Do the larger coin houses go through the coins they have?

Herb_T

Coin houses like APMEX or Pinehurst for example…..they sell individual non graded coins. Are those the coins that they didn’t think would grade out as a 70? In other words do they pick through them prior to selling to John Doe Public?

winesteven

I can’t say for sure, but I have a set of PCGS graded America the Beautiful 5 oz. bullion coins. With those, APMEX told me they definitely go through them to determine which ones to submit to increase their chances of getting some back with the DMPL suffix.

In the early years of this series, from 2010 - 2018, this was easy, but for some reason in 2019 it became very tough on some of the issues getting DMPL. I don’t know if PCGS tightened their standards for that suffix two years ago, or if something changed with the minting process, or if the supply of planchets changed, but it was one of those three that changed two years ago. I got VERY lucky with the Americam Memorial issue, getting one of only THREE that succeeded with the DMPL suffix!!! The Weir Farm only has 18 with the DMPL suffix, and I have one of those 18 as well!

Steve

jmlanzaf

Sometimes

Herb_T

Grrrrr is all I can say!

jmlanzaf

@Herb_T said:
Grrrrr is all I can say!

Any opened box could be picked over.. or not. They will usually tell you.

Mr_Spud

Does PCGS allow bulk submissions where you can tell them to only slab the ones above a certain grade? If so, I imagine some would do that and then sell the ones that didn’t make the grade in original packaging or something along those lines.

winesteven

For some U.S. Mint products, APMEX acquires them in tubes sealed by the mint. With those you are assured of getting unsearched coins!

https://www.apmex.com/search?&q=mintdirect&filter=condition_uFilter:"MintDirect"&rows=80&view=grid&version=V2&start=0

Steve

MsMorrisine

@winesteven said:
For some U.S. Mint products, APMEX acquires them in tubes sealed by the mint. With those you are assured of getting unsearched coins!

Mint Direct is an APMEX product where they break open a monster box and slap a seal and label on it and promise you they didn’t pop the cap

winesteven

@Mr_Spud said:
Does PCGS allow bulk submissions where you can tell them to only slab the ones above a certain grade? If so, I imagine some would do that and then sell the ones that didn’t make the grade in original packaging or something along those lines.

Yes, and your submission does not have to be bulk. A few times I’ve purchased the Apmex sealed MintDirect tube of ten, and specified the grade I wanted slabbed. Anything below that was returned unslabbed (but naturally I had to pay the grading fee for all 10).

jmlanzaf

@Herb_T said:
Grrrrr is all I can say!

Any opened box could be picked over.. or not. They will usually tell you. > @Mr_Spud said:

Does PCGS allow bulk submissions where you can tell them to only slab the ones above a certain grade? If so, I imagine some would do that and then sell the ones that didn’t make the grade in original packaging or something along those lines.

Yes, they do.

Herb_T

So who would you buy coins from that would be above board more so than others? There must be a few? Who?

If the forum frowns on this, just send me a PM.

jmlanzaf

@Herb_T said:
So who would you buy coins from that would be above board more so than others? There must be a few? Who?

If the forum frowns on this, just send me a PM.

None of the ones you mentioned aren't "above board".

Unless you get it from the Mint, someone looked at it.

ricko

I would say that any source, other than the U.S. Mint, has checked the coins prior to offering them for sale. Otherwise, they are leaving potential profit flow out the door. Cheers, RickO

BStrauss3

Yes and no. They go through most of the individual coins they sell looking for the important ones. They're not going to miss a 1955 DDO Lincoln Cent. But there's minimal money in checking for every little variety and people have reported some low-value cherry picks.

jmlanzaf

@BStrauss3 said:
Yes and no. They go through most of the individual coins they sell looking for the important ones. They're not going to miss a 1955 DDO Lincoln Cent. But there's minimal money in checking for every little variety and people have reported some low-value cherry picks.

I would miss a 55 DD, as would most dealers. If I buy 50 pounds of wheat cents, I am not going to go through them. It would cost more money to find an S-VDB or 55 DD than I would lose by not looking.

derryb

If I were hoping to by a raw 70 modern coin I would not be purchasing it from these sellers or even smaller sellers. The best odds for a raw 70 are buying directly from the mint or buying mint sealed boxes on the open market.

I have no doubt that coins submitted by the big sellers have been screened. Not getting a 70 on what they submit cuts into their profits. The only exception would be sealed mint boxes, such as ASEs that they buy wholesale and have delivered directly to the TPGs. Such big sellers do get a break on submission fees with the quantity they submit.

The question could be easily answered if one were to discover that retailers employ graders.

Cougar1978

I buy slabbed coins from large dealers like Pinehurst to retail on the bourse at shows or online. Will bid aggressively if auction. Mainly one oz slabbed silver bullion coins. These are very attractive issues, more silver than generic US Morgan Dollars, higher grade, cheaper, and lower pop. Smart buys. The Niue Star Wars and Mexico silver Onzas Most Popular. PCGS had attractive green Aztec label they sold like hot cakes. They sold out during pandemic. Mexico 1968 Olympic coins popular too.

I had a bunch NGC 19th century gold coins from the Nordic hoard (picked up from GC) really strong sellers so much cheaper, lower pop, super deal vs US.