Is there still a correlation between insert grade and price ?

STEWARTBLAYNUMIS

I know this will vary from series to series so let me be more specific and discuss Lincoln cents.
Images on the internet can be photo shopped/and or deceiving. I would only buy or bid seriously
for a coin that I have held in my hand. I prefer natural indirect light. I grade every coin individually based on my collection and my standards.

Yes to me there is still a correlation between price and grade. They must both be agreeable to me. I will not buy holders. They will
ALWAYS be LOSERS to someone down the line.


Stewart

RedTiger

Of course there is. However, the higher up the ladder in terms of price and/or grade, the more a coin has to stand on its own merits vs. the grade on the holder. There has always been a wide price separation between a low end example and a nice example for the grade at auction. Typically half the price for the low end example, or double the low end price for the nice example. Depending on the price increment per grade, this might be wider or narrower, but a 100% price band for any given grade is a reasonable generalization.

A low end MS64 will trade for less than a low end MS65. A very nice MS64 might trade for more than a low end MS65, but that has always been so.

The recent change in PCGS policy will have an impact on the market.

Billet7

I'm buying a lot of material raw nowadays, and submiting it to PCGS. Since I am working on the seated quarter series, this is a good thing because there is a lack of seated quarters in PCGS holders (except the common dates.) This causes me to really look at the attributes of the coin, and determine the grade and appeal by it's own merits...not by what someone else says. In the end I will end up with a set that I like, instead of just a set of slabs. (I have also done the latter.)

Of course there is a correlation between insert grade and price, but the astute collector will determine the grade first, and use the insert grade as a confirmation of his/her own opinion...not the other way around.

segoja

As long as registry sets exist, there will be folks that buy plastic.

For the series I know best, I would guess the 1/3-1/2 of the top pop coins are gifts from a grade perspective, and many of them are worth 10-20x the grade below. I've played the game and bought the plastic, but only when the registry came into play.

ricko

There are always those who will buy the plastic - two reasons, they cannot grade, and resale price (especially to those others who cannot grade). Cheers, RickO