When submitting coins, do you put them in order?

sinin1

When you have a submission of 5-10 coins do you put them in any order?

Do you start with the most valuable coins? smallest denomination? possible bodybags?


The reason I am asking is I wonder if an invoice is looked at differently depending on the first few coins.


If they are bodybagged, will the rest be scrutinized closer?



What about good coins - I have what I hope is a CAM and also a DCAM of the same coin/year should I put them in the same submission and if so, which one first? and should they be together or have a few coins between them?



Are these graders as consistent as they would like us to believe, or are they swayed by the other coins in the submission.


Also what would they do if one submission was a group of $20 coins and all of a sudden a $10,000 coin is graded in the group?

MadMarty

I put them in order by date, not highest to lowest or anything, just all 1964s in a row then maybe 1960s.

FrattLaw

I think it depends, with a mixed order I would think human nature would require you to put the best coins first. As the saying goes, put your best foot forward. From my results it's apparent that a string of AT Kennedys first threw off the grader and as soon as he saw a 1981 Lincoln @ the end with a little color -- bang -- it must be AT as well.

I personally think this is how some AT coins get into holders. A smart doctor is not going to send in a whole batch of AT coins at once. The AT coin will be buried in a otherwise normal order with NT coins. Perhaps he knows a dealer and gives the dealer a coin or two @ a time and has him submit it for him. You get the grader thinking NT and then you can probably slip one by him. (This is directed towards all grading services, not just PCGS)

As my other post suggested, I'm going to keep playing around with this and post the results. Like I said, I've got two more orders to be graded that are a mix of AT and NT coins. I'm curious if PCGS will get it right 100% or will they BB a NT coin and slab a AT coin. I would imagine that they'll err on the side of caution.

As for non-toned coins, I would be hesitant to send in lets say a CAM and a DCAM 1964 Kennedy within the same order. The mere fact that one is frosty and has better fields might require a CAM and DCAM designation on the 2 coins since the grader will be able to compare the coins side-by-side. If you are a collector I would put them in different orders at different times and maybe you can get 2 DCAMs out of it.

Otherwise, I don't see dealers really caring, especially with large bulk submissions. They pretty much know a lot of the coins are going to be graded on a Bell Curve -- a couple of high grades, most in the middle and a couple of low grades.

Michael

mdwoods

I keep them in order after I put them in flips, but only by line number. I don't worry about which year or denomination goes first. mdwoods

foodude

I just put them in order of denomination, series, and date and mint. In view of the large number of coins that the graders have seen (I am a bit skeptical that moving the order matters that much, the exceptions may be mixing in borderline coins with questionable toning, with the borderline coins with natural toning (e.g., not the clear AT’s, but the ones that require some thought, and the less common natural toning patterns and colors).

itsnotjustme

I think PCGS will tell you each coin is graded on it's own merits, not that of the one before or after it.

DennisH

For me, it depends entirely on what I'm trying to accomplish.

If it's an order where I think one or two coins should upgrade, I front-load the group with coins that aren't as nice as the upgrade candidates.

If I'm trying to get a VERY low-grade coin to grade Fair-2 or Poor-1, I arrange the coins from nicest to worst.

If there's a coin I think is a "tweener" between grades, I put lower grade coins in ahead of it, so it will look better than the ones the graders saw first.

If there's a coin I think might be interpreted as having a problem, I put it in first.

I have no idea whether this works or if it's just wasted time. But it does make the process of filling out forms and such more amusing for me.

-- Dennis

fcloud

When I send a mint or proof set. They go from lowest to highest denomonation.
Sometimes when I send Mercury Dimes I do them in date order eventhough they are not in a row.
Sometimes I mix from highest to lowest grade (IMO--Their opinion is different)
Sometimes I mix from lowest to highest grade (IMO--Their opinion is different)

My guess is these people are strictly professionals, and they give the grade the coins deserves no matter what order they are sent into them in. I keep a list of the coins I send in with my opinion for comparision when I get the coins back.

rainbowroosie

If they are all the same series, I send the worst first and try to influence the grader. If a coin is MS 66+ and the grader calls it 66, I think there is a sub-conscious tilt towards calling the next -- a better one -- a 67?? Has seemed to work in the past, but I've also been badly/pleaantly surprised fairly regularly.

jdimmick

I have never submitted more than a couple at a time, but for some reason always list by denom, then by date.

Conder101

<< <i>I think PCGS will tell you each coin is graded on it's own merits, not that of the one before or after it. >>


Of couse they would tell you that whether it is true or not because you would never want to admit to any type of bias. And of course the official party line still can't offset human nature so manipulating the order just might have an effect whether they want it to or not.

kranky

I am pretty sure I have read here that the graders do not necessarily process the coins in the same order they are listed.

DHeath

Mark Feld commented once that graders were influenced by an obviously A/T coin on an invoice. I can imagine the grader would suspect of the whole invoice (be careful with this one, it could cost you your job kind of scrutiny). I wouldn't look for generous grades after that coin. The cam/dcam coins IMO fall into a different category. I'd likely seperate them more out of superstition than impact, but they'll likely grade them in relation to their mental examples rather than the others on the invoice. Russ said something the other day about PCGS having 7 internal levels of cam designation, and jogged my memory. I remember reading that in a Rick Tomaska piece a couple of years ago. The look at cam/dcam pretty close.