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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;calcol, post: 22922073, member: 77639&quot;]I have my doubts, but they make a go of it.&nbsp; It’s possible that CAC is just waving a flag to see who salutes and who spits.&nbsp; A few thoughts on it:</p><p><br /></p><p>1.&nbsp;&nbsp; Becoming a primary grader from scratch is a big investment with many pitfalls.&nbsp; There are a host of mechanical and administrative systems to set up:&nbsp; label generation and inspection, cracking, raw handling, slabbing, metal analysis, photography, sniffing, etc.&nbsp; None of these is needed for stickering.&nbsp; And, yeah, JA was involved with NGC and PCGS startups, but they were much smaller, simpler operations back in the day.</p><p><br /></p><p>2.&nbsp;&nbsp; PCGS and NGC have regarded CAC as a value-added service.&nbsp; Both services have added CAC sections to their registries.&nbsp; They commonly use pictures of their slabs with CAC stickers in their promotional materials or brag about their slabbed coins that have stickers.&nbsp; They indicate in their auction prices realized section whether coins have a sticker.&nbsp; That will do a 180 if CAC becomes a primary grader.&nbsp; There are already reports that PCGS is avoiding using pictures of their slabs with CAC stickers in their promotional materials.&nbsp; They either use a picture of the slab before it was stickered or perhaps photoshop the sticker out.</p><p><br /></p><p>3.&nbsp; It’s tougher to be a primary grader than a secondary.&nbsp; When CAC receives a coin now, they can be a little relaxed about some aspects like authenticity, toning, residues, subtle varieties, metal content and a few other things, and just concentrate on the grade.&nbsp; There is probably a lot of trust (rightfully so) in the ability of PCGS and NGC to ferret-out problems.</p><p><br /></p><p>4.&nbsp; CAC will make obvious mistakes as a primary grader just like NGC and PCGS do.&nbsp; As a startup, they may make more.&nbsp; These may be just mechanical like inaccurate labels but could involve issues mentioned in #3 above.&nbsp; As it is now, their mistakes, if they can even be called mistakes, are completely subjective.&nbsp; Whether a coin is solid for the grade is strictly a matter of opinion.&nbsp; They’ll have to deal with more objective mistakes as a primary grader.</p><p><br /></p><p>5.&nbsp; PCGS and NGC are big companies.&nbsp; They have a lot of influence in the industry, including with the coin press, dealers, auction companies and non-profit institutions.&nbsp; They will do everything legal and ethical to compete with a newcomer viewed as a threat.&nbsp; However, “ethical” is a sliding scale.&nbsp; Is persuading an auction company not to mention whether a coin has a sticker or only use pictures that don’t show stickers unethical?&nbsp;&nbsp; Coins sent in for regrading/reconsideration will always (even if grade does not change) be put in a new slab with a new number, thereby nullifying CAC status.&nbsp; When CAC announces prices, both PCGS and NGC may undercut them.&nbsp; And it’s possible that one or both companies together could underwrite a prestigious secondary grading company that could sticker CAC, NGC or PCGS slabs.</p><p><br /></p><p>6.&nbsp; Big growth areas of grading are world and modern coins.&nbsp; NGC and PCGS handle both now;&nbsp; CAC does neither.&nbsp;&nbsp; Will they start?&nbsp; If so, that will be an additional enormous startup task and expense.</p><p><br /></p><p>7.&nbsp; Collector perception of CAC may change if they become a primary grading company.&nbsp; If a collector has a slab from PCGS or NGC that also has a CAC sticker on it, they know two independent organizations have graded it and agreed on the grade.&nbsp;&nbsp; If it’s in a CAC slab, then only one group has decided its grade, and that may not be perceived as reliable as two groups.&nbsp; And yeah, PCGS or NGC could setup a stickering business for CAC slabs.</p><p><br /></p><p>Back in 2007 when CAC started, if PCGS and NGC had setup a service within each company to sticker the other service’s slabs, CAC may have died in infancy.&nbsp;&nbsp; If a collector had a PCGS slab with a NGC sticker or vice versa, there would be little motive to have yet a third company verify the grade.&nbsp; Instead, they introduced the unnecessary plus grades, which had no effect on CAC’s attractiveness to collectors … it was the second opinion that was the big deal.</p><p><br /></p><p>I’m a CAC member.&nbsp; Will I send in coins for grading or crossing?&nbsp; No chance until they prove themselves as primary graders.&nbsp; So, if other folks feel this way, what will happen?</p><p><br /></p><p>Cal[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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