To pay for grading with the number one tiers is costly for a small time dealer. I do find that although they are rated as the key players in grading that they all grade most of their coins a few grades off from on another. They also are now coming out with other grading levels that are making a big impact and a monopoly of the grading industry.
I confess I own a coins from NGC, PCGS and ANACS and so on. But I paid the fair price for the coin, not the slab. A very respected dealer I know always says, "pay for the coin and not the slab".
A few responders to this topic are right about using a local coin dealer that you can trust. Learning about coins is one way to teach yourself about what grade a coin can fall under too. I recommend that you look for coins that are graded and take one of your coins and compare them. This will help out down the road.
There are some great books and magazines that you can find that will help. There are even photos and information on the net that are quite informative about grading coins.
But it is most imperative that you can grade or closely grade a coin. To many people that are taken advantage of by people who encapsulate coins and grade them higher than what they are. These are usually 3rd or 4th tier graders.
Research is a coin collectors and dealers best friend!
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