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How do Coins in PCGS holders sell for less than 5 bucks?

Hi,

I've always been a little confused about this... how do EBay sellers offer 10 common modern coins, in PCGS holders, and sell a group of them for $100, when it costs $200 to get them certified? Or sell PCGS certified coins for less than the cost to grade them? Even PLATINUM MEMBERSHIP only gives you 8 free submissions but, you're paying $199.00 for the membership.

I'm sure I'm missing something sooooooooooooooooooooooo... please let me know where my error is.

Even if you send in a very large number of coins, and the $20 is discounted, some of these rather common coins sell for less than 5 bucks... how is the seller making any profit on it?

Here are a few quick examples from recent sales on EBay:

1960-P Franklin Half Dollar PCGS MS64FBL OH $19.08

2007 D Adams Dollar PCGS MS63 MS 63 First Day Pos A FDI $12.00

1954-D Franklin Half Dollar PCGS MS64FBL OH $15.70

1986 S PR69 DCAM PCGS STATUE OF LIBERTY DEEP CAMEO COIN $10.50

2007 P Adams Dollar PCGS MS64 MS 64 First Day Pos A FDI $3.20

Comments

  • TCoinsTCoins Posts: 567 ✭✭
    volume, volume, volume
  • Yes, Volume, volume, volume but...

    The Fees show the lowest is $14? How can you wait 21 days, to get a coin back spend $14 and know it's only worth about $5?

    I called the PCGS number, the girl said, it's $14 per coin not 5 coins for $14.... unless she was mistaken?

    PCGS Fees
  • how is the seller making any profit on it?........SirAnthonyAC


    Ummm............
    Sellers don't always make a profit.
    These are coins that shouldn't have been slabbed, that are being dumped.

    Ray
  • What should the coins sell for? The bulk rate used to be lower (I believe as low as $3 many years ago for 1000 pre-screened coins of the same type and grade). I think it is $8 or $10 now, depending on the coin.

    Sometimes the bulk submitters break even on the lower graded coins and make their money on the few nice ones. Sometimes novice submitters send in a bunch of coins from unscreened proof sets or inherited classic coins, thinking surely they have valuable coins in their batch. If they sell the coins at market prices they lose a ton of money.
  • BochimanBochiman Posts: 25,556 ✭✭✭✭✭
    1) Dealers, in bulk, can get better pricing (bulk prices).....people did this with the Prez$ as well....sent in whole boxes and got much better rates.
    2) Some of the slabs are mistakes.....the submitter thought they would get higher grades (more $$$) and got stuff not worth the plastic (talk to Madmarty about many of his early AU58s image )

    I've been told I tolerate fools poorly...that may explain things if I have a problem with you. Current ebay items - Nothing at the moment

  • wayneherndonwayneherndon Posts: 2,357 ✭✭✭
    The people who are successful at submitting large numbers of coins (especially moderns) to the grading services don't expect to make money on every coin. What typically happens is they submit a lot of coins and a few make the "money grade". The profit on these few coins pay for the whole deal. Those that missed the "money grade" get dumped for a few bucks each. In short, you're looking at the individual trees when you need to be looking at the forest.

    WH
  • notwilightnotwilight Posts: 12,864 ✭✭✭
    Sometimes you lose money, especially on the lowest graded coins. You guys thought grading and selling coins was guaranteed profitable? --Jerry
  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,860 ✭✭✭✭✭
    They lose money on individual coins but they make up for in volume. image

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire

  • WaterSportWaterSport Posts: 6,921 ✭✭✭✭✭
    They made their money on the higher graded coins, the dregs - you take what you can get.

    WS
    Proud recipient of the coveted PCGS Forum "You Suck" Award Thursday July 19, 2007 11:33 PM and December 30th, 2011 at 8:50 PM.
  • LALASD4LALASD4 Posts: 3,602 ✭✭✭
    I am sure that the sellers want to sell them for more but if there are no buyers, you get whatever the market would bear.image
    Coin Collector, Chicken Owner, Licensed Tax Preparer & Insurance Broker/Agent.
    San Diego, CA


    image
  • Type2Type2 Posts: 13,985 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Yes, with bulk it's 6.00 per coin for 100 or more if you get 20 or 30in MS-66 /67 it will pay for the Grading but you need to pre-screen your coins befor sending in. image


    Hoard the keys.
  • JRoccoJRocco Posts: 14,277 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Because it's a Kennedy image
    Some coins are just plain "Interesting"
  • I just had a 1991 Lincoln cent in PCGS MS 66 Red fail to get even a 1 cent bid. Shipping was $4 so nobody would pay $4.01 for this coin.

    I'm sure many people use their 8 "free" gradings from platinum membership to make those very tough coins. They are sure their raw 1991 Lincoln is a lock MS 68 Red which would be worth slabbing. It comes back 66. They are in shock because it looks exactly like the other MS 68s they have paid big bucks for.

    So you have a very common coin in a very common grade, what's it worth? Sometimes it cost the submitter way more than it is worth.
  • TwoSides2aCoinTwoSides2aCoin Posts: 44,618 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Because POWERSCREWERS really get you on the shipping image


    My Last Can o Spam on eBay
  • someone has taken a loss on that individual coin (but maybe not the submission the coin was in)

    it may not be the current seller, as they may have bought it for even less than the current low price
    maybe the seller is making even more with shipping and handling



    if you want to kill some time, you can check out the submission manually by adding 1 number (or subtracting) to the cert number, remembering nogrades also get assigned a number, many small submitters sequence their submission by denomination and year
  • 19Lyds19Lyds Posts: 26,492 ✭✭✭✭
    Bulk submissions of more than 100 coins.

    The rates are much lower than even the cheapest Modern rate of $14 per coin.

    I think its $10 for an MS66 graded coin and the scale goes up according to grade or down according to grade with $8.00 for an MS65 and $6.00 for MS64 and lower. If more than 60% of your coins grade at your minimum specified level then the no-grades are free otherwise they are $2.00 each.

    I think.

    But then, you have to submit a minimum of 100 coins which are of the same series but can be of sdifferent date and mintmark designations. So.........given that.....I could submit 100 IKE dollars, have them all grade at MS64 or less and only pay $6.00 per slab! If there are any Type 2's in the lot, then they get sold for two to three hundred each if not more!
    I decided to change calling the bathroom the John and renamed it the Jim. I feel so much better saying I went to the Jim this morning.



    The name is LEE!
  • FrankcoinsFrankcoins Posts: 4,571 ✭✭✭
    How much should a piece of caca in a slab sell for...even if someone paid $15 to get it slabbed?
    Frank Provasek - PCGS Authorized Dealer, Life Member ANA, Member TNA. www.frankcoins.com
  • TomBTomB Posts: 22,090 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Even coins that are sent in via the Economy tier, instead of bulk submission, can sell for only a few dollars each. A few years ago I sent in 40-50 nicely toned, silver Roosevelt dimes and decided to play the "PCGS lottery". That is, I submitted some coins that I did not think deserved to be graded, but did so because it seems that PCGS always rewards me with some high grades for those pieces. The grades received on a few coins paid for all the coins, all the submissions and the postage while the grades received on a few more coins were so low (MS65) that I had to sell the coins individually for $5-$10 each.
    Thomas Bush Numismatics & Numismatic Photography

    In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson

    image
  • JoesMaNameJoesMaName Posts: 1,067 ✭✭✭
    A smart dealer buys entire collections from the public for X dollars (paying for the coins not the holder), slabbed, unslabbed one price. Submits only what make sense to submit, sells the cream individually, and bulks out the rest. No doubt the collector paid $14 to get his MS63 war nickel graded.
  • seanqseanq Posts: 8,733 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Even coins that are sent in via the Economy tier, instead of bulk submission, can sell for only a few dollars each. A few years ago I sent in 40-50 nicely toned, silver Roosevelt dimes and decided to play the "PCGS lottery". That is, I submitted some coins that I did not think deserved to be graded, but did so because it seems that PCGS always rewards me with some high grades for those pieces. The grades received on a few coins paid for all the coins, all the submissions and the postage while the grades received on a few more coins were so low (MS65) that I had to sell the coins individually for $5-$10 each. >>



    I agreee with this 100%. Last year I bought a very nice set of Jefferson Nickels mounted in a big Capital Plastics lucite board. I then sent the nicest ten coins from the set to PCGS. By "nicest" I mean those with full steps, or key dates, plus a few pretty toners. My profits from four of those coins paid for the whole set, plus a good portion of my submission fees. The rest I just threw up on eBay at a $.99 start. Best of all, I still have the other 130 or so coins as a raw set.

    Here are two of the four coins that paid for the set: 1939-S and 1939-D. I also made a 1938-D in PCGS 66FS from the same collection. And here are a couple that sold for way less than the grading fees: 1947 and 1948-D.

    I wish I could say I made money, or at least broke even, on every coin I've ever submitted. However, I can say that when you look at the aggregate of all the coins on a given invoice, I've turned a profit on almost every submission. The few that I lost money on, that's just part of my numismatic tuition.


    Sean Reynolds
    Incomplete planchets wanted, especially Lincoln Cents & type coins.

    "Keep in mind that most of what passes as numismatic information is no more than tested opinion at best, and marketing blather at worst. However, I try to choose my words carefully, since I know that you guys are always watching." - Joe O'Connor
  • notwilightnotwilight Posts: 12,864 ✭✭✭


    << <i>They made their money on the higher graded coins, >>



    Maybe.
  • slipgateslipgate Posts: 2,301 ✭✭
    I maintain the PCGS grades lots of common coins that they just pick up at the bank and distributes them through various channels. This explains what you see and what appears to be worthless coins graded in high volumes.
    My Registry Sets! PCGS Registry
  • pf70collectorpf70collector Posts: 6,748 ✭✭✭
    I sold a PCGS MS 65 FDI Washington Dollar for .99 cents a while back. That was the starting bid.
  • homerunhallhomerunhall Posts: 2,496 ✭✭✭

    Here's how this can happen...

    1. Dealer sends in a lot of coins...some get what Wayne called the money grade and and sell for big money. Some get OK grade. A few are clunkers that shouldn't have been sent in. They get graded accordingly and then dealer (or collector) dumps them for whatever they can get.

    2. People send in some really weird stuff for their "free" Collectors Club submission. Stuff no one would ever pay to send in. You would be amazed at what we see! When sold, this stuff may only be worth a buck or two, even in a PCGS holder.

    3. Dealers and collectors make mistakes...send in coins that grade much lower than they thought. If they sell, the price could be very low.

    4. Dealers buy collections...some of the low value stuff might be figured in the deal at zero or close to it. So if you pay a buck, you can sell for three or four dollars and make a profit.

    We don't slab super cheap coins and feed them to the arket, though that is a thought. And I don't believe we've ever had a $3 or $4 bulk service.


    David

  • I have 2 $5 coins I paid $18 to grade for sale right now. image
  • RussRuss Posts: 48,514 ✭✭✭


    << <i>I maintain the PCGS grades lots of common coins that they just pick up at the bank and distributes them through various channels. >>



    Huh?

    Russ, NCNE
  • The fact is someone lost money submitting these moderns hoping for a stratospheric grade.
    I think back to when buyers were paying over $100 for modern Lincolns in proof 69 cameo.
    Some people were very confrontational when I refused to buy or sell them.
    At a recent show I saw a huge KFC bucket loaded with them for $16 at several different tables.
    The same goes for some Jefferson nickels and Roosevelt dimes. You can buy all of these slabbed by PCGS and NGC in slabs that "only" made pr 68 for under $10.
    I don't believe I've ever seen an uncirculated business strike or proof ever sell this cheap whether or not they made the desired grade.
    This is not meant to knock moderns in general but as can be seen there is a much higher risk playing the crack out game with them. One grade difference can decide if the coin is valuable or practically worthless. Dave W



    David J Weygant Rare Coins website: www.djwcoin.com
    dalias13@hotmail.com
  • mozeppamozeppa Posts: 4,431 ✭✭✭


    << <i>

    << <i>I maintain the PCGS grades lots of common coins that they just pick up at the bank and distributes them through various channels. >>



    Huh?

    Russ, NCNE >>



    I fear there's a flaw in somebodys maintainence!
  • SeattleSlammerSeattleSlammer Posts: 10,056 ✭✭✭✭✭
    when the coin is worth LESS than the plastic, you know something's just not right....indeed, that's just SAD

    image
  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,860 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>I maintain the PCGS grades lots of common coins that they just pick up at the bank and distributes them through various channels. >>



    Sample slabs?

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire

  • WingsruleWingsrule Posts: 3,052 ✭✭✭✭
    Someone mention sample slabs???????

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