Tag Archives: ICG

Slabbing Common Coins

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Many hobbyists recommend holdering coins only if they are valuable enough without considering other reasons listed here.

True, the cost to grade can be prohibitive for some collectors. Top companies charge anywhere from $25-38 per coin in addition to fees for membership, handling and mailing, with additional fees for error coins, varieties, special labels or quicker turnaround times.

If cost is not a factor, you might consider holdering a coin for reasons other than inherent value.

Authenticity

A slab provides assurance that a coin is genuine, reducing the risk of purchasing a counterfeit. China exports hundreds of thousand fake coins each year to the United States, especially ones with a Carson City mintmark. If you holder the coin with PCGS, NGC, ANACS, CAC or ICG, you will have a unique barcode or serial number, allowing collectors to verify the coin’s details. Additionally, PCGS and other companies embed security chips to guard against counterfeiting.

Storage

Slabs are sonically sealed in hard plastic, protecting coins from physical damage, such as scratches and drops, as well as environmental damage. Companies also sell containers for compact storage. What’s more, you can share your love of the hobby with family and friends, letting them hold the slabs without your worrying about the coins being improperly handled.

NGC offers some of the most advanced coin holders in a range of sizes to fit virtually every coin ever struck. The company writes, “Designed for long-term preservation and protection, the NGC holders are comprised of high-quality inert materials” with security features. “Collectors, dealers and even the Smithsonian Institution trust NGC holders to protect their most treasured rarities.”

Photography

Top holdering companies also provide photos of coins, sometimes for an additional fee. This is especially important for toned coins. For example, PCGS does a fine job enhancing the rainbow of colors that grace the patina. Photos are important if you keep your collection in a bank box or live somewhere else (i.e. a college student away from home) allowing you to see your coins when and where ever you wish.

PCGS TrueView images are perfect for toned coins like this:

Family

A “family” of coins share common design elements, denominations, mintmarks or thematic characteristics within a series. For instance, you may want to collect all five 1878 Morgan dollars or W-mintmark Quarters or perhaps an example of various errors or varieties, as in the seven 1982 cents or 1942-45 silver war nickels. In these cases, a slab’s labeling is important as you assemble the family of your choice.

Set Assemblies and Registries

A complete date and mint mark set of Morgan Silver Dollars (1878–1921) usually contains close to 100 coins. Because there are so many, some hobbyists prefer year sets. Other assemble sets of a specific mintmark, such as all the coins minted in San Francisco or Carson City. A date and mintmark set of Peace Silver Dollars (1921–1935) consists of 24 coins. Regardless of the set in question, collectors may include a lesser value coin in a holder merely to complete the set in question.

Veteran hobbyists also may participate in set registry competitions, again requiring every coin or variety in the series. One of the most popular PCGS set registries are “low-ball” ones featuring the most worn coins.

Selling

It is often easier to sell, trade, or auction a coin that is already certified, particularly online or to collectors who cannot inspect it in person. Some large auction companies such as GreatCollections or Heritage may require you to holder your coins before they will list them in their catalogs. If you holder with PCGS, NGC or CAC, your coins can be sold sight unseen because of the consistency and quality of the grading.

GreatCollections even notes certification in his banner: “Certified Coin and Paper Money Auctions.”\

Provenance

Serious hobbyists often are concerned about provenance of specific rarities. But even damaged or heavily worn coins may be family heirlooms, such as a grandfather’s “pocket piece.” A coin with deep personal history can be preserved in a “perfect” state by slabbing it, even if it is not especially valuable.

In the past, family members might have passed down coins that they wore as jewelry. This was especially popular in the 19th Century. Here’s a perfect candidate for a slabbed personal heirloom, an 1885 20th Anniversary medal commemorating Abraham Lincoln’s death.

Many collectors prefer raw coins to slabbed ones because they want to hold history. There certainly is a place for that. Just keep some of the low-ball Morgan dollars, for instance, so friends and children can feel the heft of the silver.


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Proxiblog also has thousands of followers on Facebook Coin Groups, YouTube and other social media. To get the latest discussion and commentary, be sure to friend us by clicking here.

You can find more information about types, varieties, errors, grading, bidding and buying in Coin News Updated: The Essential Guide to Online Bidding. Please consider buying or gifting the work for a friend, as it underwrites this hobbyist blog. Thank you.

What’s My Coin Worth?

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There are many ways to figure the worth of a coin. Follow this step-by-step method, answering these questions along the way:

  • Is it certified?
  • Do you know denomination, series, strike?
  • Do you know the mintmark?
  • Do you know the Sheldon Scale?
  • Can you identify your coin on the Sheldon Scale?
  • Can you spot flaws affecting value?
  • Are you ready to estimate value now?
  • Do you know how to establish silver melt?

Is it certified?

If you have a coin certified by PCGS, NGC, ANACS, CAC and ICG, simply go to their verification sites and input the certification number on the label. Here are links:

Example:

Even though these holdering companies all have certification websites that show the exact coin, grades for each are not equal. For instance, compare an 1883 MS66PL Morgan in an ICG slab with the same grade and condition for a PCGS Morgan. The ICG coin has disqualifying marks that may be a scratch and rim ding. I also do not think the ICG coin is prooflike. It may just have a good caftwheel.

In general, PCGS, NGC and CAC are top tier. ANACS a close second. ICG considerably less.

If you have a coin holdered by another company, consider the coin inside “raw” or unholdered.

Do you know denomination, series, strike?

You need to identify these features, which every coin has:

  1. Denomination
    Definition: The face value of a coin, or the specific amount of money it is meant to represent.
    Example: Common U.S. circulating denominations include 5 cents (nickel), 10 cents (dime), and 25 cents (quarter).
  2. Series
    Definition: A series is the complete set of a specific coin design, minted over a period of years, usually including all dates and mint marks.
    Example: Lincoln Cent Series (1909–Present): Includes every date/mint combination of the Lincoln penny.
  3. Strike
    Definition: Refers to the method of manufacturing used to create the coin.
    Types of Strike:
    • Circulation Strike (Business Strike): Coins made for everyday commerce, usually produced quickly in high volumes.
    • Proof Strike: Coins made for collectors, typically with higher pressure, multiple hits, and polished dies to create a mirror-like field and frosted design.
    • Special Mint Strike (SMS) / Burnished: Specific, high-quality finishes used for special sets.

Do you know the mintmark?

These are mintmarks for US coins identifying the facility of manufacture:

P – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The primary U.S. Mint. Most coins from Philadelphia historically had no mint mark, but the “P” now appears on most denominations except the penny.
D – Denver, Colorado: Operating since 1906, this mark is found on most modern circulating coins.
S – San Francisco, California: Since 1975, primarily produces high-quality “proof” sets for collectors.
W – West Point, New York: Established as a mint in 1988, it mostly produces bullion and special collector coins.

Historic U.S. Mint Marks: These letters appear on older coins from facilities that are no longer in operation.
C – Charlotte, North Carolina: Produced gold coins only from 1838 to 1861.
D – Dahlonega, Georgia: Also produced gold coins only from 1838 to 1861 (not to be confused with the modern Denver “D”).
O – New Orleans, Louisiana: Struck gold and silver coins intermittently from 1838 to 1909.
CC – Carson City, Nevada: Famous for silver dollars, operating from 1870 to 1893.

Once you know the denomination, series and strike, you can go to PCGS CoinFacts to find the location of the mintmark.

Do you know the Sheldon Scale?

The Sheldon Scale is a 70-point numerical system to determine a coin’s condition and market value, ranging from 1 (Poor) to 70 (Perfect Mint State).

There are two main types of condition: circulated and uncirculated. Numbers 1–59 (Circulated), from poor to almost uncirculated.

Intermediate grades are Poor, About Good, Good, Very Good, Fine, Very Fine, Extra Fine, About or Almost Uncirculated, Uncirculated.

Here is a nifty chart for numbers and condition.

Can you identify your coin on the Sheldon Scale?

Identifying the condition is subjective, even for veterans; but you can come close if you compare your coin to the denomination, series and strike on PCGS Photograde, which provides photographs that you can use for comparison.

Example:

You have to compare obverse and reverse, but for purposes here, we’ll just do obverse.

Underestimate when you compare your coin to one on Photograde, adjusting for personal bias. In this case, you may be tempted to think your coin is almost uncirculated. But a strict comparison puts it in the Extra Fine category, somewhere between Very Fine 35 and XF45. Let’s go with XF45

Can you identify flaws affecting value?

There are dozens of possible flaws on a coin that lower value or prevent it from being “straight graded” (a numerical score). Here are major ones:

Cleaning: Harsh abrasive cleaning or polishing that damages the surface.

Environmental Damage: Corrosion, excessive toning, or verdigris.

Physical Damage: Major scratches, rim dents, or metal movement.

Altered Surfaces: Applying substances like wax, putty, or lacquer to hide flaws.

Questionable Color: Artificial re-toning, often used to make a coin look more attractive.

Filed Rims: Rims that have been filed to smooth out dents or damage. 

Here is an example of environmental damage:

For other illustrated examples, see “Common Flaws That Hobbyists Often Miss.”

Any one of the above flaws will reduce the value of your coin, depending on severity. In many cases, that is 25-50% of estimated worth.

Are you ready to estimate value now?

You know the denomination, series, strike and mintmark. You know the Sheldon Scale and have estimated the grade using PCGS Photograde. You eliminated possible flaws and think your coin can be straight graded.

Let’s continue with the 1900 Morgan Dollar at XF40:

Go to PCGS CoinFacts for retail and auction values for such a coin.

The retail value here is $85 (due at the time in part to the high price of silver). But only 20 have been slabbed at that grade, meaning it probably wasn’t worth the cost of grading. That is confirmed because there are no recent auction sales listed at that low grade.

Your coin is silver melt.

Do you know how to establish silver melt?

Here is the formula:

Multiply the item’s total weight (in troy ounces) by its purity percentage, then multiply that result by the current spot price of silver.

Again, let’s use that 1900 Morgan Dollar.

Morgan dollars (1878–1904, 1921) contain 90% silver and 10% copper, with a total weight of 26.73 grams, resulting in 0.77344 troy ounces of pure silver per coin. 

The current market value for one troy ounce of silver, which changes frequently, happens to be $109 (during a spike in that precious metal). Thus, the silver melt value of your Morgan is 0.77344 times $109 = $84.30.

Keep in mind that coin dealers usually only buy 10-15% under silver melt. So you’re looking at about $71, depending on your buyer.

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Proxiblog also has thousands of followers on Facebook Coin Groups, YouTube and other social media. To get the latest discussion and commentary, be sure to friend us by clicking here.

You can find more information about types, varieties, errors, grading, bidding and buying in Coin News Updated: The Essential Guide to Online Bidding. Please consider buying or gifting the work for a friend, as it underwrites this hobbyist blog. Thank you.

Notorious Henning Nickel

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Beginning hobbyists use the term “no mint mark” because they heard it on social media, believing their Philadelphia coin is a rarity. For decades, the Philly mint was the sole US facility, so no mark was needed. That changed in 1942.

Nickel was needed for the war effort to harden the steel armor of tanks, ships and aircraft. The new variety 1942 “war nickel” was made with an alloy of 56% copper, 35% silver and 9% manganese.

To distinguish one 1942 nickel from the other, the US Mint added the letter “P” to the reverse atop the Monticello device, the first time that mintmark was used. Hobbyists started collecting so-called “war nickels (1942-45) because of the new design and precious metal.

Then, in 1954, people started finding 1944 nickels with missing mintmarks on the reverse. Collectors took note in hope of finding a rarity and did what they normally do, weighing the anomaly. To their surprise, the missing mintmark nickel weighed 5.4 grams rather than 5 grams.

The Secret Service was alerted about a possible counterfeiter. The agency knew reputed ones and scanned their files, leading to the arrest of this man, Francis Leroy Henning.

Henning had been incarcerated earlier because he counterfeited $5 bills, worth about $60 in today’s money. Perhaps he thought he could get away with faking a lower denomination, like a nickel. , Authorities discovered that he had faked nickels dated 1939, 1944, 1946, 1947 and 1953.

If you are interested in learning more about the Henning nickel, purchase or ask your library to acquire Joseph P. Cronin’s 2024 book, The Henning Nickel Collectors’ Guide. CoinWeek has a nifty article by Tyler Rossi.

You also can find detailed diagnostics about Henning nickels at Error-Rev.com.

The Proxiblog article simplifies the hunting process and warns against scammers on eBay.

So if you’re roll hunting or sifting through pocket change, the two things you need to remember to find Henning nickels are the missing mintmark on 1944 and the larger weights, 5.4 grams, on all nickels dated 1939, 1944, 1946, 1947 and 1953.

You won’t find uncirculated Henning nickels because he used circulated transfer dies.

ICG holders counterfeit Henning Nickels, as shown below:

Typically these retail anywhere from $250-600.

Be wary of raw coins on eBay claiming to be Henning nickels. You’ll find altered reverses in the 1944 nickel. If sellers do not reference weight, do not bid on or buy the raw coin. If they do mention weight, still make sure that they accept returns. Your scale is the one that matters.

Here’s a sketchy example on eBay:

The seller writes, “Coin weighs 4.4 grams. We believe it to be a Henning nickel and not minted by the US. Nickel is porus (sic), smaller and lighter than a regular Jefferson nickel. Is not graded and we do not guarantee it to be a US nickel or a Henning though we strongly suspect it to be the latter.”

If you read this far, you know from the above description that this is not a Henning nickel, as the seller put down 4.4 grams instead of 5.4 grams. And of course, the seller doesn’t accept returns.

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Proxiblog also has thousands of followers on Facebook Coin Groups, YouTube and social media. To get the latest discussion and commentary, be sure to friend us by clicking here.

You can find more information about errors and varieties as well as buying and bidding on coins in Coin News Updated: The Essential Guide to Online Bidding. Please consider purchasing the work for yourself or a friend, as it underwrites this hobbyist website. Thank you.

Don’t Judge a Coin by its Cover: 2 TPG Certified Fakes!

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By Jack D. Young

Both of these “coins” were certified as genuine by the noted third party grading company, so they have to be genuine, right?

Authors images of both obverse slabs

Not so fast! Look up the cert on the PCGS example, you get a clue. The IGC cert is apparently still active.

TPG’s on-line cert verification

Both TPGs are aware these are “not-genuine” and both noted similar timelines for submission.
Both indicated these were submitted in the 2008-2009 time period. Additional images of both:

So, what ties these 2 together? Went to my low-cost microscope to see and after scanning closeup sections of both I developed these combination images; the effort here is to determine if there are any common “circulation” marks:

Circulation marks in the same area of the 2 different coins

I have circled in red obvious common markers between these two different dated coins starting with the reverse at UNITED. As I move on to other areas you will note I start running out of red ink!
And again, the significance of this is these are not die state markers of a genuine die/ coin, they are circulation marks, dings, dents, scratches that should only be on one genuine coin. NOT 2, and certainly NOT 2 different dates!

I continue now with 3 other areas of the reverse.

Highlighted common circulation marks around the “R”
Highlighted common circulation marks around the DOLLAR

And some pretty significant ones around the eagle’s head:

Highlighted common circulation marks around the eagle’s head

Many of these marks are visible to the naked eye or with a light glass. They were obvious to my friends at my local Coin Shop, where they both tested 90% silver.

And what about the obverses? Well, my images aren’t great, and my microscope scan didn’t show any notable common marks, but the strike comparison is apparent even in these images:

The two subject coins obverses

As one of my TPG contacts stated, “the obverse rim looks wider on the left than on the right. This is a characteristic found on fakes.”

This is my 2nd Proxiblog article on bad Trade Dollars, one of the historically most counterfeited coins in the US series. Not only should collectors know the series should they collect them but also keep a keen eye out for the many fakes out there.

Finally, we can’t rely on the “sacred cow” of trusting the slab, as there not only are many counterfeit coins in counterfeit holders, but on occasion a counterfeit in a genuine TPG holder certified as genuine.

This is what keeps me up at night.

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You can find more information about errors and varieties as well as buying and bidding on coins in Coin News Updated: The Essential Guide to Online Bidding. Please consider purchasing the work for yourself or a friend, as it underwrites this hobbyist website. Thank you.


How to Sell Coins

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No matter how you look at it, selling coins evokes feelings. Perhaps you are ending your interest in the hobby and will have to find other ways to spend your free time. Perhaps you inherited a collection and now must dispose of it for heirs. Or maybe because you just need the money.

Experienced hobbyists know the basics of how to sell coins. But newer or “never” hobbyists may have a difficult time because the process requires a modicum of numismatic knowledge, which this article provides. And, of course, money is at stake in the form of precious metals and intrinsic values.

Here are seven steps that I have used in selling my coins. They worked for me. You may experience different results.

Step 1: Read the Red Book and consult the Blue Book

The Red Book, otherwise known as A Guide Book of United States Coins, is required reading. You have to know what you actually have. Google, eBay, Etsy, YouTube and other online listings are unreliable and often erroneous.

The Red Book shares retail values and the Blue Book, wholesale, or what a coin dealer is apt to pay you–important later.

The Red Book has updated pricing and auction data with detailed expert commentary and photos–more than 2000 images, 7,600 listings and 32,500 coin values. You’ll learn about each denomination, type, mint error and varieties as well as read articles about investing, grading and holdering coins, and detecting counterfeits.

Click here or the photo below and scroll down to “HOW TO USE THE RED BOOK” to view a Proxiblog video on the book’s utility.

Step 2: Separate coins according to denomination

To view the various denominations, again consult your Red Book or PCGS CoinFacts, a free encyclopedia of U.S. Coins.

You will find at PCGS CoinFacts detailed photos and retail/auction values of coins from half cents to gold issues as well as commemorative coins, bullion, territorial issues and patterns.

But the utility now is using the Red Book or CoinFacts to separate your coins into categories.

Step 3: Divide collection again by precious metals

These will mostly be silver and gold coins but also platinum, palladium and rhodium.

Familiarize yourself with spot price values. A fine resource is provided by the coin company APMEX, which gives updated values of all precious metals. Click the photos below for gold and silver values to view what your coins are worth apart from collector premium.

Step 4: Create an inventory of your collection

Create your inventory by denomination. You can do this manually via pencil and paper but eventually you want to have this in digital format. You can use Word for this. It’s a hassle, but you also should photograph obverse and reverse of each coin and include that in your inventory. You can do this with any mobile phone with a decent camera. Photos also will help your appraiser later in the process.

You also have to remember what you paid for your coins. Note that in your inventory, along with the date of sale, if you can remember it. Bookkeeping is important, as you will learn in Step 7.

Once you have a draft of what you own, consider downloading an application for a formal inventory of your coins.

There are many low-cost and free coin collection applications. Coin Week has recommended the low-cost Coin Book Pro.

I prefer Coin World’s Portfolio Application, which is free; but you have more options with a subscription.

You will immediately have a sense of relief once you have completed your inventory. That sense comes from due diligence.

Step 5: Learn grading basics

Start with the Sheldon scale

The Sheldon Grading Scale describes the condition of a coin without damage or other flaws, earning a number between 1 (lowest) and 70 (highest). The scale is used by PCGS, NGC, ANACS and other grading companies. The grade is an indication of value.

Know key dates of the series

Here is a nifty chart that many coin shops use on their sites. It’s not comprehensive and doesn’t include what we call “condition rarities,” or coins that are common in lower grades on the Sheldon scale but rare in about uncirculated or uncirculated condition. But it will give you an idea about dates and rarities.

Compare your coin with images provided by PCGS PhotoGrade.

Do not use digital applications to identify your coin and grade it. Programs like CoinSnap powered by AI are notoriously inaccurate. Instead, train your eye by comparing your coin to the denomination and condition as found on PhotoGrade. You may have a tendency to overgrade and overlook flaws. That’s okay. You’re not expected to be an expert grader. But a little knowledge goes a long way.

You can find a list of numismatic terms on the Proxiblog site. Click here.

Step 6: Get an appraisal

Before you sell your coins, you need to have an expert give you a fair evaluation of their worth. The best way is to contact a friend, colleague or acquaintance who knows coins. There is trust there. Keep in mind it is not enough merely to send to your appraiser the denomination, date and mint mark of your coins. Condition is everything. If your hobbyist friend lives out of town and cannot eyeball your collection, you will have to send photos of obverse and reverse of each coin or set.

You can also go to a nearby coin shop. Make sure the owner is a PNG member as they are committed to honesty and professionalism. You can find a directory here.

There also are online appraisal sites. One of the most popular is Coinappraiser.com. Visit the site. It also has useful articles about selling, auctioning and grading coins.

Step 6: Sell or consign

The coin buying world is full of scammers. DO NOT sell on social media like Facebook, Etsy or YouTube or accept payment via Venmo or other non-traceable monetary venues. You will want payment by money order, bank wire or cash (if local).

Read this article about Venmo scams and how to avoid them.

If you have valuable coins, the best place to sell them is at Heritage and GreatCollections. The problem here is that major auction houses only accept coins holdered by PCGS, NGC, ANACS, ICG and CAC. It is beyond this article to explain the cost and procedures of getting coin graded. GreatCollections has a form to submit raw coins for you at discount prices. In other words, you won’t have to pay extra for grading and also can avoid membership, handling and postal fees.

You can consign your raw and holdered coins to an online auctioneer. This requires you to (a) contact the auction house, (b) ask if they will consign your coins and (c) request a contract and terms of service (usually a 10-20% selling fee).

You can find menu tabs of online sellers at Proxiblog’s home page. We are not endorsing these auctions as places to sell coins. Suffice to say that we have either bought or consigned coins to a few of these and find them reputable. Your experience may differ.

Step 7: Accept Reality

Unless you are a skilled hobbyist, chances are you bought or purchased coins with flaws or have dozens or even hundreds of raw coins that have little value, despite what the Blue and Red books state. Sellers have to earn a profit, too, and may not want to photograph, list and pay fees for your coins on their sites unless they are fairly confident that they will sell.

Even coin shops, loaded with junk coins and low value mint sets, typically will only be looking at the precious metal or rarity of your coins. You can sell part of your collection or hold out for a price for everything, even coins of little value or ones holdered by bottom-tier companies that exaggerate condition.

In other words, anticipate low-ball offers and seller’s remorse.

Sometimes it is worth taking a loss and focusing on what you can get for inexpensive coins or sets, just to dispense with them. A typical coin dealer will usually pay about 70-75% of current market value.

Now for the ultimate reality check: taxes. Refer back to your inventory. You will need to know what you paid and what you received for your coins. You should have these data in your inventory.

The Internal Revenue Service classifies gold and silver as collectibles. Capital gains are taxed at a maximum rate of 28% of any profit. Go to this IRS site for more information.

If you like posts like this, subscribe so you can be informed whenever there is a new article or column.

Proxiblog also has thousands of followers on Facebook Coin Group, YouTube and social media. To get the latest discussion and commentary, be sure to friend us by clicking here.

You can find more information about types, varieties, errors, grading, bidding and buying in Coin News Updated: The Essential Guide to Online Bidding. Please consider buying or gifting the work for a friend, as it underwrites this hobbyist blog. Thank you.

How to Submit and Choose a Holdering Company

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Grading is expensive. If you don’t know how to grade coins, buying ones from top-tier companies mentioned here will be your best bet. If you want to send you coins to a company, though, you had better know the various companies and which ones to avoid.

Also, some general price an submission rules. Go to the site of the top companies here and read their price and submission guidelines:

If you decide on a company, be sure to note whether it has membership fees. You’ll also have to pay grading, handling and mailing fees. If you want photos of your coin, you’ll pay more. If you are submitting error coins, you’ll pay again. As such, you don’t want to join a company and send in one coin. Figure at least five.

And you will have to fill out forms and use the correct flips for submissions.

Each holdering company has its own rules, but two stand out with their grades so consistent that they were considered sight-unseen buys in the pre-internet era. Those are PCGS and NGC.

TOP TIER

My favorite for U.S. coins is PCGS because of its spectacular TrueView photos and set registries. Here’s one from a coin that I sold recently at GreatCollections, an MS68 1990 American Silver Eagle that looks like a flag, primarily because it was stored in corrugated cardboard.

NGC grades as consistently as PCGS. I recommend it for ancients.

Both PCGS and NGC have shortcomings. For instance, they are inconsistent with toned coins, often calling them artificial. But I always recommend the two if you are considering grading.

CAC (see photo below) is as consistent or even more so than NGC and PCGS. But it’s relatively new to the grading game as it initially was founded as a fourth-party grading company, in essence, affirming (or not) grades of PCGS and NGC. One drawback concerns those assembling a set of PCGS or NGC to compete in registry sets. CAC is not there yet but will be in time.

SECOND TIER

Second-tier reliable grading companies include ANACS and ICG. ANACS coins in my view are close to PCGS/NGC in grading. ICG, less reliable.

Older ANACS holders sometimes are rigorously graded, as in this one:

Here is an 1878-S MS64 by ICG (I say MS63 at PCGS):

THIRD TIER

A few other holdering companies are hit-and-miss with a tendency to overstate grades and to overlook flaws. Nevertheless, they are somewhat reliable. I place them in a third tier. I would not submit to these. But I do at times see coins accurately graded. Some, like PCI, were taken over by unreliable companies. Look for old green and yellow PCI holders and SEGS and Numistrust holders. See below. I always look at these coins at auction and rely on my grading ability to affirm their grades. Personally, I like SEGS the best but have spotted common flaws on some of its coins, including pin scratches. So again I inspect rigorously.

BOTTOM TIER

These are some holdering companies I skip right over, not wasting time, because the grades are usually inflated and flaws, overlooked: SCG, National Numismatic Certification, newer PCI, PGA.

Here are examples:

JUST MY OPINION

Keep in mind that this post is based on my opinion and experience. You may think differently, experience different results, and even prefer lower tiers to PCGS and NGC.

But here is a warning if you are buying coins housed in these lower holders: Do not look up the year/date/mint mark on the PCGS or NGC values sites. All grading companies use the Sheldon 70 scale, but different grading standards mean different values. Read this post about that.

If you like posts like this, subscribe so you can be informed whenever there is a new article or column.

Proxiblog also has thousands of followers on Facebook Coin Groups, YouTube and other social media. To get the latest discussion and commentary, be sure to friend us by clicking here.

You can find more information about types, varieties, errors, grading, bidding and buying in Coin News Updated: The Essential Guide to Online Bidding. Please consider buying or gifting the work for a friend, as it underwrites this hobbyist blog. Thank you.