So what now motivates us to try for top registry sets?
GlenS
Posts: 3 ✭
I’m a world coin collector with a modest collection that includes a dozen or so top sets in the registry for my country. In the past I’ve definitely been motivated to purchase and submit high end coins in the sets I collect in an effort to secure the somewhat elusive first place in each set. I have to admit that the little tag after my first place sets that shows I’ve had first place for a few years has been my prime motivator for continuing to work on those sets. That may not make sense to everyone, but for me securing recognized top spots year after year now in the area that my collection is concentrated in is somewhat the point of participating in the PCGS set registry.
So now it seems that this recognition is going to go away? I can’t for the life of me understand what would ever make PCGS consider removing that completely free form of digital recognition that has been basically the final thing left after all others have been dropped in the last few years. There is literally no cost to maintain some digital tags on people’s sets perpetually. Those same tags motivate myself and many other collectors and now they will just disappear. The brand new collector that spends a bunch of cash to vault into first place for the first time will appear to be more consequential than the seasoned collector who has held first place for the last 20 or 30 years? Why? To what purpose? It literally makes zero sense to me.
So for what it’s worth, if this is actually the direction you go PCGS, I will likely stop bothering to build up my sets in your set registry. The service has already been so pared down in the last few years that taking this last step feels like you’re trying to make whatever small accomplishments I’ve made feel even more meaningless. It’s a real shame.
PS: feel free to super duper highlight 40 different sets if you want, just leave what’s there already to continue getting its annual tags in perpetuity at the same time.
Comments
I take this decision as a direct personal insult. I've invested thousands and thousands of dollars in grading fees alone, JUST for the purpose of building up my registry sets here, with many sets and accomplishments that I feel I have every right to be very proud of. No longer. I'll give them half of a benefit of doubt, I'll wait to see what they actually do with this 40 business, but I'm not holding my breath. I've now cancelled my paid PCGS membership completely, and I guess September will dictate if I retire all my sets or just delete them completely. If they don't give a **** there's really no reason I should. They chased off DLH, you'd think that alone would have been enough of a wake up call for them. Such a shame (especially knowing how many NGC slabs I either cracked out or crossed over for the 'prestige' of having matching, qualifying slabs!)
I agree with GlenS. Getting rid of the historical banners makes zero sense. I collect Canada Large Cents and over the past 30 years or so have assembled arguably the best overall set of those cents that currently exists. That was my goal, whether the PCGS Registry existed or not. I chose to enter my sets in the registry because I thought it was a great way to memorialize my sets, both for my sense of personal accomplishment and so other like-minded collectors would know what coins and sets exist out there.
When I look at the Registry Hall of Fame sets, or others sets with multiple years of gold and platinum banners, I see numismatic history. If PCGS eliminates, or does not continue, this free recognition, I think they are making a grave error. If the plan is to turn the Registry Awards into some variation of the Achievement Progress points, then this will be merely giving out participation awards; quantity over quality and meaningless in my opinion. I guess I can understand from a revenue standpoint why PCGS would want to go that way, but I am pretty sure it will backfire and drive the best sets out of the registry or discourage their entry in the first place. Does anyone really think the registry is better off, or more prestigious, without the world class sets in it? Does anyone think that getting to #1 in some category is meaningful if the records of the very best sets are absent from the Registry?
As GlenS stated, the banners cost PCGS very little. Why not continue them?
http://www.victoriancent.com
I don’t disagree with the above, but a factual clarification of one of the minor points above should be made. PCGS and its Registry did not “chase off” DLH. As one of the investors in CAC/CACG, he wanted to show his support, so he crossed over most of his coins from PCGS holders to CACG holders. Unlike the NGC, MyCollect and CAC/CACG Registries, the PCGS Registry only allows coins that are in its own holders. After DLH crossed coins out of PCGS holders, he did not immediately remove or retire them, but allowed many of them to remain active on the PCGS Registry. Through efforts by many of us PCGS Registry participants (including myself) Charles and PCGS apparently communicated with DLH successfully, and he retired his PCGS sets. This was all proper, and many of us, including me, thanked Charles and PCGS for that effort to ensure the PCGS Registry rules were being followed.
Steve
My collecting “Pride & Joy” is my PCGS Registry Dansco 7070 Set:
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/design-type-sets/complete-dansco-7070-modified-type-set-1796-date/publishedset/213996
I totally understand wanting to elevate certain sets to really show them off. That takes nothing away from any of the rest of what goes on in the set registry. I really hope they rethink shutting down the awards for each type of set though. Keep those going in perpetuity and keep PCGS collectors of all sets motivated please! No need for any annual awards get together or anything at all that costs a cent. Just keep the award banners behind each first place set and keep them going into the future. That’s all it takes. Everything is already in place to do that so why modify it away?
Fair point -- however (Devil's advocate here, since I've never met him) -- Would he have felt the need to support CACG if PCGS was doing a decent job? Would CACG have attempted to break into the TPG market if they didn't detect a valid need for those services?
As someone who competed with him, my sets will appreciate his absence, at least for the month or so that they stay active. My 'big' Ike set was the first to actually make 100% completion, 6 years after the composite was introduced. The registry staff didn't notice or care. DL sure did though - and his quickly became the second 100%'er. I had him beat for a year. I cherished that single blue banner. Now, I'm once again the only active 100% set there, and should absolutely get a second blue banner finally. It feels a little more hollow, admittedly, because I know there's still that better set "out there", but there's still the all-time list to preserve my all-time second place status LOL. That definitely feels better than taking second place to a 9 coin set with 6 missing, because someone retired a modern set that had 3 coins in it... Those are the banners they should be looking at changing. But I digress.
The Set Registry is 100% an advertising expense, and if they're not recognizing it that way, they need to fire their entire accounting department. The Set Registry had the power to turn ME, and many others, into lifetime PCGS fans. And for a few years, I was. They just kept getting worse and worse and worse - and now, with new blood pretending to promise to make it better, they're actively pushing us away, to the point that I'll probably never spend another penny with this company. They still have a chance to make things right, but so far I see no indication that they'll even try.
I guess, at the end of the day, every year they've gotten worse and worse for getting the banners actually posted, so when they switch that date to "never".... well.... I guess that's not that much of a change.
In my opinion, CAC, and subsequently CACG, came about mainly due to CAC's perception (and I agree) about concerns of TPG's (mainly PCGS and NGC) grading and inconsistencies. DLH apparently agreed, and as such, he invested in them.
My collecting “Pride & Joy” is my PCGS Registry Dansco 7070 Set:
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/design-type-sets/complete-dansco-7070-modified-type-set-1796-date/publishedset/213996
I’m sure I’m missing something here. Would somebody please spell out the before/after of these changes?
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
Its unreal that PCGS went from "collect what you want and we will give you shiny little thing" to "YOU MUST COLLECT MORGANS! NOW!", rn PCGS makes me think that I shouldnt enjoy the hobby of having fancy set of coins with small motivation to be "the very best" but instead i should spend big money for coins i dont even want in my collection to be considered something and someone in this hobby
for MrEureka asking:
When you open a competitive set and someone has finished it (or has enough % by rules to get reward) the very best set gets little fancy banner with number in borders (Blue, Gold, Platinum etc.), they are given yearly with number of corresponding year
you had to be the best for 10 years for some of the banners, so basically decades of work for some people and now they are cancelling it and they will be making "something special" for handpicked sets (at least from what i understood) with arguments that people collecting coins they love and want is "legacy banner system no longer accurately reflects or scales with the true depth of modern collecting." because PCGS themselves decided what true depth of collecting is and not people themselves who collect.
@MrEureka - from another thread
@bosox
@Charles_Morgan
We will not be giving out blue, gold, platinum, or ten-year banner awards this year. We will have more information to share about the badge program in the coming months! Best of luck with this year's competition.
PCGS has not given any clue as what the "after" might be, which is part of what has people concerned.
http://www.victoriancent.com
Locking the last post once a few of us asked for clarification didn't help to generate much confidence in what the future holds..
The last post discussed the competition deadline, which has now passed. If you have questions or concerns about this year's program, feel free to DM me.
Manager of Numismatic Research and Programs | PCGS