Coin grading sevices, rank ?

jaxxr

First, Merry Christmas to all !

This Christmas morning I am preparing , among others, some older US proof sets, as gifts for my two grandchildren. That and my reflections upon my own meager coin collection, has prompted me to ask, as I am sure has been done similar many many times before, which coin graders are acceptable ???

There seems be be dozens of firms professionally evaluating and slabbing coins. Doubtless some are fly by night scammers, others being highly skilled. The ANA lists eight different firms as professional coin graders, this may or may not be an endorsement of all eight.

I would greatly appreciate a simple rank/list by this informal group of good collectors with little or no self-serving interests in giving their opinions. I realize no company is perfect, and can not get the right grade every single time, but in a rate of their typical or usual performances, perhaps in three classifications;
1.) Very acceptable, 2.) Somewhat acceptable, and 3.) Usually unacceptable.

Thanks in advance for any input.

Cladiator

Stick with PCGS, NGC and ANACS. The others are less than reputable.

Edit because I just read your requested ratings. PCGS, NGC and ANACS would be 1 and all others would be 3, in my opinion.

koynekwest

<< <i>Stick with PCGS, NGC and ANACS. The others are less than reputable. >>



I think you could add ICG and SEGS to the reputable list too. And the "old" PCI.

ttown

1. PCGS
2. NGC
3. ANACS (very near NGC)
4. ICG
5. PCI (caution here, see the coin)

Look at the rest but not the grade on the holder. And with all of them you have to know when the coin was graded all these services seem to adjust grading depending on the price of the coin and the market. Rare coins seem to get a little extra bump IMO

PrivateCoinCollector

Based on service, communication, turn-around time, web-site, my ranking is:

1. PCGS
2. PCGS
3. PCGS

Except GSA Morgans, then it has to be NGC.

500Bay

1: PCGS/NGC
2: ANACS/ICG

I would not bother with any other than these 4.

ttown

In the $20 dollar gold series I see a lot of supect coins in the MS61 NGC holders. ANACS does a fine job in general and you almost will never see a MS70 in that holder. I wish all of them just graded by ANA standards, I've felt PCGS is a little stricter than that and that's why they will bring a little more. Being PCGS doesn't mean that that don't have some supect coins out there also and some of the Gen 1 holders are good for upgrade by today standards but they've been picked over for years. JMO

DickyBetz

PCGS...................NGC.....ANACS..............................ICG.....................................................................................ALL OTHERS

Barry

You've been subscribed to the forum for 5 years and you don't know the answer to your own question?

DennisH

1. PCGS
2. NGC

3. ANACS



4. ICG, SEGS, PCI

5. Avoid everything else, period.

shmort6552

If you want MS70 or PF70 it has to be SGS then its PCGS and NGC

JJM

1 PCGS
2 NGC
3 ANACS (but I dont like the holders and dont buy them unless im cracking them)
4 ICG ( the few I have gotton, I actually agreed with the grades, again the holders suck and cracks are called for)
5 nobody else............

Jcarney

<< <i>Stick with PCGS, NGC and ANACS. The others are less than reputable.

>>



Do you really think that ICG is "less than reputable"? Sure, I don't think their coins generally realize the prices that PCGS and NGC do in the marketplace, but I would hesitate to lump them in with the less than reputable companies.

Jcarney

<< <i>Based on service, communication, turn-around time, web-site, my ranking is:

1. PCGS
2. PCGS
3. PCGS

Except GSA Morgans, then it has to be NGC. >>

arlea1957

After reading these forums for the past couple of months I would rank

1) NGC
2) PCGS
3) Anacs a more distant third

sinin1

are you buying or wanting some coins slabbed?

if you are not a very good grader yourself and submitting, I recommend NGC/NCS or ANACS as they will net grade problem coins and tell you what the problem is - nothing worse to spend alot of money and get your coins back not slabbed

if you are a good grader, I would recommend looking at PCI, NTC, SEGS as you can frequently pick these up much cheaper than PCGS and NGC but also ocasionally find problems

it also depends on the series - for many series, PCGS grades 1/2 point tighter than NGC but for others no difference and NGC is also tighter on FBL for Franklins



PCGS>NGC>ANACS,ICG>NTC,PCI,SEGS>others



they all have their pluses and minuses so what exactly are you wanting a rank of?

MrEureka

Coin grading sevices, rank ?

I suppose, but you get used to the smell after a while.

53BKid

1. PCGS
4. NGC
5. ANACS
8. ICG
N/A: Others

circulated

<<ANACS (but I dont like the holders and dont buy them unless im cracking them)>>

The new holders are very easy to crack - you could crack it with your teeth. Really weak holders.

Burks

PCGS
NGC
ICG
ANACS

jaxxr

Barry,

I have been on the CU boards for five years, true, but about 99% of my posts and reads were related to the PSA sportscard grading areas. I am quite the casual coin collector, although I am vey interested in it and have a few dozen graded ones, and was thinking about purchasing a few more.

Sorry you took this question, as an imposition on your experiences with graded coins.

RalphE

IT seems ANACS stock dropped considerably on these boards after the changes they made last year. Has their credability come back a little since then? I have sent them several packages with coins that I suspected had a light cleaning or other problems that I thought would be body-bagged at PCGS. I do wish PCGS would eventually start net grading. I do not think it would hurt their standing with collectors and would probably generate considerable more business in cases like I just described, and probably would put the squeeze on some of the other grading companies for market share.

Ralph