When purchasing a coin, there are many factors to consider, its grade, luster, rarity, demand, strike, age, and so on and so forth. One of the most important factors, are third party grading services. These “services” are companies that are not affiliated with the production, buying, or selling of coins that provide a professional opinion regarding a coins net grade.
There are four main company's, PCGS, NGC, ANACS, and ICG and a few others which are easily identifiable from non-third party graded coins because they encase the coins that they grade in hard plastic holders such as the one below, Ever since the late 1970s when the first company, ANACS was founded through the American Numismatic Association, the use of third party grading service has revolutionized the industry in ways that many might not realize. The effect that third party grading services has had on the coin market is most prevalent in the bullion section, especially with modern semi numismatic pieces such as the American Silver Eagle. This is mainly because of inserts that the two largest companies, PCGS and NGC put in their holders. In fact, they even have an NGC holder with an insert that commemorates Donald Trump's presidential inauguration so people can have “history in their hands” going as far as to have red, white, and blue inserts for these holders! Beyond this, they produce inserts for many different themes and occasions with themes such as Major League Baseball teams to cites such as San Francisco (which is where many proof coins are minted). These holders have had a positive impact on the market for these coins as they have made it more fun to collect them. Oftentimes this provides coins with these inserts with a premium over other examples. Most importantly, third party grading services have created a relative large price difference between coins that are graded in MS69 and MS70 condition. One thing that many people likely do not recognize is that there is an extremely small difference between coins that are graded in MS69 and MS70 condition, because a coin in MS70 condition is a perfect coin, where a coin in MS69 extremely close. Amazingly, this difference in grade can be something as small as a tiny scratch on any part of the coin which can only be viewed at a certain angle. This is something that I typically advise people to keep in mind when making these purchases, especially considering that most modern semi-numismatic rounds that are not professionally graded are typically in MS69 or MS70 condition anyways, which are almost always cheaper than silver eagles in professionally graded holders. In fact, third party grading services even designate some coins as being produced earlier than the rest with designations such as "First Strike" or “Early Release” where in reality, these coins are likely not one of the first ones produced. The mint does not keep track of the first coins that they produce, where the coins with these designations are likely just the first ones that these third-party grading companies receive. Amazingly, likely due to this misconception the coins with a first strike designation also have a premium over coins without designation. This is something that I also advice people to keep in mind when making bullion purchases. Believe it or not, any coin that in in older third party grading holder is typically worth a premium, as many collectors enjoy owning a piece of these company's history. In fact, there are even people that try to collect coins that are exclusively in these old holders. Third party grading services have also revolutionized every other area of the coin market that is outside of bullion. Primarily, they are extremely useful for helping coin dealers and collectors be confident that the coin that they own is authentic. Also, they typically provide an accurate grade for coins, where at PCGS and NGC at least 3 experts must agree on the grade of the coin at hand before it is sent back to the person who submitted it. Personally, I strongly recommend that you purchase coins in professionally graded holders if they are worth at least $250, if you cannot fully guarantee its authenticity yourself. This Is especially true if the coin that you are looking to purchase is a key date with a mint mark because sometimes people simply add a mint mark to an authentic coin and try to sell it as its much rarer counterpart. Third party grading services are amazing, because they provide coin dealers and collectors with the piece of mind that the coin that the coin that they have is real, with a good idea regarding its grade. Despite this, it is important to keep in mind that it may be preferable for some people to purchase raw coins in the case of bullion, and semi numismatic rounds file:///C:/Users/brand/Downloads/google1e750597dd8642a3%20(3).html
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Author: Brandon Spiegel.
Archives
January 2019
Categories
All
Archives
January 2019
Categories
All
Categories
All
|