Steinberg's Coins are Almost All NGC - Why is this?

AlaBill

I notice that almost all of Steinberg's gold coins for sale are graded by NGC. Why is this?

I may be overreaching here, but I saw the same thing in early US gold on the lightside, most coins for sale were graded by NGC. I found that many of the AU coins were being resubmitted (sometimes several times) to NGC and were winding up in Ms60-63 slabs. Is this happening over on this side with gold coins?

MacCrimmon

<< <i>.....AU coins were being resubmitted (sometimes several times) to NGC and were winding up in Ms60-63 slabs. Is this happening over on this side with gold coins? >>

Some slight rub, a few hairlines, but hey, it doesn't look too bad, eh....we'll give it a 63 this time.....

Be very aware of not only how to grade (especially gold), but what to expect within each grade's criteria. I'm thinking of the recent Cheshire gold.....many of the pieces I personally viewed were AU regardless of the stated grade on the insert.

JZrarities

The problem is if the coin actually HAS some rub, but the Slab says MS-63...
...You'll have a hard time buying it from a Dealer at any grade lower than the Slab (like an AU).
The dealer will end up selling it to SOMEONE at the grade on the Slab.

cosmicdebris

Both companies being in Florida and only about 150 miles from each other might have something to do with it.

trozau

<< <i>Both companies being in Florida and only about 150 miles from each other might have something to do with it. >>


+1 What cosmic said.

wildjag

My uncle taught me this, but I have been taking the NGC grade and dropping it 4 points and coming to the grade it appears to be on alot of coins. If the coin is not above MS63 then I take a hard look at the coin and look for rub. If its MS64 or above I take it as a true UNC coin.

MrEureka

NGC's grading fees are also substantially cheaper for most world gold coins.

secondrepublic

I have noticed the same thing on NGC graded silver coins. For example, some Polish coins from the 1930s that I saw recently in high AU holders (AU 55 and 58) were in my view really AU 50.

GDJMSP

I think Andy has the likely answer. Just about anybody that watches the certified world coin market will quickly notice that the coins slabbed by NGC greatly outnumber those slabbed by PCGS.

And for whatever it's worth, in my opinion there are far more overgraded world coins in PCGS slabs than there are in NGC slabs. But to think that the market recognizes this and that perhaps that is the reason for all the world coins in NGC slabs - nahhhhhhh that would be too much of a stretch.

secondrepublic

I can't speak to the world certified coin market generally, but my experience in the Polish area is the opposite. For example, a friend of mine bought a coin - PCGS Proof 62 - and immediately cracked it out and sent it to NGC, where it came back Proof 63. Okay, that might be just one example, and not a big grade jump, but the fact that his first thought was to send it to NGC was telling (as opposed to resubmitting it to PCGS). NGC does grade a lot more world coins than PCGS (or at least it seems that way). But I've thought for the past few years that their grading was more liberal than PCGS's. Maybe that has to do with PCGS just seeing fewer world coins and therefore they err on the side of being more conservative. But in my view, in a number of cases I've had to disregard the written grade on the NGC holder because it's simply too high. That problem sometimes happens with PCGS, but less often.

GDJMSP

Really ? Took me 2 minutes to find this - VF35

Would you call this VF35 ?

GDJMSP

Don't get me wrong - I'm not bashing PCGS. But I have no bias towards either company one way or the other. But it just irks me when on this board NGC is said to be guilty of overgrading and on the NGC board when PCGS is said to be guilty of overgrading. They ALL overgrade - and they do so all too often IMO.

My previous comments were just that - my opinion. And certainly everybody else is entitled to theirs as well. But at least form honest, unbiased opinions. Go look at the coins - every day. It doesn't take long to see what is before your eyes.

secondrepublic

I agree that in the individual case you will also find overgraded PCGS coins, but in the area where I collect it seems to occur (relatively) less often. Maybe it's different in different areas. PCGS sends a lot of the rarer Polish coins it receives to Karl Stephens to grade (to finalize), and he is fairly conservative. I don't know who NGC uses, but my perception is that they are not as conservative. I don't know who PCGS uses to grade its other world coins - maybe those people are a little more liberal.
Don't get me wrong, I have a fair amount of respect for NGC. However, I do think that in my particular area of interest (Poland, early 20th Century), the NGC grading is a little bit looser than PCGS. Not by much, but it's noticeably a little looser.
To give you an example, my friend who deals in Polish coins sends them exclusively to NGC because he is more satisfied with the grades he gets back. I.e., in his opinion he gets back higher grades than he would have from PCGS. I don't think he's wrong. I'm not suggesting that there is rampant grade inflation or anything like that going on at NCG. Far from it. However, in my area of interest there is a noticeable, though slight, difference.