Any info on SEGS Grading Co?
al410
Posts: 2,402 ✭✭✭✭
Looking for info on older coin grading service SEGS. I rarely see them for sale. Years ago I remember seeing some very high graded ones selling for seemed to be high prices. Appreciate any info
Al
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Assume the coin is raw when evaluating for purchase. Plus, the holders are very tough to crack open.
Generally speaking, they are not respected in the marketplace.
Their website is still up, by far the toughest holder to crack open.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
I mostly collect Morgan dollars for many years but also collect many different older third party grading slabs with Morgan dollars in them bur never see SEGS anymore.
SEGS was recently sold. Will be interesting to see what happens.
I still have a couple of coin in SEGS holders, I think the grading was often rather optimistic but there are/were some nice coins to be found in these holders as is true for any brand. I don't think the company is in business anymore but I'm not sure of that.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
Just seemed odd that they were around awhile yet never see any for sale with Morgans in them.
You can't really sell anything in their holders. You'll see $1 to$5 coins still in their holders because they aren't worth breaking out.
I remember something positive about the original owner. (remember forum Rules)
Wasn't he good on varieties... or am I mistaken?
SEGS... another tuition bill I paid as a newb.
BST: KindaNewish (3/21/21), WQuarterFreddie (3/30/21), Meltdown (4/6/21), DBSTrader2 (5/5/21) AKA- unclemonkey on Blow Out
Very tough holders. I had a 1927-S Lincoln I bought in SEGS MS64 Brown to crack out for the Dansco set. AU55 is what I grade the cent at. Be sure to took at the coin inside the holder.
Here is the link to many of the out of business slabs.
https://coinauctionshelp.com/page16.html#.YIGz71RKg1K
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My recollection was that they were very generous on grades but were very good about identifying varieties, etc. But like most third tier slabs many people expect to sell for the PCGS value guide number regardless of the actual coin.
An incorrect assumption, on what is still in those holders. I do agree that they are not well received in the market but not every coin still left in a SEGS holder is just a $1 to $5 coin. I have a very nice 11-D Lincoln that is graded MS65RB and would imo grade MS64RB if I decided to crack it, however as I have said more than once I don't do the plastic game. Not every collector has the need or desire to move coins to one brand of plastic. I do understand that some do and it may be in the best interest of a dealer for liquidity.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
I recall some interesting insert descriptions SEGS would use. Remember the "Damaged by UPS" insert? SEGS also tried to form a market for the "So-Called Zephre Dies" 1921 Morgans (spelling).
The one and only grader at SEGS (back in the day) was a talented fellow though, from what I recall.
I have one SEGS holder. It's a Washington quarter. It's graded 67. In my opinion, the toning is questionable and if it did straight grade, I see it as a 66.
Obviously, there are exceptions. But when nice coins enter the market, the first thing you would do with anything nice is cross it to ngc or pcgs. I'm sure there are a few good coins that haven't been broken out. 90% of the SEGS coins I see are $1 to $5 coins, mostly state quarters. That's not an assumption, it's an observation. There's also a few slider silver dollars still residing in those holders. And I'm sure there's some better stuff that wouldn't cross that's still in their holders.
The only Morgan I have in a SEGS holder, I would call this AU55/58 myself.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
HaHa! Thanks, been collecting for a long time. Some of these are new to me. Very interesting.
I am going to say something nice about that slab. I like the mintage being on it.
I have seen some good and interesting coins in SEGS holders, but you have to know what you are doing when you approach them. The best one I ever saw was an 1848-C quarter eagle that was in lower level of Mint State. Given the that I sold it to a very large coin firm, I am sure that it was cracked out many years ago.
The slab itself is exceptionally well designed. If you actually know how to grade you can sometimes pick up very nice coins in SEGS slabs but you must be very selective. I own one coin in a SEGS slab, a Franklin Half graded MS64 FBL. I consider it to be undergraded.
SEGS founder Larry Briggs talks about choosing the plastics for the SEGS slab
I like the slab itself. Here is the only one I have. At the time (maybe now too), they were the only one that would slab this item.
Very cool @MWallace ! Yowsers I like the slab and token!
I was thinking to have the new Ron Landis Nickel reissue in the SEGS.
It would make a neat set.
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CoinsAreFun Toned Silver Eagle Proof Album
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Gallery Mint Museum, Ron Landis& Joe Rust, The beginnings of the Golden Dollar
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More CoinsAreFun Pictorials NGC
Thank you. I feel lucky to own it.
That would make a nice looking set to have them all in the same slab.
Their slabs will survive the apocalypse. I am not sure about grade accuracy but I bought a segs MS65 buffalo that graded PR64 at PCGS so my experience has been positive on the buying side.
Collector, occasional seller
The green on the obverse of this one would have me nervous:
I have some segs ill post very shortly...personally I believe like most of the now gone companies that graded coins in the early day its hit or miss. As ive seen these slabs spot on ,and so far off its not funny. Let me pullthem image and post.
I believe youll find these interesting as they are Jeffersons nickels . These are almost like a grading set as to fs nickels . Be back in a few.
"That's why I wander and follow La Vie Dansante"
Weren’t they known to be really good for full step Jefferson grading?
Mr_Spud
Watch what im about to post...
"That's why I wander and follow La Vie Dansante"
"That's why I wander and follow La Vie Dansante"
"That's why I wander and follow La Vie Dansante"
It partly depends on the vintage. There were times really on when they seemed to be quite conservative. Then there was a later period when they were way over on everything. Towards the end, with the quarters, everything was a 70. I had a set of 70 quarters from them that looked like they came out of a slot machine.
"That's why I wander and follow La Vie Dansante"
"That's why I wander and follow La Vie Dansante"
These older slabs were graded pretty close to spot on ..the smaller gold slabs were all ms 70 correct however in hand these 87,88,&89 p&d are spot on .
"That's why I wander and follow La Vie Dansante"
The coins above would by todays standards all be full step nickels! Back in the day segs had a close association with the FSNC..... thus spot on each step as to a full step or a step with an issue look at the upper left of the slab see the 4 numbers?
Just an fyi if interested pm me as these aren't a major item in my collection i like old anacs, PCI green,and the old pci and world index card size slabs. So if your a segs collector these might be a nice addition.
"That's why I wander and follow La Vie Dansante"
This is the only coin in a SEGS holder I have. The coin has a big gash across the center of the steps. Hardly a nick.
They started out with good potential and grading but for some reason that didn't last. They have the best slab on the market IMO. Larry showed me one of the prototype slabs back in 1998 which was even more massive than the one used. I started slabbing with SEGS early on and have had them upgrade when cracked out (a chore, believe me!) and resubmitted to PCGS. One notable one was a 1934 DDO-001 25c that went from a 64-a $750 coin at the time to a 66 that I sold for just over $10,000. I've heard that they've been sold-I'd like to hear more about that.
Larry Briggs owned and perhaps still owns it. I don't want to comment too much on the grading, but I have bought many nickels in SEGS holders. I'm not sure what magical material the holders are made out of, but I believe they should line bulletproof vests with it.
Here is one of the very few I have in a SEGS slab. Nearly everything these days are in PCGS slabs.
I bought an 1882 Morgan Dollar in one graded MS65. Most lustrous dollar I have ever seen. Cracked it and it went straight into a PCGS MS65 holder. Now has a green CAC sticker on it. Some are properly graded, but if they are, they were they aren't in a SEGS holder anymore.
Curious where you heard there was the one and only grader???
Larry Briggs was the founder of SEGS. He was very good with varieties (incredible really), but his actual grading compared to our host and NGC....crack the coins in SEGS holders and send them to PCGS and see what I mean...
I am now able to confess I graded for SEGS in the early days. I had to sign a non disclosure agreement that has finally expired! I don't know where @braddick got the idea there was only 1 grader! There was 3 of us when I graded.
The 1 thing that stands out now that SEGS has been sold, and there is a bond to back it. They are the only grading service that guaranteed their attributions. From what I am being told, the new owner is trying to do things right.
The one thing that stands out in my memories, was me talking Larry out of putting a high grade 1945 Mercury Dime in a FSB holder at the 2002 Philly ANA show. Larry leaked it out to the submitter that I had convinced him and the ass actually threatened me!
The pressure finally got to him about all the comments he was putting on his coins. When he caved in due to loosing so much business, that was the beginning of his demise. I honestly believe if he had stuck to his guns and kept up the standards he had when I was there, he would be competing with the other 2!
Sorry, I was thinking of PCI.
I think the death knell for both PCI and SEGS was the lack of support from eBay. In fact, eBay absolutely banned listings (and still does). It was the beginning of the end.
I think you have the order incorrect. SEGS had already fallen on hard times before ebay declared official grading companies.
The knew owner is making in roads with ebay. The only reason they couldn't qualify before was not having an online cert verification. From what I have been told this has been resolved. Time will tell!
The problem is that once a grading company gets a bad reputation it's very difficult to restore any confidence in it. I'd love to see SEGS recover.
Interesting, earlier today when I was on the SEGS site I tried to verify one of my coins which failed. Maybe that feature only works with the newer generation slabs.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.