Which grade marker is the toughest to achieve?

joeykoins

Hi guys, in all the ones listed, which one would you say is the most difficult? Thanks guys

cameonut2011

Part of it depends of whose definition you use. NGC has always had stricter definitions than PCGS and CAC. I do not remember what the old ANACS standards were.

cameonut2011

It also obviously varies by date and mint. There are some notoriously super tough coins in the series that use those strike modifiers for each series.

MFeld

Check the pop reports. 😉

Obviously, the degree of difficulty in obtaining the designations varies significantly by date.

joeykoins

The Full Bell Lines

My vote would have to be FBL.
Those can be very tricky in determining. Some companies, like mentioned above, are more lenient than others, sure. As in the other 3 categories. I get that. But for the self examining standpoint, The FBL, for me, would be the hardest. Thanks guys. That's the only good thing about the 2004, 2005 nickels. No STEPS to worry about checking! Lol

Crypto

@MFeld said:
Check the pop reports. 😉

Obviously, the degree of difficulty in obtaining the designations varies significantly by date.

Not sure you can ascertain that data point from the pop reports seeing that submissions and market preferences combined with quality/price point avg of the submissions is influenced by outside factors. One service simply have gotten a greater share of better quality submissions

MFeld

@Crypto said:

@MFeld said:
Check the pop reports. 😉

Obviously, the degree of difficulty in obtaining the designations varies significantly by date.

Not sure you can ascertain that data point from the pop reports seeing that submissions and market preferences combined with quality/price point avg of the submissions is influenced by outside factors. One service simply have gotten a greater share of better quality submissions

I was thinking of both PCGS and NGC pop reports, combined. Between the two, I think you’ll get an excellent indication of the relative scarcity of each designation compared to undesignated examples. And that still takes into account that many coins aren’t worth the cost of grading. Some of them aren’t submitted for grading, but many are.

joeykoins

The Full Bell Lines

@MFeld said:

... And that still takes into account that many coins aren’t worth the cost of grading. Some of them aren’t submitted for grading, but many are.

Many of coins in MY collection can verify this. Here's two examples;

PF.68

Didn't care for the grade but just the CERTIFICATION

Another

Here's one of my other "not worth grading" coins.

Jefferson 2005d ms 65 FS

I was shooting for the ms 67. Oh well.
However, I did achieve the FS designation.

amwldcoin

I think there is a date in each series that is equally as tough to get the designation you are talking about. There are also dates in each series that are easy to get the designation. If you want the answer as a for type I would just go to the POP reports and determine the percentage of the pop that got the designation and draw my conclusions from there.

emeraldATV

@cameonut2011 said:
It also obviously varies by date and mint. There are some notoriously super tough coins in the series that use those strike modifiers for each series.

Sounds like this nailed it. Check mark this box for me.

daltex

I have to admit, I didn't expect the first picture in this thread to be an Anthony. Naturally, I had to look to see who spammed the OP's thread. . .

gumby1234

The Full Head

It always varies by date and mint , but I think FH SLQ are generally tough across the board.

oih82w8

Some years are better/worse than others for strike quality. Some locations are are better/worse for strike quality.

Namvet69

The Full Head

In my experience, FH is the toughest and great to see. Peace Roy