Which Service could turn it around?

braddick

PCI. SEGS. ICG. ACG. ANACS. NTC. Which Service could turn things around and become respected again (ANACS mostly is, but I thought I'd include them in the mix)? Which is forever hopeless?
The right marketing. The right GRADING. Could any of these, down the road, give PCGS or NGC a run for their money?

paigowjohnny

I think ICG could have a fighting chance...I think they have more credibility than the others listed.

eminem

the problem with turning around the slabbing company is that there is such a trail of destruction to clean up. IMHO the only way to do it is to admit to liberal grading, offer no charge regrading with handsome freebies thrown in and to change slabs and let it be known that from this point on "we accurately grade coins". they would need to cull legitimate graders from pcgs or ngc to add credibility and then maybe there would be a chance.........acg slabs aren't even bid on anymore. they will need to do something soon i suppose. All the rest would have no problem making the change.

Ogden

Braddick, good questions! I think SEGS could! I believe that they are fair and grade without emotion. I wish the companies could keep the graders in a vault and never let them hear the outside chatter. That would keep the grading on an even keel, I think!.

Ogden

lathmach

SEGS may.
Right now, who can attribute coins for variety other than them and ANACS?
They are the best of the two for that.
Probably no redemption possible for ACG.

Ray

DCAMFranklin

I agree that ICG has the best opportunity to give the big 2 a run for their money. They are very well financed. I have seen numerous posts here of people crossing their coins to PCGS & NGC at the same and even higher grades. They would need to do something like Eminem suggests for their modern coins, though I have found their grading of Silver Eagles to be dead on. They have made lots of mistakes in the DCAM/Cameo coins of the modern era. If they could finance bringing all those coins back in, correctly grade them and make the collectors whole, then they definitely can hold their own with other coins.

Of course, the real problem is adequate inventory for future grading.

flaminio

Already respected: ICG, ANACS
Could turn it around: SEGS
Theoretically could turn it around, but won't: PCI
Forever hopeless: ACG, NTC

IrishMike

PCGS, NGC and ANACS are solid, the question might be, is there really room for any more than those three. I just don't see it long term.

gmarguli

ICG is forever hopeless. They have already flooded the market with overgraded coins. In order for them to have any respect in the marketplace, they would have to buy all their overgraded stuff off the market and then convince people they are now a good company. Hard to do because basically you have to admit you sucked in the beginning. Even if they did, what coins would they grade? The problem would occur as what happened in the past. No good coins would get sent to them and the few that did got cracked ASAP.

ACG & NTC are a joke. No hope whatsoever.

ANACS could possibly if they started to stand behind all the previous graded coins with a money-back guarantee.

SEGS could possibly. Tighten up a little on the grading and they are a very good company at variety attribution.

PCI can't gain any respect when it wants to. Their little jump into grading by the Accugrade Grading Guide killed them.

braddick

Certainly what would help SEGS would be inclusion into Teletrade. It is what is holding ICG I think.

BigD5

I think Anacs has the best chance of making a big leap. They already have a decent following, and their grading is better than most give them credit for. They do have some braincramps, more so than ngc or pcgs, but they are better than decent.
As Greg said, if they offer some sort of money back guarantee for the previously graded material, and beefed up or put a positive spin on their modern coin grading (somehow) programs, they could/should make a decent move.
I guess I see the most potential with Anacs. Maybe, change the slab design, spin a new marketing plan..........

koynekwest

SEGS is an honest company run by an honest person. They could go far given the right circumstances.

DesertLizard

None of the above!

I am placing ANACS in the PCGS and NGC camp based on their variety attribution/variety recognition. The others are toast, too many mistakes out there and it cost money to run a slabbing company, honestly. Fact is slabbing is not a major money making operation, look at CLTC's books, and they are the leader. How are those 2 bit operation going to a} make money at it to make it worthwhile, b} overcoming lousy reputations and c} catch up?

Who will take a chance with them? The big 2/3 would have to mess up alot more to be unseated. Not likely!

michael

there will always be coins to grade if you think what is graded out there now is lots you aint seen nothing yet! just the tip of the iceberg has been graded

i think that one/a copule/a few major services will go though a metamorphis so to speak within the next few years and there will be another brand new company/a big change with the same faces and a new look and a new market acceptance grading policy/standard

just make sure you buy the coin not the holder and of course the holder does maximise the value of the coin and that is okie but if the coin really loses the majority of its value out of the holder and just raw well just make sure you understand that when buying such coins in slabs!!!!!!!

that is not good or bad just the way it is and just make sure

let the buyer beware if you go into this go into it with eyes wide open not shut

ricardouno

With regards to Morgan silver dollars: I have submitted hundreds of "raw"coins from my collection, over the past two years or so, to PCGS, NGC and ANACS. For me ANACS has been the most helpful in spotting important VAM varieties and noting them on the holder (even when attribution or variety is not requested). The increased value so rendered to the coins has been significant in some cases. Additionally, I feel their grading has been right-on for the most part over the past year, whereas PCGS has been (in my opinion) conservative beyond reason in many cases. PCGS has also excluded from grading (eg "body bagged") many original coins which were later readily certified and holdered by NGC or ANACS. ANACS also is extremely good at grading prooflike Morgans. This may be due to the fact that one of their main graders is one of the most knowledgible prooflike specialists ever. I know I may be going against conventional thinking, but I feel that ANACS may be (especially when that particular Morgan dollar expert is on duty), overall, the most accurate and careful grader of Morgan dollars at this point. I think they have clearly made a turnaround in this respect versus the other services.

gmarguli

Fact is slabbing is not a major money making operation, look at CLTC's books, and they are the leader.

Actually, PCGS is likely a big money maker for CU. It is the other parts that are draining money.

paigowjohnny

I have 2 ANACS Morgans that I was very satisfied with on the grading. I think ANACS would go far if they'd standardize the size of their slabs with PCGS and NGC.