Now everybody EXPECTS PR70's.

Not so long ago, a PR70 was a rare and pleasant surprise and an ocassion to celebrate. Now, we get whining when somebody doesn't get one. My, how times have changed. 
Russ, NCNE

Russ, NCNE
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I'll study coins and invariably discover what I call 'noise' somewhere on the field or strike. The 69s I have are justified. 70s I can look at under a 5x or 7x and they are completely 'silent'...not a single distraction that I can determine.
<< <i>Not so long ago, a PR70 was a rare and pleasant surprise >>
If you're alluding to the big number of 70s that the ASE and AGE 20th century sets have received, I was thinking the same thing. Either the quality of these coins is really incredible, or PCGS has loosened up a bit on giving out 70s. This would lead me to believe that there may be many "perfect" coins out there, previously graded by PCGS, sitting in 69 holders.
My icon IS my coin. It is a gem 1949 FBL Franklin.
Given the number of San Frans being sent back due to capsules opening, I'm very suprised to see so many 69s and 70s in the population reports. Very few 68s!
I just submitted about 20 San Frans- gold and silver. I will reserve comment on those until I receive my submission grades.
That said, they still are much tougher than NGC-which seems to throw a 70 on just about any of the AGEs.
<< <i>If you're alluding to the big number of 70s that the ASE and AGE 20th century sets have received, I was thinking the same thing. Either the quality of these coins is really incredible, or PCGS has loosened up a bit on giving out 70s >>
Not just those. Other proofs have also seen a dramatic increase. In Kennedys, for example, there was a three year period in which PCGS graded only ONE PR70DCAM. Over the last couple years, they've graded more than 200.
Russ, NCNE
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<< <i>If you're alluding to the big number of 70s that the ASE and AGE 20th century sets have received, I was thinking the same thing. Either the quality of these coins is really incredible, or PCGS has loosened up a bit on giving out 70s >>
Not just those. Other proofs have also seen a dramatic increase. In Kennedys, for example, there was a three year period in which PCGS graded only ONE PR70DCAM. Over the last couple years, they've graded more than 200.
Russ, NCNE >>
I guess they have no choice, really. If they had given out just, say, three or four 70s to the SAE 20th RP and the 69s were selling for $300 and NGC was cranking out 70s like crazy which were fetching a grand, who would you submit to?
My icon IS my coin. It is a gem 1949 FBL Franklin.
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<< <i>If you're alluding to the big number of 70s that the ASE and AGE 20th century sets have received, I was thinking the same thing. Either the quality of these coins is really incredible, or PCGS has loosened up a bit on giving out 70s >>
Not just those. Other proofs have also seen a dramatic increase. In Kennedys, for example, there was a three year period in which PCGS graded only ONE PR70DCAM. Over the last couple years, they've graded more than 200.
Russ, NCNE >>
I guess they have no choice, really. If they had given out just, say, three or four 70s to the SAE 20th RP and the 69s were selling for $300 and NGC was cranking out 70s like crazy which were fetching a grand, who would you submit to? >>
PCGS!! Principles matter.
Edited to add: With regular series proofs. The numbers are a bit higher for the recent special issues.
PS: It has nothing to do with NGC's numbers. The change happened before these recent special issues.
Russ, NCNE
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<< <i>If you're alluding to the big number of 70s that the ASE and AGE 20th century sets have received, I was thinking the same thing. Either the quality of these coins is really incredible, or PCGS has loosened up a bit on giving out 70s >>
Not just those. Other proofs have also seen a dramatic increase. In Kennedys, for example, there was a three year period in which PCGS graded only ONE PR70DCAM. Over the last couple years, they've graded more than 200.
Russ, NCNE >>
I guess they have no choice, really. If they had given out just, say, three or four 70s to the SAE 20th RP and the 69s were selling for $300 and NGC was cranking out 70s like crazy which were fetching a grand, who would you submit to? >>
PCGS!! Principles matter. >>
My icon IS my coin. It is a gem 1949 FBL Franklin.
<< <i>The sea change occurred when David Hall re-took the helm. He expressed the opinion that with current mint quality, between .5% and 2% of coins should be achieving the PR70 grade. That's approximately what's been happening ever since. >>
It may be lucrative then to start cherrypicking older-slabbed PCGS 69s, like the 2001 Buffalo Proofs and resubmit them. It would probably be harder than cherrypicking the old PCI slabs a few years ago or the old rattlers when there was a lot of undergraded stuff floating around, but for someone with a good eye and access to a LOT of coins, I bet some money could be made.
My icon IS my coin. It is a gem 1949 FBL Franklin.
<< <i>It's funny to think when John Albanese owned NGC they had not graded one coin a 70. >>
It used to be NGC's policy not even to accept moderns for grading. I believe their official statement went something like they acknowledged that many supergrade modern coins had the majority of their value in the plastic and not the coin itself, or something to that effect. How times and principle$ have changed.
<< <i>Not so long ago, a PR70 was a rare and pleasant surprise and an ocassion to celebrate. Now, we get whining when somebody doesn't get one. My, how times have changed.
This is probably related to there being a lot more 70s. People don't feel as bad not getting 70 when they seem rare but when it seems like a fairly large number of people are getting 70s and you are not, it's a different story.