Overall NGC grading of Mercury Dimes.

Fairlaneman

Your thoughts please.

PQpeace

buy pcgs

pretty simple

haletj

Overgraded by 2 points. Well, I've only owned 1, an ngc ms66 34-d, and I almost cracked it to put it in my raw set (bought it off ebay with that purpose in mind). Decided it looked more like an ms64 though, so I got rid of it. My favorite dealer's opinion was that both services were too lenient on dimes in general, but esp thought ngc was ridiculous.

mercurydimeguy

Fairlaneman

Thats not the answer Larry.

Do you think NGC is consistant with their grading through the whole series ? Is a 1920 Merc graded to the same standard as a 1938 Merc at NGC ?

This needs some discussion and down right truthful opinions.

BTW...some nice coins do end up in NGC holders but most make their way into PCGS holders IMO. Mine have anyway.

Ken

PQpeace

I look at just about every merc in auction,and at shows.
Most are over graded by at least a point..
lots of hairlines,scratches etc.
I buy maybe 2 out of every 100 ngc dimes I see.
After 1940 it gets alot closer,but still not coins I want to own.

Fairlaneman

Even though NGC has their own standard, and Merc collectors that love quality for the grade mostly disreguard the NGC coins, does NGC grade consistantly through the whole series. I think they do grade consistantly through the whole series.

Ken

mercurydimeguy

marcmoish

I see you decided to open up some Merc threads - cool - I was wondering when you'd come around the father of merc dimes indeed


NGC has consistantly graded Merc dimes by ONE point higher thruout the ages from '16 to '45 period. This is obvious and proven over the many years. YES there are exceptions, but by and large an NGC MS64 will go for 63 money while a PCGS mS64 will go for 64 money if not strong 64 money etc.
PCGS has over the years been very tough on Merc's and they grade tighter - many of the PCGS dimes are worth the grades they have - many, there are MANY EXCEPTIONS however as we all know.



Marc

Fairlaneman

<< <i>Ken, you are right again and an excellent point. They will grade a 19-S and a 45-P the same way they'd grade a 41-S or a 43-D.

NOT at PCGS, though. >>



As Merc Dime collectors would we want to see PCGS grade to the same standard that NGC does or would we want to see PCGS grade at the PCGS standard but be totally consistant through the series ? The answer is obvious.

A dual standard within a series seems strange and it may not be so but from what I have seen it appears that PCGS does use a dual standard. What would you like to see ? The coins upto 1934 getting higher grades or the coins after 1934 getting grades they really deserve ?

Ken

mercurydimeguy

marcmoish

The coins upto 1934 getting higher grades or the coins after 1934 getting grades they really deserve ?

I may be off but I don't see an obvious shift between periods. This problem exists across the board and thruout various series. I think there are just that many mercs or any series for that matter that has gotten thru with stupid grades etc. I'd like to just see a continuation of strict and fair consistant grading period. I would have liked more opinions altogether ...seems like all the merc folks are still on line waiting to mail the darn tax returns



marc

mercurydimeguy

I sincerely apologize that my posts might have offended some here -- that was not the intent, however appeared to have been the result.

I am truly sorry.

Regards,
Mike.

PS. I have deleted my posts (other than the pics).

yellowjacket

There seems to be a grading difference. Could it be due to the change in surfaces and devices from the change in master die 1926 to 1927? Sort of like the differences in the early and later Walker series?

rainbowroosie

Some of the finest rainbow merc dimes from 1941-45 reside in NGC holders -- I own them!

merysu

Bill, could that be because you buy the coin and not the holder? -mark-

Cocoinut

I had a number of NGC Mercs until a couple of years ago. These were coins that I had bought sight-seen over a period of many years, and before I attempted to assemble a complete set. The grading was consistent from year-to-year, but below PCGS standards, IMO. I sold all of them, and was glad to be rid of them, although they did not bring strong money at auction. I recently purchased a couple of NGC Mercs sight-unseen that I knew were freshly graded, just to see if their standards had changed. No such luck; they were 64's that would probably be 63's at PCGS.

Jim

DeepCoin

Ken, for what it is worth, during my time as a Merc collector it was MHO that NGC was typically one point down to PCGS. This was across the boards for all dates. I think both services use different standards for earlier coins, but again I am not an expert. I like to think I was learning way around the series and I would give this counsel to newbies. That and to have someone who knows the series help you learn.

The board here was invaluable to my learning experiences. I will always have a soft place in my heart for the little ladies. I am also glad to see that some more people have jumped on the No Bands side of collecting as it is one of the few ways a regular (meaning not deep pockets) collector can have any shot at doing the whole series in MS.

yellowjacket

I've crossed all four of my attempts of NGC Mercs to PCGS: 1926-D 64, 1927 65 FB, 1927-D 64, 1935-D 66FB. I have been very picky and very fortunate! When shopping, I pass on most NGC Mercs because the prices asked usually outstretch the quality of the coins.

oreville

NGC was MUCH tougher on their key dates (the 1916-D, 1942/1 and 1945-P dimes) in both the grading of FB and mint state grades versus their other dates/mm.

Even compared to PCGS, NGC was quite close in grading standards and back in the period of 1988 through the mid 90's was possibly even tougher than PCGS.

In the case of the 1916-D dimes, NGC is right up there with PCGS even today.

mercurydimeguy

Ken / all,

It appears that I and some others were not that crazy after all. Look at the US Coin Forum for a thread titled PCGS has screws down. In one day today, after a regular started a thread about an apparent problem with PCGS grading this year, everyone has come out of the closet.

I've been saying this since mid-January when I got the first batch of screwed up grades...and some of you have those coins I think the problem is widespread now, beyond Mercury Dimes and the word is out! Something is definitely going on at PCGS this year, although no one knows exactly what.

Just FYI...Mike.

PQpeace

ttt

RomanMercury

I find that certain dates....like 1945-P....are very tough to get graded in FB.
I've sent about 8 coins in and none of them have gotten the FB designation,
although 3 for sure are better than several others I have in FB for other dates.

I see a lot of inconsistency.

MrEureka

I'm always the last to know.

DIMEMAN

I hardly ever see a Mercury dime in an NGC holder that I would own. And I do buy the coin not the holder. There is a lot of cr*p in PCGS holders too, but the nice coins are in PCGS holders 99% of the time.

Segs is the one that really makes me laugh. They grade FB by per cent! It's either full bands or not. And I for one will not pay much for those bands. I like nice hair detail myself.

JMHO Jon

fcloud

As we have seen many times before. Buy the coin not the holder.

Here are the couple of coins that were previously NGC. (I also think there is a bias against crossing NCG coins by PCGS.)
1923-S NGC MS61 DNC
1923-S same coin sent in raw PCGS MS63
1926-S NCG AU53 (sent in raw) PCGS AU50
1942 NCC PR63 (sent in raw) PCGS PR63

I shy away from higher grade NGC coins because I don't think many of them would cross. My thoughts are if the dealers though they would cross the coins would already be in PCGS Holders because it is pretty clear that coins in PCGS plastic get higher prices (warranted or not).

Most of my certified coins are in PCGS holders, but I do have about a dozen coins in NGC Plastic. It seems I always get a better price on the NGC stuff.

I think ANACS grades closer to PCGS, and I am sure some of you know that. The rate in which I have scored on ANACS coins upgrading is pretty good.
Here are some of my ANACS crossovers
1916-D ANACS G06 = PCGS G06 (later it was upgraded to VG08) *
1918-S ANACS MS63 (sent in raw) PCGS MS63
1931 ANACS MS63FB (sent in raw) PCGS MS63
1931-D Cent ANACS MS62RB (sent in raw) PCGS MS64RB *
1936 ANACS MS64FB (sent in raw) PCGS MS65FB *
1938 D/S Buffalo ANACS MS65 (sent in raw) PCGS MS66 *

I hope I didn't let the cat out of the bag.