Why did PCGS eliminate the Designation Review?
georgiacop50
Posts: 2,909 ✭✭✭✭
I know it has been quite a few yrs back now, but I never did hear an explanation why they gave it the ka-bosh.
I can understand why they did away with Presidential Review. One man being able to "overule" an assigned grade kind of undermined the whole concept of concensus grading.
But the Designation Review was problematic for PCGS how?
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I think they kind of integrated it into the Reconsideration tier.
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Here is a question:
If you submitted a coin twice, and it came back the same grade, do you think there is minimal chance it would get the plus designation on submitting under reconsideration and choosing + option. I have herd conflicting reports about this?
IIRC, the Designation Review was a service that re-examined a coin to see if it qualified for any special designation like CAM, FS, FBL, etc. It didn't address grade, which would never change. There was a $10 fee.
Why was it eliminated? My guess is it wasn't a money-maker.
Today, if you have a coin you feel deserves a designation you cite it and pay for a Regrade or Reconsideration. A far cry from $10.
Lance.
So PCGS graded the same coin twice and each time the grade was the same and not a plus. Could it get a plus upgrade if you tried a 3rd time using the reconsideration service's plus-only option? Sure.
But you would only do this if it were an AU58, right? And you wanted it to still qualify for a slot in an everyman registry set at 58+.
If you'd be happy with a plus upgrade or better then you'd just submit it for regrading or choose "reconsideration any" if you care about not losing the holder/sticker.
Or maybe I misunderstand the question.
Lance.
lance,
My coin in question is a 64, was in a 65 several years ago when I originally sold it to a customer, who broke it out for a dansco. Be nice to get a 4+ at least. But, to your statement, the two times that a dealer I know had this scenario, and he elected the third time to try the recon way selecting plus, he got the 58+ . (He may have had the everyman registry incentive)
I have had lots of success upgrading by simply using the Regrade service. More than 30% upgraded (several dozen) but fewer than 5% got a plus. PCGS is just stingy about plus grading.
I used reconsideration just once. I crossed a gold stickered, old fattie NGC 55 to PCGS 58 and then submitted it again for "reconsideration plus-only". It earned 58+. Tough coin and a big win.
Regrading instead of reconsideration is a better option in most cases. PCGS grades the coin raw and there is no premium for upgrades.
If I were you I'd submit it for regrading, perhaps along with a couple of others of the same type/grade that make the "money coin" stand out. If I really believed in the coin, and an upgrade made it worthwhile, I'd submit it over and over until I won.
Lance.
Also NGC has changed some of its options, like what was "response regrade" is now "appearance review" or "regrade". Could get a free conservation job and a regrade if lucky. I have known guys upset because they got off unsightly spots on gold coins and did not really follow through with a free regrade, coins that should have been upped were not.
like Lance said, it used to be that grade and designation were two separate things and PCGS acknowledged as much. when they scrapped the designation review they also started to say that grade and designation were one and the same, lumped together. there seemed to be a lapse of several years where the only option was re-grade, so the possibility existed that you get a change in designation with a chance of a lower grade, no separate assessment.
When you say "cite", do you mean you write on the submission form, "I think this should be CAM."
Or, "This should be Full Steps in my opinion." etc?
Yes. Keep it short and simple but written boldly. "DCAM" or "FS", etc.
I never say "IMO" or "I think". State it as a fact. It probably doesn't matter but why introduce doubt?
At a show I once dropped off a misattributed coin for correction. The clerk took my carefully written submission form and below the line item she wrote in 2 inch letters "LARGE LETTERS, NOT SMALL!". I guess there's no extra credit for neatness or tact.
Lance.