Getting Entire Monster Box Graded...Good idea or not?

[getdong]

Okay so hoping some of you guys maybe can help me out. I am in the foreign currency business but recently fell into a connection for coins but don't have a ton of knowledge so figured you guys could maybe help me out. I've been getting Monster Boxes of Eagles and just flipping them to coin shops however I'm realizing it's sma ll margins and my connection is drying up so I'm sitting on 1 monster box of 2013 Silver Eagles the San Franciscos.

Someone I know recently mentioned I should send in the entire Monster Box and have it graded. I talked to they company and I guess they said as long as 60% of the coins are gradeable they will send the rest back and only charge us for what they grade. I guess it's $25 for MS70 and I'm unsure the price for MS69 but I guess they will only grade MS69 and higher.

Just looking for some advice from you guys. First off the box is currently sealed but is there any reason for me to open it and sort myself and try to only send in the ones that look good or should I send in them all? Also, would a novice as myself even know what to look for looking through a box prior to sending it in? Lastly, do you think this is a wise move. Will having coins graded ms69 and ms70 reap enough money to cover costs of grading and make me some money?

[InfleXion]

First off I have never sent a coin in for grading so my advice is solely opinion based.

Being that there are so many eagles out there, what like 40 million last year and probably more this year, odds are that there will be a saturated market for graded coins (pure speculation on my part). I don't think they will fetch a high value. For example with Perth's lunar dragons last year MS70's were a dime a dozen and at one point were actually cheaper than the non-graded coins.

Personally if I were to get coins graded it would be semi-numi coins that people like to collect that are not as mass produced - CA wildlife, pandas, lunars, kooks, takus, Somali elephants, Armenian Noah's ark, etc.

I would also look at each one with a loupe to ensure I wasn't wasting my efforts, although with the 60% thing regarding your monster box that's probably moot. Then again, I've heard some have milk spots out of the box. If you get back a bunch of MS67's you'll still have to pay for them and with a coin as widely produced as the SAE I doubt anything other than an MS70 will be worth the money spent on grading.

[barrytrot]

You can eliminate most of the speculation pretty quickly:

Search eBay and other venues for the average price of an MS69 and MS70 USING THE GRADING COMPANY YOU ARE CONSIDERING. This is important as the companies are all different.

Then check the population reports of that company so you can get an idea of the percentage of MS69 vs. MS70.

The only conjecture then is the percentage that would be "below grade". They don't list that, so that one is the unknown factor, however, you can throw out that number anyway as those coins are "free" and therefore can be removed from your calculations. All that matters is:

Price to grade a coin
Sale price of an MS69
Sale price an an MS70
Percentage of MS70's vs. MS69's.

Those 4 figures are all numbers you can figure out definitively from the sources above and with them you can mathematically determine (once considering fees to sell) the profit or loss from this venture before you ever do it.

Math rules!

Internet also rules!

[Copper Member]

For bulk grading (I'm talking PCGS) you must submit 100 or more coins for grading and it can't be more than 5 diff dates. So you are good there. Then you must declare a minimum grade that you will accept. It cannot be a 70 tho. So you need to do 69's. They will grade the coins. If 60% meet your minimum grade that you choose, the price is $12 per coin. They will return the others not graded and at no charge. If you do not meet the 60% threshold, they will slab the ones that meet your criteria and send back the others not slabbed at $5 per coin. Of course return shipping and handling charges apply.

[HoardCopperByTheTon]

Without doing all the math my gut tells me the cost for bulk grading all those bullion coins is going to far exceed any premium you might obtain for the few "wonder coins" you might get out of them. In order to hit the 60% you might even have to drop your minimum to MS68. Then you have the headaches of marketing all those slabbed coins in a glutted market. With a generic box of eagles you would be able to move the product much easier either by the box or breaking it down into rolls. These are bullion coins.. why invest a significant amount of money in a hope of getting some high grade coins that are much more difficult to move?

[SoFa]

Looking at NGC populations, 2013 is running about 4:1 (4 MS69 to 1 MS70). For 2012 it was about 2.5:1.

So, let's say you spent $25 per eagle, plus $12 to grade each. Total investment $37/coin.

To simplify it, you've got 4 MS69 coins and 1 MS70. The total outlay was $185.

An MS69 sells for $35 on ebay ($30 net after fees and shipping). An MS70 sells for $62 ($54 net).
Thus for the 5 coins you receive $174 (6% loss).

If you get a 3:1 ratio, you spend $148 on four coins and receive $144 (3% loss).

I think you need to achieve a much better MS69:MS70 ratio, which means you have to submit only the best coins.