When Should I Grade A Coin?

PCGS & Other Services Are Not For Every Collector

Recently I have been spending time with a long time coin collector who is starting to get some of his best coins graded by PCGS. We've been going through each coin wondering if it's worth sending it in to get an official grade. It's a fun, yet tedious process.

Here are a few of our steps in determining what coins to send in:

1. Based on your own experience - examine your ungraded coins & compare to other graded coins you might have to determine your own grade.
2. Check the PCGS Population Report to see the range of grades that collectors have gotten already.
3. Check eBay to see if collectors are paying a premium for high grades.

Lastly, we ask "Why do I want to grade this coin?"

1. Do you want to sell it?
2. Do you want to see if it achieves a high grade?
3. Do you just like the protection & storage a grading holder provides?

For most collectors, if you answer NO to 2 or more of these questions, you probably are better off not sending the coin in for grading & just keeping your coin (and the saved money) in your collection.


If you answer YES to any of the 3 questions, and you have the budget to pay for the grading fees - I say go for it. It's always fun getting a package back from PCGS & provides some excitement opening it up to see what your coins were graded. Let alone the potential gain in value you might see if your coin is desired by coin collectors.

In short, sending your coins in to be graded is fun, but not for every collector. Many collectors I know never even pay attention to condition, they just like having the coins. While others only buy graded coins because condition is important to them. Either way, you can't really go wrong.



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