Are there many who only collect certified coins?

General discussions about canadian coins.
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shawnhenry07
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Joined: Mon Feb 08, 2016 11:26 pm

Are there many who only collect certified coins?

Post by shawnhenry07 » Sun Feb 21, 2016 7:26 pm

Are there many of you who only collect certified coins? The reasons I do is because they tend to have better resale values. For Canadian Coins my favourite is ICCS coins because of the conservative grading opinions. I know they cost more, but to me the Peace of mind is worth it! I have been to many shows where most dealers share my opinion. What do others think? What is your opinion of PCGS, NGC, and ANACS? Thanks for reading.

Bill in Burl
Posts: 1469
Joined: Thu Sep 04, 2008 7:41 am
Location: Golden Horseshoe, ONT

Re: Are there many who only collect certified coins?

Post by Bill in Burl » Mon Feb 22, 2016 5:04 am

I have literally thousands of Vicky large cents (I'm a variety collector) and don't have a single certified coin. For 1 thing, I think that my knowledge of specific varieties exceeds that of the TPG and secondly, why would I want to sink in all that money to get someone's opinion encased in plastic. A certified coin will minimally increase the value only if through a remote sell. If a buyer can see the coin in hand (or at an auction) then a TPG coin does nothing for the value. ICCS is popular with Canadian buyers only because of its long Canadian history and general opinion of conservative grading(true years ago but no much now). They don't sell well in the States because they are technical (wear) graders only and frequently have nothing in remarks about cleaning, appearance or surface.

Each TPG has it's own strengths and weaknesses depending upon the denomination and monarch. I think that PCGS and NGC are the best for what I look at but, again, all you are getting is an opinion encased in plastic that costs big money if you have a large collection.
Bill in Burl

Shylo
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Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2013 10:42 pm

Re: Are there many who only collect certified coins?

Post by Shylo » Mon Feb 22, 2016 10:59 pm

Okay so you just heard from one of the utmost experts in vicky large cents...

I'm more of a layman... want to say this..

#1) All the top collections that I know of are in PCGS slabs... seems like the people that really like the high end coins really like PCGS.


#2) My collection is made of of mostly common pieces with little rarity or terribly high ranked conditions... I mostly have ICCS graded coins, but that's because they're choice of canadian dealers.


I don't personally send any of my coins off to be graded... only because I am relatively confident in my own grading, the coins aren't worth a whole heck of a lot and finally I don't really plan on selling anything anytime soon.


I must admit I'm very much a novice when it comes to identifying counterfeits but that's the ONLY reason why I would buy a certified piece.

Personally I aspire to have as much knowledge as Bill.. in hopes to pick out pieces... I've started to find my niche area and I'm studying pieces.. who knows maybe in 30 years I'll know as much as Bill forgets in a day!

shawnhenry07
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Feb 08, 2016 11:26 pm

Re: Are there many who only collect certified coins?

Post by shawnhenry07 » Tue Feb 23, 2016 1:46 am

Good Night! Thank you for all of the interesting comments! I have to say this is what I like because discussion is one thing that makes this hobby fun and exciting! As for sending things into third party grading companies, I don't because there are plenty of nice coins being sold that I don't have to spend the extra money. However, I have dealt with certain dealers who have a seemingly nice raw coin for sale and perhaps even relatively scarce that I would ask to certify the coin to make sure it was genuine. A couple different times the peice was determined as either altered or potentially counterfeit! This saved my bacon several times! I am fairly good at grading, but grading Canadian and American coins have their own technicalities. I also collect American and Canadian certain forigen coins and find the certification just extra added peice of mind. I certainly don't have the knowledge that you do with Victoria Large Cents, and have to give you a hats off for this speciality. Very interesting! I am more of a generatist than you and maybe others. I have been very fortunate over the past years to make money on the duplicates or additional coins I bought. I always look at resale as one function of what I do. I ask the question would others want this coin? Does it have decent eye appeal? I do not "buy the plastic" as some collectors do. I always make sure that what is in the slab is of very good quality and value. No two slabbed coins are always the same. As for NGC and PCGS, yes they do a good job, but in my opinion, ICCS also does a good job and like they say, let the buyer beware. I to have no real desire to sell all that many coins at this point in my life, but if I had to then, I am confident that they would sell relatively easily. Some years ago my coin collection paid for my graduate education so I could purse my chosen profession. So this is a great hobby where some money can be made with careful buys and good deals. Thanks for all of the great opinions.

Bill in Burl
Posts: 1469
Joined: Thu Sep 04, 2008 7:41 am
Location: Golden Horseshoe, ONT

Re: Are there many who only collect certified coins?

Post by Bill in Burl » Tue Feb 23, 2016 5:06 am

Thank you shylo for your comments and to you as well shawnhenry. What I forgot to mention in my initial post is that personal grading skill is needed in any hobby that one chooses, whether it be paper money, trading cards, antiques or anything else that your heart desires. The ability to grade with your own eyes and not depend on someone else's opinion makes your wallet go much further. It seems that you both have acquired or are acquiring that talent. TPG's have an important position in some people's collections, but for the average collector, I think it is money mostly wasted.
Bill in Burl

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