Getting my first coin graded

So I was checking on the process on how to get a coin graded and what I'm finding is making me stay away. So what I found so far is that TPGs requires some type of membership and they're not cheap. I checked what the benefits are and headed to the PCGS's membership tier prices site and I was surprised to see that (what seems to be) the main benefit is to allow me to get my coin graded. I'm like WHAT?!?!?! I have to pay them a fee so they can then charge me to have my coin graded!! I have to pay for that privilege! Unless I missed something and I'm just talking nonsense and should research more. If not, this means that for me to get my first coin graded, I have to pay for :

PCGS membership 70.00
Coin grading 15.00 each
Shipping with insurance (let's say) 40.00 including return

I would be down 125.00 even before my coin is graded, I'd have to have a really really nice coin just to get my money back.

So...my questions are and I'd appreciate some feedback.

1. Do auction houses require coins to be graded ? Do they grade coins that are not slabbed ?

2. Can I just go to a coin show and get my coin graded there on the spot or would I still have to pay membership fee?

I have an idea on how to address "my" issues with TPGs and I'll post a separate thread for it. It's more of a "proposal" really.

 

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If you are a member of the ANA, you get a free NGC membership. The first coin I ever had graded was with NGC because of this reason.

Major auction houses do want your coins to be graded. The auction house can take care of this for you because they get much better deals because of the volume of business they do with the grading services.

You can get your coin graded at a show but you will end up paying more for this.

 

Welcome to CT @hchcoin. I was going to suggest this as well. If you don't mind NGC slabs then check into joining ANA.

There are quite a few shows where you can find the TPGs doing grading on the spot. I don't believe you need a membership for this, but I could be wrong.

If you only plan on grading only a couple of coins and don't want to find a show to bring em to, I would suggest you see if your LCS will send em in for you. There are quite a few that will provide this service for ya for a fee.

 

Thanks! I'll check out ANA site now and see what's required to sign up. That's good to know about the auction houses, I'll do more research on these.

Appreciate the info!

 

@JayF
My question is to you.. Which coin? And would it even be worth the time and money to have it graded?

 

It's a 1964 LMC which I posted here :
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/worth-one-cent.313243/

I had a thread about it comparing it to coins I found on PCGS :
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/pcgs-and-ngc-ms-grading.313305/

I honestly don't know if I will go through with it now after doing some research.

 

Took me a bit to figure out "LCS" hehe, there's only one around me that's certified and I brought my coins to them already and he told me there's not a lot of interest right now for modern coins. According to him, most collectors prefers wheat cents right now. They didn't even want to look at my coins lol.

Thanks !

 

I really don't think there is any reason to have that 1964 graded, just put it in a 2x2 and keep it.

 

You can join PCGS at different levels. The Gold level is $149 and you get a voucher to have 4 coins graded for free. You still pay for shipping and insurance both ways. That makes it a little bit better. If you don't plan to use them much, it's better to find a dealer friend to send them in for you.

 

I wouldn't waste the money getting your 64 LMC graded. Coins like the one you showed are a dime a dozen. You'd be out a lot of money you would never be able to recoup unless you found another sucker to buy it.

 

Have you checked out ANACS?

 

The 1964 cent you reference is not worth having graded. It will not grade high enough to pay for even the return postage, regardless of the grading service you use. It would make a nice album coin. I would spend time looking at graded moderns in "money" grades so you get a feel for what they need to look like. If you're able to take a grading class, you'll learn more about your coins far more quickly than if you send in a coin for grading. It may cost you more up front, but will pay dividends.

 

NGC lets you join as an Associate for $25 per year, or you can just be an ANA member and get the Associate membership for free. Sometimes you can get an ANA membership for free through a promotion with a local coin club if you join them.

The next tier up for NGC is Premium which is $149 per year, but it comes with a $150 service credit. This literally pays for itself unless you're not doing enough volume to use the $150 credit. If you're doing enough submissions for it to be worth joining, you will almost certainly use up this credit.

The next tier up for NGC is Elite which is $299 per year. It also comes with the $150 service credit, but also a 10% discount on grading (including for banknotes) and for conservation. You need to spend at least $1490 per year on service fees for this tier to be worthwhile (something in the ballpark of 50-75 coins per year).

US auction houses mostly do, though they will submit raw coins for grading for you (and charge you for the service). They get better rates than you can get and sometimes they run specials ($10 per coin and the like) to promote consignments.

You can submit at a show, but you still need a membership to do so with NGC and PCGS.

 

Now see? This is why I like this place. So much great information from you kind folks willing to help us newbies!

 

Thank you all for the responses. I'm thinking of just keeping it based on the consensus lol. I'm a bit surprised and humbled on how I thought the coin was worth the grade (and really how much it could sell) and everyone pretty much says it's not worth the grade fee. I've learn today that I need to read more on what "they" look for when grading coins instead of just reading up on what the different grades are. It seems self grading based on comparisons may not be sufficient, I'll try and make my way to a coin show some time and maybe learn more when I see real slabbed coins.

I'm still angry at the fact that there are membership fees but since there's no one out there to question it, they get away with it. I just feel they're forcing it on people and no one bothered to question it. Anyway, I'll rant about that some other day.

Thanks again to all those who responded, I'll check out ANA some more and maybe sign up with them. Hope other newbies read this and think about what it will take to get a coin graded. Have a good day all!

 

+1

 

You did in this case. To use the PCGS example the platinum membership with 8 grading vouchers is $250, but those 8 vouchers can be used at a value of $320 so you actually save money on the submission when you join. I would renew every time if they let me. NGC you get equal credit on the $150 so you never really pay a fee to either.

Generally yes now a days.

Would still need to be a member for them and the show grading is significantly more expensive

 

Some dealers claim to be NGC or PCGS members. Ask one how much they will charge to add your submission to theirs. I will always find a work around when I am being extorted like this. My personal opinion about the worthlessness of these "expertizers" in general notwithstanding. Experts slabbed baseball cards and destroyed countless cards worth more than $50,000 each. Then the experts moved on to comic books and stamps and have destroyed million dollar Super Man number one comics. Now they have moved on to coins and they are tarnishing and being damaged in their plastic tombs. Who benefits? The graders. Who loses? Their customers. I will join the class action law suits against them

 

Id ignore that last poster