Slab overgrading

[azda]

And how it affects values. 

http://www.coinweek.com/dealers-companies/eagle-eye/overgrading-affects-coin-values/

 

[Rob]

That is one of the best written articles I've seen on any topic. Concise and to the point.

 

[jaggy]

I think that over grading is a problem throughout the hobby. When I compare coins that are EF or GEF with coins I bought at the same grades from Glendinings 20-30 years ago there is a clear difference. Glendinings were stricter graders than DNW who are stricter graders than London Coins.

I don't have a lot of experience with TPGs but I have found that the coins I sent in to NGC have been pretty strictly graded. In fact, it has been something of an eye opener and has made me much more critical of the coins I bid on at DNW or LCA. So when they describe a coin as "about mint state", I take that with a pinch of salt.

I did buy a couple of CGS slabbed coins (CGS 82) at LCA, broke them out and sent them to NGC. They were both graded at MS63 whereas, according to the comparisons I have seen, one might have expected an MS64 or MS65. I have one more CGS coin (a 75) being graded by NGC at the moment. It will be interesting to see where it comes out. My guess, based on my own grading experience, is that it will be an AU58 rather than an MS62-MS63 that the comparisons might suggest. I knew that when I bought the coin and factored it into the price I paid. 

So, once again, always buy the coin and not the grade.

[pokal02]

Absolutely right.  I would estimate I downgrade 90% of all my purchases by anything from 1/4 to 1 1/4 grades from the grade suggested.  Spink are still the harshest graders (and are the source of the only two coins I've actually upgraded from a dealer-stated grade).  We need more books like the Guide to Grading British coins to cover earlier milled issues.  I still think if I grade a coin AVF and someone else grades it VF that's just a difference of opinion, but if I grade a coin Fine and someone else grades it VF or higher, one of us should be wrong!.  

[VickySilver]

All true. The Glens of the world are fewer and fewer. I don't know how to post this and I have once before (?), but this 1839 currency half crown was bought from them about 20 years ago as an EF. Maybe this is a case of them under grading in the past??

 

PCGS  number: PCGS 121002

[Nick]

28 minutes ago, VickySilver said:

PCGS  number: PCGS 121002

That number isn't valid VS.  Have you missed a digit?  It has to be a 7 or 8 digit number (according to the PCGS website).

[Nick]

3 minutes ago, Nick said:

That number isn't valid VS.  Have you missed a digit?  It has to be a 7 or 8 digit number (according to the PCGS website).

No, you haven't missed a digit.  The PCGS pop. report contains your number, but the certificate validation section rejects it.  Anyway, here's the coin:

[azda]

I think the main thing is, as we're seeing from Jaggys post and elsewhere is the fact that no one agrees on a grade of a coin especially when you're talking sheldon grading or whatever scale that LCGS use, points differences is IMO minimal.

I'll always ask the same question, how do you differentiate an MS63 from a 64 or an LCGS 78 and 80, IMO it's just BS, when you're talking AU58 to MS63 onwards then there should be some differences, but 1 point is just talking through their rear blowhole

[coinkat]

Grading is subjective... Not a math problem that produces a quantifiable answer. There are overgraded and undergraded coins and that will not change. There are coins that are high end and low end for the grade. The lower end coins within that grade can effect the perceived value which is a drain on the better examples. Basically the quality of the coin should dictate the value instead of the plastic and it often does which is why auction records often have a spread.

[Stuntman]

Whatever grade it is, that 1839 halfcrown is an absolute stunner!  A dream coin.

[youliveyoulean]

A great article - the point about 'gift grades' is what troubles me the most. This is most obvious on the modern coins which get a grade of either MS69 or MS70 when they're hot off the press depending on who send them in for grading with the MS70 seemingly commanding a hefty premium. Collecting the slab at this point just reaches the height of stupidity. 

If the TPGs 'consistently' overgraded then at least there would be 'consistency' and the market would settle down! The trouble is they don't and it will come back to bite them on the ass. A lot of larger dealers submitting large quantities (check ebay) are all getting very average coins slabbed as MS64 / MS65 whereas the average punter on the street gets the same coin back as say MS61 or MS62.

If the grading companies don't work at being consistent they are doomed to fail as more and more articles such as this surface and become common knowledge. I fact, nearly all of them do eventually fail! You can't go wrong if you collect the coin and not the slab. 

 

 

[Rob]

I like 61s and 62s quite often. I have a very nice formerly slabbed 61 that was better than a 65 from a 'premium' collection.