Coin Doctoring and Gradeflation

Please...don't get me started.

Except for the EBay coin buying crowd who haven't a clue, there is no such thing and there never will be "PQ coin trading sight unseen based on stickers and plastic holders". Such a thing is the antithesis of true quality coin collecting.

Increased value? Are you kidding? No way...PCGS has just downgraded every single coin they have ever graded by establishing this new plateau above the grade they aleady were paid once to establish!

This is about PCGS getting paid AGAIN to provide another grade description for the same coin. It's about recapturing market share from CAC. By the way, its a brilliant business move, just don't get too excited friends.

Belay Off

"Increased liquidity, higher value, and sight-unseen trading of PQ coins."

"Except for the EBay coin buying crowd who haven't a clue, there is no such thing and there never will be "PQ coin trading sight unseen based on stickers and plastic holders". Such a thing is the antithesis of true quality coin collecting."


Thats a good point, Belay. Thanks for bringing it up, John. This "sight unseen trading" can only be meant to appeal to the investor crowd, many of which couldn't care if they were buying double eagles and silver dollars or bullion. Coin collecting for the sheer enjoyment of it is beginning to go by the wayside.

GN

I am a collector, not an investor and do not buy coins with the idea of reselling them for a profit. However, I've always wanted to maintain a financially balanced coin collection. When I started collecting coins seriously, I knew I was being smart by staying with certified coins only. I was told to stay in the MS -63 range or better to assure myself of long-term value. So, for the most part, that's exactly what I did. I spent about three years putting together an virtually complete US Type set that I was really proud of. One of my goals was to pass this collection down to my grand children first as my legacy and only secondarily as a long term family investment. The only problem with this grand plan was that I was a total Bozo and just didn't know it.

Boy, did I ever learn an expensive lesson. I thought I knew what I was doing and that this 100% certified collection was as solid as the Rock of Gibralter. Unfortunately, my check book moved faster than my brain. I should have acquired the right knowledge before acquiring the wrong coins!

I have written in Curry's Chronicle and on this web site on numerous occasions about my emergence into the light. I've called it my "PQ Epiphany". Over the last several years, with Rusty Goe's help and councel, I have slowly sold off and traded out of the "plastic holder phase" of my coin collecting career. I won't tell you how much I lost on these coins, but I will tell you this... are you sitting down? When we finally completed the coin by coin analysis of my entire US Type collection, approximately 75% to 80% turned out to be below average or worse for the grade. Today, I still have much to learn about knowledge based coin collecting. However, given the foundation that I have acquired (the hard way), I would only have purchased one or two out of every ten coins in that original US Type Collection.

Unless market values are increasing due to strong inflation, the coins that can be counted on to lead the markets and consistantly attract the top buyers, are the coins in the top 10% to 20% of each grade range.

Why is this an important lesson to other collectors? Because in the world of coin trading, except for the very occasional lucky strike, there is no such thing as buying quality coins for bargain prices. True QUALITY does not reside in the same place as BARGAINS. The only people who will pay market prices for an average coin are collectors of the sort that I used to be. So, listen up friends. If you are buying coins based purely on getting the best prices you can find for certified coins, then you are getting EXACTLY what you are paying for... bargain priced coins from the bottom of the grade range. When you go to sell your bargain priced acquisitions, guess who will buy them? That's right, only bargain hunters.

As members of the C4OA we have fabulous resources and mountains of knowledge at our fingertips. Just look at the membership roster if you doubt that statement. With patience and a desire to learn, "Bozo" can be left behind forever.

In THEORY, this is what PCGS is talking about when touting its Secure Plus program. In PRACTICE, it may only be about generating more grading fees and taking back market share from CAC. Only time will tell.

If anyone is interested in pursuing the topic of knowledge based coin selection, I would be happy to bring some examples of grade-quality-value variability to the August 27 meeting in Carson City.

Like I said two postings ago ... Don't get me started!

Belay Off

I have adressed somewhat this Issue in this Spring 2010 Curry's Chronicle.
The enhanced grading of a Coin, fingerprinting as they call it, will put some calm into the Hobby. We will be able to shop with confidence with the added security, knowing not to get burned.
O.K.

Once more reports came out of the Old Mint show in San Francisco that additional "sandwitch" coins were for sale. They were offered in PCGS and NGC holders. These fakes are thought to be made in the US by a group of counterfeiters, led by someone with significant industry knowledge. And we thought that everything was made in China.

John Armonas