What would happen if a new, dealer-based TPG were conservative?

291fifth

We often see threads that illustrate on-line auctions featuring third and fourth world slabs. Many of these third and fourth world slabs seem to originate from a single dealer who is simply using them as a marketing tool for overgraded coins.

What do you think would happen if one of these dealer-based slab services graded accurately and conservatively? Would prices in their auctions reflect the quality of the coins or would they end up being heavily discounted because they are not in a major brand slab?

Assume that these slabs are known to be conservatively graded by the potential buyers.

cointagious

Both the old ANACS and ICG do decent grading w/classics up to '65 grades. You see the prices realized on their stuff?

Barry

Doubtful, as there's so much garbage out it. It would be the same if a real, gem Trade Dollar were offered by a seller in China - it would be looked at with great skepticism.

RYK

My guess is that dealers would treat the coins as raw and have them regraded, so they could sell them for more money. Collectors, by and large, would not be willing to pay strong money for the coins, so they would not end up buying them.

TwoSides2aCoin

PCGS may have set the standard, but another NEW TPG may improve by ridding themselves of that TERM : SUBJECTIVE when it comes to the SCIENCE of grading. Why should a coin be SUBJECT to opinion when we have Scientific FACTS and KNOWN examples ?

RedTiger

Very little. No one would submit to them. Why bother if the submitter can get the same grade from a top tier company and get 2x the money for the coin when they sell? It takes years to establish a market presence and name. Of course they could also do something like $5 submissions for those years, but that will burn a ton of money for startup in a market that is mature. Only a small percentage of overgraded coins will be pointed out and slammed and all that conservative grading will be worth very little in terms of gaining market acceptance.

What is needed for a startup is some kind of edge, either better business model or superior technology. Without that it is very tough to enter a market dominated by entrenched competitors.

Longacre

Unfortunately, I think the system is stuck the way it is.

Bochiman

<< <i>PCGS may have set the standard, but another NEW TPG may improve by ridding themselves of that TERM : SUBJECTIVE when it comes to the SCIENCE of grading. Why should a coin be SUBJECT to opinion when we have Scientific FACTS and KNOWN examples ? >>



Because there is NO exact, recognized, universal, standard for the subtle differences between the grades. A mark on one coin, in a prime area, may lower the grade. The same mark, in a different area, may not.
A mark may lower the grade while a slightly smaller mark may not.

Who's to say where the mark can fall and exactly how many marks may be on a coin for any certain grade?

That's part of the subjectivity and you WILL NOT have people agree on these. The scientific method will do nothing, if attempted, other than be cherrypicking material for some (ie.....scientifically the coin grades MS63 by some standards but everyone and their mother looks at it as a MS64 or MS65) and a loss for others (reverse of previous....bought and thought of as MS64 but "regraded" as MS62 and so dealers won't pay more.....what to do? send in for regrade at PCGS?)