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Do old pcgs holders have wrong grades?

I heard the older pcgs holders are under graded. Is it true that grading was more conservative back then and if you crack it out and resubmit the coins they will come back 1-2 grades higher?

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    ColonelJessupColonelJessup Posts: 6,442 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited May 15, 2021 1:48PM

    "While SOME old holders have WRONG grades, ALL old holders have OLD grades" -- Karl Marx, or Groucho?

    "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." - Geo. Orwell
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    MasonGMasonG Posts: 7,098 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Panda4456 said:
    I heard the older pcgs holders are under graded. Is it true that grading was more conservative back then and if you crack it out and resubmit the coins they will come back 1-2 grades higher?

    If that was true, do you think there would be any older holders left?

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    ColonelJessupColonelJessup Posts: 6,442 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @MFeld said:
    Some coins in older holders are conservatively graded, while others are on the money or loosely graded. The same goes for coins in newer holders. Over a long period of time, many or most of the under-graded coins in older holders have been cracked out or otherwise been resubmitted. It would be wise to focus on the coins, not the holders.

    Edited to add: Do you really think it could be anywhere near as easy as you asked?

    Sardonic :#

    "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." - Geo. Orwell
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    Cougar1978Cougar1978 Posts: 9,763 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited May 15, 2021 3:30PM

    Ones I have sent in: Some upgrade some don’t.

    Investor
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    CatbertCatbert Posts: 8,186 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Cougar1978 said:
    Ones I have sent in: Some upgrade some don’t.

    Profound.

    Seated Half Society member #38

    "She comes out of the sun in a silk dress,
    running like a water color in the rain...."
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    rec78rec78 Posts: 5,930 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I do not know for sure, but, in the very beginning of PCGS slabbing, were grades of MS 61, MS-62, MS-64, and 66-69 even used? I thought that grading in these grades came along later. (or maybe I am thinking of NGC or ANACS?). I just don't know anymore, but if this was the case, upgrading from a MS-63 to MS-64 might be easily doable to the trained eye.

    image
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    yosclimberyosclimber Posts: 5,290 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @rec78, you are thinking of ANACS, before PCGS.
    There's a thread which links both parts of the articles by Tom DeLorey:
    https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/936964/the-history-of-the-first-third-party-coin-grading-service-anacs-by-tom-delorey

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    SanctionIISanctionII Posts: 12,983 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Grades for coins stated on the label in a slab (whether 30 years old or one month old) are opinions.

    Opinions (like socks and underwear) change every day (at least these items of clothing should).

    Who is to say if yesterday's opinion was correct or incorrect when compared to today's opinion.

    The opinion aspect of grading is both frustrating and fun. Sometimes both at the same time.

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    MFeldMFeld Posts: 16,647 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @yspsales said:
    You would like the ANA grading class offered at big shows.

    Well worth the investment!

    We all graded the coins individually and as a table consensus.

    Bill Fivaz was the final opinion and each table competed to win the contest.

    Having only looked PCGS coins it took time for my mind to grasp NGC standards.

    Slab grades were covered.

    Four people per table,, We would get a box... Morgan, Saints, Lincoln cents, Mercs

    We had time to consider a grade for each coin... then pass it on,, rinse and repeat until all coins in the box were viewed.

    Then we took our individual grades, and compared notes and discussed issues and come up with a consensus. Each table rotated a finalizer and then submit our grades.

    Bill would reveal the grade on the slab... say NGC MS64... but say in his eyes it was MS63 and it was his grade that was the FINAL.

    We got points for each round.

    Now... how do you play the game? We played to win!

    We quickly adjusted our grades from X to match what we thought Bill would say Y.

    We won the competition!

    To this day, whenever I look at a coin, the TPG assigned grade is about third down the list of things I do when evaluating a coin.

    But the short answer to a long post... crackouts is a game in many respects.. Learn to grade on a high level of competence and the TPG opinion is in essence mute.

    Outside of Morgans I am hopeless.

    While you or someone else might disagree with the TPG opinion, it’s far from moot.

    Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.

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    rte592rte592 Posts: 2,207 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited May 15, 2021 6:38PM

    @Panda4456 said:
    I heard the older pcgs holders are under graded. Is it true that grading was more conservative back then and if you crack it out and resubmit the coins they will come back 1-2 grades higher?

    DUDE That WAS a trade secret. :o
    Buy the coin not the holder.

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    yspsalesyspsales Posts: 2,670 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @MFeld said:

    @yspsales said:
    You would like the ANA grading class offered at big shows.

    Well worth the investment!

    We all graded the coins individually and as a table consensus.

    Bill Fivaz was the final opinion and each table competed to win the contest.

    Having only looked PCGS coins it took time for my mind to grasp NGC standards.

    Slab grades were covered.

    Four people per table,, We would get a box... Morgan, Saints, Lincoln cents, Mercs

    We had time to consider a grade for each coin... then pass it on,, rinse and repeat until all coins in the box were viewed.

    Then we took our individual grades, and compared notes and discussed issues and come up with a consensus. Each table rotated a finalizer and then submit our grades.

    Bill would reveal the grade on the slab... say NGC MS64... but say in his eyes it was MS63 and it was his grade that was the FINAL.

    We got points for each round.

    Now... how do you play the game? We played to win!

    We quickly adjusted our grades from X to match what we thought Bill would say Y.

    We won the competition!

    To this day, whenever I look at a coin, the TPG assigned grade is about third down the list of things I do when evaluating a coin.

    But the short answer to a long post... crackouts is a game in many respects.. Learn to grade on a high level of competence and the TPG opinion is in essence mute.

    Outside of Morgans I am hopeless.

    While you or someone else might disagree with the TPG opinion, it’s far from moot.

    Secondary might be a better choice of words.

    Would love to hear your thoughts on grading and becoming an expert at grading.

    BST: KindaNewish (3/21/21), WQuarterFreddie (3/30/21), Meltdown (4/6/21), DBSTrader2 (5/5/21) AKA- unclemonkey on Blow Out

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    ColonelJessupColonelJessup Posts: 6,442 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited May 15, 2021 6:56PM

    @rte592 said:

    @Panda4456 said:
    I heard the older pcgs holders are under graded. Is it true that grading was more conservative back then and if you crack it out and resubmit the coins they will come back 1-2 grades higher?

    DUDE That WAS a trade secret. :o
    Buy the coin not the holder.

    And now you'll have alerted more people...dude. . I would capitalize dude but that would draw even more more.

    "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." - Geo. Orwell
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    messydeskmessydesk Posts: 20,742 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @ColonelJessup said:

    @rte592 said:

    @Panda4456 said:
    I heard the older pcgs holders are under graded. Is it true that grading was more conservative back then and if you crack it out and resubmit the coins they will come back 1-2 grades higher?

    DUDE That WAS a trade secret. :o
    Buy the coin not the holder.

    And now you'll have alerted more people...dude. . I would capitalize dude but that would draw even more more.

    Somebody call?

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    Walkerguy21DWalkerguy21D Posts: 12,100 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I must be a dinosaur.... I still consider the holder shown by the OP as one of the newer holders...

    Successful BST transactions with 177 members. breakdown, scotty1419, mattniss, bigjpst, onlyroosies, Manorcourtman, guitarwes, Ebeneezer, Tonedeaf, Shane6596, Piano1, Ikenefic, RG, PCGSPhoto, stman, Don'tTelltheWife, Boosibri, Ron1968, snowequities, VTchaser, jrt103, SurfinxHI, 78saen, bp777, FHC, RYK, JTHawaii, Opportunity, Kliao, bigtime36, skanderbeg, split37, thebigeng, acloco, Toninginthblood, OKCC, braddick, Coinflip, robcool, fastfreddie, tightbudget, DBSTrader2, nickelsciolist, relaxn, Eagle eye, soldi, silverman68, ElKevvo, sawyerjosh, Schmitz7, talkingwalnut2, konsole, sharkman987, sniocsu, comma, jesbroken, David1234, biosolar, Sullykerry, Moldnut, erwindoc, MichaelDixon, GotTheBug
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    BryceMBryceM Posts: 11,933 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited May 15, 2021 9:07PM

    Here's my take on being a good grader. Start with good eyesight and a good memory. Grading is in many ways a pattern recognition game. While some grading skills are generalizable, it takes time to learn the nuances of each series and type of metal. Spend A LOT of time with a lot of different coins, and maybe most importantly, have a great teacher/mentor. The ANA grading classes would probably skip anyone ahead a couple of grades, no pun intended. ;)

    You could go to a huge auction and view 1000 coins in the lot viewing and compare "your" grade with the slab grade. Over time, you might gradually improve your grading skills, but having a pro sitting next to you who could explain why each coin was graded the way it was would advance your skills much faster.

    Finally, relying on your grading skills to make a living could also be a powerful motivator.

    I've benefited from some of this, but there are still HUGE holes in my grading database and skill set.

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    yspsalesyspsales Posts: 2,670 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I get sidetracked in proof sets and moderns.

    Shocks me when I compare mint sets from the same years.

    What started as cheap fun has really paid off as I hit my first ever top pops.

    Really tried to find one crackout worthy Morgan in Augusta yesterday.

    Two MS64 candidates were just too common with no real upside.

    BST: KindaNewish (3/21/21), WQuarterFreddie (3/30/21), Meltdown (4/6/21), DBSTrader2 (5/5/21) AKA- unclemonkey on Blow Out

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    TwoSides2aCoinTwoSides2aCoin Posts: 45,026 ✭✭✭✭✭

    In a world of conservative among the liberal lot, of course. Standards change. It's no secret at all.

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