Background

The question is often asked; “Should I get my coin professionally graded?” This presentation is my opinion regarding this subject.

I believe most collectors at the current time should use NGC or PCGS to authenticate and grade their coins. ANACS and ICG are other reputable services that are available. This presentation will focus on US Coins with values up to about $3,000. The time frame for data used in this presentation is December 2019.

Reasons to have a coin graded

Why should you have a coin authenticated and graded?

• A Certified coin is virtually certain to be authentic
• Buyers and sellers don’t have to haggle over what the grade of the coin is
• Positive and negative attributes are documented by professionals
• Buyers are more confident that the coin has the value stated
• The coin is encapsulated in a protective and tamper proof holder

What does it cost to grade a coin?

A summary of basic NGC & PCGS fees is shown below.

NOTE: Fees will be charged even if a coin is not put in a holder (If it has serious defects, is counterfeit, has questionable authenticity, or is altered).

A Grading Fee is charged for each coin submitted for grading, as shown in the table. A Fee is charged for each order for Handling and Return Shipping

For example, the cost to submit 5 coins includes a single Handling and Return Shipping fee and 5 Grading fees.

Two additional costs are applicable:

• 1) PCGS requires membership in their Collectors Club to allow submission of coins to their grading service. This      membership has different levels; the least expensive level is $69 per year. You can go through a PCGS                Authorized Dealer to avoid these fees.
• 2) Shipping your coin to either NGC or PCGS is about $13 via Registered Mail.

Costs to grade a coin example 1

Here’s an example of the cost to grade one coin worth about $250 at NGC or PCGS:

The total cost for NGC is about $70

The cost for PCGS is about $70 too, but if you want to have it graded without going to a PCGS Authorized Dealer you must join the Collector’s Club for $69. The membership is good for one year whether you grade one coin or many coins.

Costs to grade a coin example 2

Here’s an example of the cost to grade five coins worth about $1000 each.

The total cost for NGC is about $130.

The cost for PCGS is about $130 too, but the same rules apply for the Collectors Club for $69. Here again you can go to a PCGS Authorized Dealer (but that’s usually not free either).

Is it worth the cost to grade coins?

• 1) The first step is to determine the value of the coin. We know the minimum to grade it is about $70. If the coin         is worth less than $100, spending $70 to have it graded is probably not worth it. If you put a $100 coin in a           holder for $70 the coin is not going to be worth $170. But if the coin is worth $500 there will probably be               enough advantages gained by having the coin in a holder to make up for the $70 expense. Whether to draw         the line at $400, $500, $1,000, or other is a personal choice. I think the $500 threshold makes sense.
• 2) The second step is to consider whether there are defects that could prevent it from being graded. If the                grading company decides that the coin is defective, they will not put it in a holder and the expenses you                incurred will be lost. For you to determine whether the coin has serious defects is a daunting task that you            might want to consult with members of a coin club or a reputable coin dealer about.

Here are some links that provide information about the defects that cause rejection of coins.

NGC https://www.ngccoin.com/submit/coins-we-grade/not-encapsulated/

and https://www.ngccoin.com/news/article/6436/

PCGS https://www.pcgs.com/news/no-grade-coins-pt3

If the coin made it this far

If you’ve made it to this point and still want to submit the coin for grading, choose between NGC and PCGS and whether to submit the coin yourself or through an Authorized Dealer. If you choose to do it yourself a visit to NGC or PCGS web pages and customer support will provide all the information you need. It’s not that difficult, especially after you’ve gone through it once.

Here are links to the NGC and PCGS web pages:

NGC https://www.ngccoin.com/submit-coins/how-to-submit.aspx

PCGS https://www.pcgs.com/onlinesubmission

Good luck with it!