Should a "+" be based on population... or is it already...

Peaceman

Let's say you own a Registry set and to hold your position within the standings you (have) to submit to try to get a "+". Should PCGS take into consideration the "amount" or current population of the coin you are submitting or is 15% "just that". How will PCGS keep track of that 15%? Example:

1922 Peace $ in MS-66, Population: 542
1923 Peace $ in MS-66, Population: 1,545

This could be any series really. If PCGS says that only the top 15% of coins will receive the "+". Does that mean then that:

81, 1922 Peace $ will receive the + no matter the condition/eye appeal and;
232, 1923 Peace $ will receive the + using the same criteria

What about a population of 2? Then what? Should just owning a rare coin such as this warrant a + (no matter what it looks like) based on the rarity of the coin? If not, then what you are saying is:

- You can choose between 1,545, 1923 Peace $ in 66 to look for a "+" and;
- You can choose between 2 (whatever the coin may be) to look for a "+"

Is the above the same? Opinions.

Placid

<< <i>If PCGS says that only the top 15% of coins will receive the "+". >>



Pcgs never said that.

D.H. said he estimates 15-20% would get a +

D.W. has said different things but somewhere between 10-20%

16. Q: How will Secure Plus affect the grading process? Will it lock a coin in at a grade? What does the + mean?
DW: PCGS Secure Plus does not lock in the grade of your coin forever. What is does is tell us what your coin has graded in the past. That way we can make a more informed decision. Do we ever make mistakes? Yes. Will we ever change a Secure Plus grade? Yes. The + refers to a coin that is in the top 10-15% of the grade. It must have positive eye appeal and be all there technically as well.

86. Q: I believe it was stated previously that approximately 10-15% of coins are expected to receive the + designation, but also more specifically that + would be given to coins graded .7 .8 and .9 for a given grade. Seemingly by the numbers, that would reflect 30% of the overall grading scale, or 30% of coins. Are there just much fewer coins that receive .7 .8 and .9 for some reason? I just want to try to have as good of an idea as possible as to what a + represents.
DW: Although the math says 30% of the coins submitted under Secure Plus should achieve the + designation, that assumes that coin quality is linear. If in fact the quality of coins is more bell shaped within a grade, then far fewer coins will achieve the +.

94. Q: I am confused by PCGS Secure Plus. What defines a + coin? Are Secure Plus coins that do not receive the + considered dreck?
DW: For a coin to earn the + designation it has to be in the top 10-20% of that grade. We aren't talking eye appeal, although that is considered as part of it. The coin has to meet all the technical criteria such as strike, luster, contact marks as well as eye appeal. Not just a pretty coin, but a coin that’s "all there" and may have been referred to as "a liner" in the past. Almost the next grade but not quite. A + is not an eye appeal designation. A + does not indicate "properly graded.” A + is something a step above.

Coins that do not earn the + designation are not dreck. 80-90% of all coins in every grade will not earn the +. They are not dreck at all. There is nothing wrong with a coin that grades 65.5 - it's solid for the grade and that's fine. It's just not quite a +. To assume that something is wrong with a coin that does not have a + is completely missing the point. I think there is a firm that puts little stickers on coins that are solid for the grade.

Taken fron the Secure plus faq at pcgs.

coinguy1

No, it should be based on the coin, not the population.

PerryHall

The pops shouldn't be relevant. If it's very, very close to the next higher grade, they will give it a plus. Let's not make this more complicated than it needs to be.

COALPORTER

The only thing they should consider is the coin in front of their eyeballs. It really shouldn't be too complex..

LindeDad

To use the current population as a guide we would need to know exactly how many there are. Crack-out's have made the pop report useless in many cases so how could it be a usable guide to the number of +'s awarded.
Agree that they are going to have to look at the quality of the coins submitted as the determining factor. And I think that they know that if they are not very critical that the market will not be very forgiving to them.

Peaceman

Placid, The % here is moot. Lets say a top pop has 25 as a "population" and PCGS over the course of a few years gives each and every one of them in that grade a + because each one deserved it. Would PCGS stop at 20% if it "hit quota"? This is more about population and the amount of coins you can choose from in order to make a +. It surprises me that a few think that havng 5 to chose from or having 10,000 to choose from in order to make a + is the same thing.

AU58WALKERS

NO

Placid

<< <i>Placid, The % here is moot.[ /Q]

Glad you get it. Pcgs is not making quotas they are giving plusses to coins that deserve it.

Frozenink

Could it not be possible that if the coins are MS66 with none higher and say 100 in the pop, that none of them get the "+"? They still have to be >7,.8,.9 to get the plus. Maybe there are none of those out there.

Just because there is a pop doesnt mean that x percent will get the plus. The coin has to earn it. Correct?

Gary