The Most Common Misconception about Third Party gGrading Services

Halfhunter06

What do you believe it is? How do you think it was brought about, and what can we do to set the record straight. I am eager to hear what my fellow numismatists have to say. Cheers

GrumpyEd

That they will attribute coins that you submit for normal "grading" if they're varieties.

Aegis3

That numerical grades have any cognitive content beyond abbreviations of descriptive grades.

TomB

Two very common misconceptions would be that coins in NGC and PCGS holders have not been manipulated (cleaned, AT and/or dipped in the past) and that the grade on the holder is a reproducible data point.

savoyspecial

one misconception is that if a coin resides in an ANACS, ICG, SEGS, PCI etc. holder then it must have some issue keeping it out of "P" or "N" plastic....this is not always the case......many coins are just in those slabs because that is the company the collector/dealer submitted to......a crossover may or may not have ever been attempted

GoldenEyeNumismatics

That grading companies bodybag large numbers of coins for no reason.

ctf_error_coins

That ANACS is third tier.

Well as an error collector, some of the most magnificent errors reside in ANACS Holders.

I have many slabbed errors from ANACS, PCGS, and NGC and they are all are tied for number one in my book.

Buy the coin Not the plastic.

ErrorsOnCoins

RedTiger

That accurate grading is the be all and end all. Yes, grading is important, but without marketing, dealer support, guarantees, marketplace reputation, accurate grading alone won't keep a company going. If a new start up company wanted to compete, accurate grading is maybe 33% of what is needed to be competitive with the existing companies.

howards

That grading services exist to serve the collector.

DoUPlayOnePocket

I think the most common misconception is that "the proof is in the plastic". Buy the coin, not the holder!

Chris

kranky

That if a coin bodybags, it is therefore junk.

darktone

that cleaned coins are knowingly slabbed by the top tier slabbers.

fivecents

<< <i>That if a coin bodybags, it is therefore junk. >>

BIG TIME

PerryHall

<< <i>That if a coin bodybags, it is therefore junk. >>



They may not be junk but they are considered to be problem coins.

YaHa

Pcgs is better than NGC. And Pcgs and NGC is better than ICG.

Oh one more is cracking out a coin from a third party grading server is the right thing to do so you can think a higher grade is possible.

TwoSides2aCoin

The biggest misconception is that people think something is broken, when in fact, TPGs fixed a whole lot of problems over the past quarter century.

ricko

The biggest misconception is, IMO, that TPG's add value to a coin. An experienced collector does not need this... it is solely used for dealers to raise prices, give confidence to the neophytes (and those unwilling/unable to learn), and provide income for an enterprising group of individuals. Cheers, RickO

fc

That a top pop in a TPG slab is the finest known... when in many cases there
are old coins not slabbed, modern coins that have never seen the grading room,
a coin was given a bump one day for some odd reason and is a fluke,
and the fact that population reports only represent the one TPG using them (not combined
and also with the twist that each TPG has different standards).

ColonialCoinUnion

1) That a slab grade is the actual grade of the coin, and not merely an opinion provided by paid professionals.

2) That grades are permanent and unchanging, and not subject to a different opinion if submitted on a different day (see #1).

3) That the difference between a coin which will grade and one will BB is clear and black and white, and not a murky gray (see #2).

4) That a higher graded coin is always finer, more desirable and more valuable than one which is graded lower.

Walmann

misconception=protection

NHSBaseball

That the "top two" grading companies are consistent with the grades that they assign.

SeaEagleCoins

<< <i>1) That a slab grade is the actual grade of the coin, and not merely an opinion provided by paid professionals.

2) That grades are permanent and unchanging, and not subject to a different opinion if submitted on a different day (see #1).

3) That the difference between a coin which will grade and one will BB is clear and black and white, and not a murky gray (see #2).

4) That a higher graded coin is always finer, more desirable and more valuable than one which is graded lower. >>




Thank you CCU !!! I doubt that I could say it any clearer than you have... and you have said it in a much more diplomatic way than I would have !!!



There is one other misconception point I'd like to bring up though...

Many dealers (and some collectors) have this wierd notion that once a coin is safely within a plastic slab, it is OK to throw, bang, toss or drop the coin any old time...that a scratched holder is not a problem because, after all, "The coin is safe inside the slab, it can't be damaged".



I don't know about anyone else but I imagine I am not alone on this...

I collect COINS and enjoy SEEING the coin!!! If I am to own a coin in a TPG slab, I don't want to have to imagine what it looks like without the scratched/scuffed/cracked plastic in the way!!! I do not collect labels with dates, grades and logos on them... I collect coins!!!

rjsriv

that graders are consistant-- They are human-- if they are in a bad mood don't you think it can translate into a bad grade? sometimes I wonder if they are hungover

WTCG

...that certain customers always receive better grades when they submit coins for grading.

19Lyds

<< <i>...that certain customers always receive better grades when they submit coins for grading. >>



Ditto.

BobGreene

... that slabs are airtight and watertight.

fc

<< <i>...that certain customers always receive better grades when they submit coins for grading. >>



that all coins submitted by all people are treated equally.
absolutely false. should i show some famous examples? :-)

ColonialCoinUnion

<< <i>

<< <i>...that certain customers always receive better grades when they submit coins for grading. >>



that all coins submitted by all people are treated equally.
absolutely false. should i show some famous examples? :-) >>



Sure. Go ahead.

fc

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>...that certain customers always receive better grades when they submit coins for grading. >>



that all coins submitted by all people are treated equally.
absolutely false. should i show some famous examples? :-) >>



Sure. Go ahead. >>



The Adams-Carter coin is currently graded Proof-58 by PCGS, but in the past it was graded Proof-50 by NGC and before that Proof-45 by PCGS. To PCGS's own graders, the coin improved an astonishing 13 points in quality over time. PCGS contended that it graded the coin as it most recently did because previous graders didn't account for its weak strike. But Q. David Bowers, Walter Breen, and Eric P. Newman and Kenneth E. Bressett had all graded it extremely fine as well. A considerably more likely explanation is that this coin is just another example of how the grading "standards" of the grading services are anything but consistent over time and how they treat rare coins or coins with provenance more leniently than other coins.

NGC recently engaged in two similar acts of blatant overgrading. It graded the Berg-Garrett specimen, a Class III 1804 dollar not pictured here, Proof-55. This is a whopping 15 points higher than everyone else had graded it. Q. David Bowers graded it EF-40 in his 1993 book Silver Dollars and Trade Dollars of the United States: A Complete Encyclopedia. Walter Breen graded it EF in his 1988 book Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins. Eric P. Newman and Kenneth E. Bressett graded it extremely fine in their 1962 book The Fantastic 1804 Dollar. When it was last sold, in 1980 as part of the Garrett sale, it was also graded EF-40. Before NGC graded it Proof-55, ANACS had graded it, also EF-40.

Like I said, it depends on the coin and the situation. Everything is not
treated equally and i just demonstrated a famous example(s).

I am sure I can dig up more with some thought but I had those two
in my mind when I posted.

OKbustchaser

The biggest misconception??? That if a coin is in a top tier holder it must be original and problem-free...along with the corollary that if a coin is raw it must have problems which would keep it out of a holder.

The second largest??? That TPG's were started to protect collectors. They weren't. They were created for the sole purpose of developing a sight-unseen market for investors.

DoUPlayOnePocket

<< <i>[Many dealers (and some collectors) have this wierd notion that once a coin is safely within a plastic slab, it is OK to throw, bang, toss or drop the coin any old time...that a scratched holder is not a problem because, after all, "The coin is safe inside the slab, it can't be damaged".
>>



Sad to say, but the only people I've ever seen do it at shows are other dealers. If I had a table at a show, and another dealer threw my merchandise around like that, I'd wait until he was nearly finished and then ask him if there is anything that he wants. If he said, "Yes!", then I'd tell him he couldn't have it and to leave my table and don't come back. At least I would have made him waste time so he couldn't go to another table and do the same thing.

Chris