of where the NGC coins sold for more. It all depends on the individual coins from among those two groups that you choose to compare to each other. </p><p><br /></p><p>So, using this type of criteria doesn&#039;t really &quot;prove&quot; anything - except for this. It is a known fact that from among any group of coins all graded the same that you are going to find some exapmples that sold for a lot more than others of the same grade. And the reason for this is because no 2 coins of the same grade are equal to each other. One is almost always nicer than the other so it stands to reason that the nicer coin will sell for more.</p><p><br /></p><p>But &quot;nicer&quot; is a pretty subjective comment isn&#039;t it ? Nicer to who ? Nicer to the buyer is the answer. But again there&#039;s still that subjectivity. Or, the coins may all be slabbed by PCGS but the buyer feels that one has prettier toning than the others. Or, one may have less contact marks than the others. Or, one may have better luster than the others. Or, one may have a better strike than the others. Or, one may have better eye appeal than the others. The point is that there is a multitude of reasons that a given coin in a given grade brought the price that it did. And none of them have anything to do with the slab it&#039;s in.</p><p><br /></p><p>But the fans of PCGS can look at these realized prices and say - see, the PCGS coins sold for more so PCGS must be the stricter, the better grading company. And by the same token the fans of NGC can counter and say - but look at these coins, they sold for just as much or more than those by PCGS. But almost without exception both sides will speak with authority as if they have to be right.</p><p><br /></p><p>But neither one is right, and neither one is wrong - because no 2 coins of the same grade are equal. So the realized prices don&#039;t prove anything. But people always speak as if they do because they want to prove that their personal beliefs are right. They want to justify their own actions. They want to believe what they want to believe. So they use these realized to try and prove it. And because of that, they ignore the facts. Because of that, they ignore the truth.</p><p><br /></p><p>Neither company is stricter than the other because they are different. Each company uses completely different grading standards for each different coin. So there is no way to compare them across the board. The only thing you can say, and be accurate when you say it, is that with some coins NGC is stricter and with some coins PCGS stricter. And the realized prices for any coin slabbed by either company will vary greatly depending on who the buyer is.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now there are some things that you can say and be accurate. Like NGC has better customer service than PCGS. I don&#039;t know of anybody that would argue with that, even fans of PCGS don&#039;t argue with that. And there are many that believe that NGC is more consistent with their grades than PCGS is. But that is an arguable point. I also don&#039;t know of anyone who will argue with the point that NGC has tougher criteria than PCGS when it comes to the special designations assigned to coins. But other than that, there really isn&#039;t anything else you can say when comparing one company to the other. And that&#039;s because it&#039;s pretty hard to compare two things that are different than each other.</p><p><br /></p><p>How do you compare an apple to an orange and then say that one is better than the other ?[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in