I’ve been a collector for more than 50 years and was a full-time dealer for 35 years before I came to PCGS. In that time, I’ve learned there’s a big difference between talking about coins and collecting – or indeed actively buying and selling – coins. Regardless of your numismatic interest level, at some point, your involvement with coins requires action.
I often share a variation of the following statement I first heard around 1974 or 1975: “If you haven’t lost money on a rare coin, you are not buying enough coins.” Hmm, really? How’s that work?
Their point, and I have found this to be nearly absolute, is if you want to play (at anything) you have to lose to learn. Now, nobody ever wants to lose, but sometimes losing comes part and parcel with almost anything. Buying and selling real estate. Playing sports. You get the idea. Losing sometimes is part of the risk/reward dynamic.
And, before PCGS entered the numismatic world in 1986, that risk factor surely seemed a lot riskier. “BP” – Before PCGS, that is – the coin market was plagued with hype surrounding purported “rare, investment-grade coins,” such as Morgan Dollars, at increasing prices that promised “GEM BU” quality, a grading adjective that roughly equates to MS65. Much of this largely over-graded material would eventually end up with someone who didn’t know any better.
Was the dealer grading the coin(s) correctly? Did the customer know the difference in grading or how much difference this “grade” would make later at the point of sale? Here’s the rub: so many customers bought “great deals” like this, some believing for decades they had “rare” coins, only to find out that, at the point of sale, they had been at the very least oversold.
Regardless of your motives, don’t you want to know you are getting what you paid for?
PCGS was founded in 1986 because of how rampant such scenarios were. When the company first began authenticating and grading coins, I realized that when buying PCGS-graded coins the underlying question about “quality” was no longer a concern. I didn’t have any discretionary money, but in early 1987 I scraped up about $300 and bought a Mercury Dime graded MS65FB, a Buffalo Nickel in MS66, and a Liberty Nickel in MS64 – all PCGS graded.
I took the plunge on buying those three coins (when I could barely afford to do so) and learned that PCGS changed everything! I used those three PCGS-graded coins, as well as additional PCGS coins I later purchased for myself or held as a dealer, as my templates for what to look for among the raw coins available for sale. In other words, PCGS helped me learn to grade to the standards they required, thus enabling me to gain confidence in my grading abilities. I also discovered first-hand just how consistent and “tight” PCGS grading standards are. And that’s why PCGS coins can bring more money. Do you want to see what I mean by this? Take the plunge and find out for yourself!