Membership in PCGS-what do you all think?

[neilgin1]

Bros' ....i know enough to know, when i dont know, that when i ask questions, so here's the question, what do you all think of PCGS?

good reputation?

the reason i ask is this; i stack, i buy in rolls, American 90%'ers, and i usually go for the BU's, GEM-BU's etc.

and studying up on the art of grading, what to look for, what takes off a grade, populations, etc.

what i need to be briefed on is, how does it work, to get coins graded and slabbed?

up until now, i think of stacking as an alternative way of "banking"....just like the good old days, when you would have a handwritten passbook, put money into a savings account, and not worry about dollars eroding, not worry about the health of the bank, not worry about a Fed chairman out of control, like we have today.

what i've noticed in my stacking is that i have certain coins that might be graded high, and suitable for sale, SLABBED, on the market.

proceeds from such sales, obviously would be FRN's, which i would then use, for either more stacking, or ranch improvements, or fun stuff, like me and my boy spending a week in the Carib...bada bing.

so any advice, feedback, briefing, on whether PCGS is the blue chip grading service, and how slabbing works, etc....would be most appreciated, as the base of knowledge is deep. Bless you all, n.

[TwoPenniesEarned]

PCGS certainly has one of the better reputations. I believe that many of the numismatic premiums on all kinds of coins will disappear in Silver's run up to $100/ounce. Or the premium to melt will decrease to a point that it is not worth slabbing them at all. That's my only concern with the whole business...apart from the Chinese fakes, which seem to be just a part of life now.

[neilgin1]

PCGS certainly has one of the better reputations. I believe that many of the numismatic premiums on all kinds of coins will disappear in Silver's run up to $100/ounce. Or the premium to melt will decrease to a point that it is not worth slabbing them at all. That's my only concern with the whole business...apart from the Chinese fakes, which seem to be just a part of life now.

i couldnt agree with you more, regarding any nusimatic premiums attached, when we go "post dollar"........and thanks for the reassurance regarding PCGS.

my intent is to slab to sell, lightly....and to pick those coins, i deem appropriate to even grade, TO slab.

how does it all work?....and i hope more of the gang chimes in, to answer my query.

as far as Chinese fakes....man, that just drives me up the wall....how much?....umm, to the point, i wont buy anymore Morgan or Peace dollar roles. its just not worth the headache. i dont want to get into assaying every single darn coin. in fact, thats another thread of query i shalt start. fondly, neil

[TwoPenniesEarned]

Nobody will pay a premium for anything but MS65 or higher nowadays. And many grading companies peed in the pool with respect to the MS65 designation. So now many people will even look skeptically on that. I was speaking with a dealer who intimated that you are better off selling a coin on the basis that it appears to have that grade, and taking very good photographs of it and highlighting why it has the features that would make it worthy of that grade, and saving yourself the $30.

Only on the coins that you are nearly certain you will make MS66 should you slab them. That's the advice from my friend the dealer/collector.

[barrytrot]

I'm sorry TwoPenniesEarned but the guy you spoke with sounds very ignorant. First unless you are talking 1964 or younger, coins far under MS65 can be very valuable. And NO ONE will give you more money for "raw" than graded by PCGS. No one. Naturally PCGS makes mistakes but out of 25.5 million graded coins that is likely only 10,000 or fewer so most of them are accurate enough to be marketable.


Let's look at Rodebaugh's inventory as example:

http://www.rodebaughsilver.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=62_66

Morgans are worth around $25 (melt) and yet all of those coins are worth $80 or more other than a couple ANACS ones ($25 + $30 = $55, so still "value in slabbing"). And most are NOT MS65.


Rodebaugh buys many of his coins raw and pays MUCH LESS for them because he sees that they WOULD GRADE and when graded command a premium.

Neil, if you have coins that you think would grade and get a premium either get a membership or talk with Rodebaugh about sending him coins to get graded on his frequent trips.


Getting coins graded if you know what you are doing, like Rodebaugh, is definitely profitable.

[neilgin1]

I'm sorry TwoPenniesEarned but the guy you spoke with sounds very ignorant. First unless you are talking 1964 or younger, coins far under MS65 can be very valuable. And NO ONE will give you more money for "raw" than graded by PCGS. No one. Naturally PCGS makes mistakes but out of 25.5 million graded coins that is likely only 10,000 or fewer so most of them are accurate enough to be marketable.


Let's look at Rodebaugh's inventory as example:

http://www.rodebaughsilver.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=62_66

Morgans are worth around $25 (melt) and yet all of those coins are worth $80 or more other than a couple ANACS ones ($25 + $30 = $55, so still "value in slabbing"). And most are NOT MS65.


Rodebaugh buys many of his coins raw and pays MUCH LESS for them because he sees that they WOULD GRADE and when graded command a premium.

Neil, if you have coins that you think would grade and get a premium either get a membership or talk with Rodebaugh about sending him coins to get graded on his frequent trips.


Getting coins graded if you know what you are doing, like Rodebaugh, is definitely profitable.

done...sold...i am sold!

because i know right now, that in my stack, i have many many coins that would grade out at 65 plus, and that is a dispassionate statement.
Because rolls i get raw, i can study 'em and look and then know, when they're 63 plus....OR...when they're 60's...or when they're slicks, AU's....probably 58's.

i THINK, the key to making any slabbing and selling WORK is to (obviously) buy raw rolls, and then know what you're looking at....and then NOT to engage in the practice of "hoping". Well, i been buying raw rolls for quite a while now, and just stashing them, so........thanks Barry, n.

[alpacafarmer]

You also need to keep in mind the cost to slab the coin. Shipping and insurance both ways and the per coin grading cost and the membership dues if using pcgs on ngc. Anacs and ICG have no membership but their coins sell for a bit less. Also be prepared for many disappointments with the grades you receive. Grading is a must for highly faked valuable coins.

[neilgin1]

You also need to keep in mind the cost to slab the coin. Shipping and insurance both ways and the per coin grading cost and the membership dues if using pcgs on ngc. Anacs and ICG have no membership but their coins sell for a bit less. Also be prepared for many disappointments with the grades you receive. Grading is a must for highly faked valuable coins.

roger that. thanks.

[silverflake]

neilgin1, another caveat with PCGS (I joined them a while back for grading of the few true collectable coins I had) - they offer you a gift to join the collectors club - usually, say, 4 free gradings and you pay roughly $100 to join. Well the 'free' is strictly for the grading (still an OK deal) but you will have to pay a grading fee, insurance and shipping and handling. Make sure your hunch on the value of the coins is true because those numbers can add up to the guy on a budget (me!).

That said, I had some walking liberty half dollars - uncirculated that I had accumulated over the years just buying from deals listed in coin magazines etc. in the 1990's (when they were insultingly cheap!) They were all from the 1940's. I cherry picked the best dozen (in my eyes) and sent them in for grading. I got 10 in MS-64 and 2 in MS-63. No lottery wins (MS-65) . But I needed some cash about 2 years ago and boy, those things sold well on ebay!

So, it looks as if your theory would work well right now in a low spot price environment. I agree with some folks above that if the price of silver gets hot, the premiums on these coins will shrink. Do your due diligence (preaching to the choir) and best of luck. Keep us posted, bud.

Don't forget to keep stacking!

[neilgin1]

neilgin1, another caveat with PCGS (I joined them a while back for grading of the few true collectable coins I had) - they offer you a gift to join the collectors club - usually, say, 4 free gradings and you pay roughly $100 to join. Well the 'free' is strictly for the grading (still an OK deal) but you will have to pay a grading fee, insurance and shipping and handling. Make sure your hunch on the value of the coins is true because those numbers can add up to the guy on a budget (me!).

That said, I had some walking liberty half dollars - uncirculated that I had accumulated over the years just buying from deals listed in coin magazines etc. in the 1990's (when they were insultingly cheap!) They were all from the 1940's. I cherry picked the best dozen (in my eyes) and sent them in for grading. I got 10 in MS-64 and 2 in MS-63. No lottery wins (MS-65) . But I needed some cash about 2 years ago and boy, those things sold well on ebay!

So, it looks as if your theory would work well right now in a low spot price environment. I agree with some folks above that if the price of silver gets hot, the premiums on these coins will shrink. Do your due diligence (preaching to the choir) and best of luck. Keep us posted, bud.

Don't forget to keep stacking!

nice! thanks for the encouragement.........when you say "in the 1990's, when they were insulting cheap"......i wanna go lay flat on my face for a while...its like i woke up late! lol....hi grade Walkings are the THING now, that is one hot market....rolls of solid date 40's era?.....i;ve seen them trade 65 to 75 times for Gem/BU rolls....for the first time last night, i got ganked going after Franklin Proof rolls.....i thought i knew where to put the bid...make it untouchable....yeh, was in for an education on how strong this market is. i never got ganked before, its an uncomfortable feeling...at the same time, its a good feeling, because it underlines the latent strength to the market.

these guys can play their games on the board...comex, but anybody tells ya, silver's trading down to 26 support, ask them what kind of beans their doc is writing prescriptions for....

thanks for the encouragement, i'm getting PCGS membership....just watch for a while, watch how they trade, check populations, etc.

neil

[Rastatodd]

My LCS is a member of PCGS and ANACS, what he does if you have a coin that you think is worth getting graded and slab. He charges you a fee and sends it in on his account. Which seems like a good deal compared to the membership fee charged by TPG. That way if you come by just a few specimens in your stacking your not out so much in the way of membership fees from the graders.

[NDFarmer]

My LCS is a member of PCGS and ANACS, what he does if you have a coin that you think is worth getting graded and slab. He charges you a fee and sends it in on his account. Which seems like a good deal compared to the membership fee charged by TPG. That way if you come by just a few specimens in your stacking your not out so much in the way of membership fees from the graders.

My LCS does the same thing. If you want to get something graded he just sends your coin in along with coins that he wants to get graded.

[neilgin1]

ND and Rasta-mon, greetings fellow Great White Northmen,

thanks for the posts, its funny that we come upon the subject of an LCS...first time today, going into town,...county seat, pop 4300...that i noticed we have something resembling an LCS.

There's an old boy, who moved his gunshop slash antiques store into town....what he does is, other folks rent display cases, and one display case was full of silver....and LOTS of it. But there was a big problem. Whoever owns it, his offers are way north...lots of self slabs, a lot of his grading.....and call me paranoid, but in a county of 25,000 souls, and a town of 4300....i dont feel REAL comfortable about letting anybody know, besides my brother, what i'm up to. I didnt feel like laying $500 down, buying inflated silver, or getting into dialogue with ANYBODY local.......doesnt FEEL like the smart thing to do. Post dollar, grid down, let the dust settle, i'll have no problems trading, coz there will be a whole new set of rules....but now?....sssssh.

stacking raw rolls?.......i've now got quite a few individual specimans that will grade high, and security is a real concern. To keep secure, just got to lay low. So i think spending $99 for my own membership allows me to proceed at my own pace, and its sound money spent. stay warm you fellas, n.