WTF is going on at PCGS?! 🤬 - PCGS Unboxing - PCGS Grading 

Absolutely keep that ‘52 Proof 25C in that messed up holder!! It’s just awesome to be able to show off what people are dealing with when it comes to 3rd party grading cos

I would actually love to own that 1952 25c proof in that goofy pcgs holder. It’s just too funny how ridiculously off they have become.

Another thing, it would be soo easy for the companies to do better if they wanted to, they could easily track every coin grade that is flawed back to the "experets" that graded them since they all have a unique number. So they could start with getting rid of the lazy once's using a three strike out policy, which would instantly make over night improvements!

I am very disappointed with PCGS too. They don’t even take care of the issues for the customers anymore!? Wtf

This is a great video to let new collectors like myself know what to expect from PCGS grading. Thank you!

I use NGC for all of my older coins, and I use PCGS for modern coins from the mint for just this reason. I have been screwed using PCGS and break coins out and send them to NGC and get a straight grade. Just happened to me too many times to use PCGS for older coins.

So glad I came across this. I just inherted some really nice old coins and was going to use PGCS but it appears best to use NGC instead.

I would for sure hold on to that 1952 quarter that marked as a nickel. It’s funny to see they have it listed as a nickel, but then have the picture of the quarter.

The 64 Kennedy looks like machine doubling. I have a Morgan that I thought was doubling too.

Exactly why there is a CAC grading now. Then there will be a grading for CACed coins. Soon all holder's will look like a sponsored Nascar with all the grading stickers on them! It's all CRAP to get people's money!!

Labeling errors definitely do not add value to your coin. In fact it can lessen the value, because if the denomination is wrong, the grade probably is as well. Anyway, these labeling errors are much more common than you might think.

Hey Rocky! I told you I was looking forward to this video. You certainly didn't disappoint. I agree with all the PCGS mistakes you found. It's certainly sad we have to pay all this money and wait as long as we do to end up getting screwed in the end. I'd make them do a reconsideration and pay for all shipping and insurance fees both ways.

I like these videos with the trueview before showing the grade. Thank you very much. Keep up the good work.

Just wanted to pass along what I was told back ten years or so ago.... I was told never send in bulk lots of anything for grading whether it's coins, stamps, sports cards, comic books, etc... The reason being if you send in bulk lots for grading you get bulk quality/attention to detail grading. I guess that means sometimes the difference between say getting a grade of 68/69 turns into 66/67. Or expecting a grade of 68 with attributes...gets just a 68. I've heard there are things that you could do to up the odds of getting the highest grade possible, but I can't provide any proof of that so I won't bother commenting on that.....but you might want to consider using an alias when submitting your coins and/or collectibles. But what's in a name? Ya know what I mean?😮😊😉 🙊🙉🙈

I’d almost argue that PCGS isn’t using multiple graders to grade their coins anymore also. I bet they are slapping a box in front of one kid and saying “good luck”

The 64-D Kennedy looked like step-doubling, or "poor man's" doubling. The Flying Eagle is not supposed to look like clad/silver, but bronze. On the clad state quarters, I dont know of any variety besides Wisconsin, District of Columbia,

I’ve always been a big fan of NGC and never had any problems with them. Have you ever gotten coins graded with them?

On the flying eagle cent, the 1 in the date is the biggest issue to me. It’s WAY fatter than the 1 used on certified examples

PCGS gives different grades for different years. It's tough for newbies to understand, but years with tough condition problems get better grades than the same grade for other years. I think they should be more consistent, but that's their style.

Once they get that class action lawsuit they may start acting right, but unfortunately this is the way American companies do business now days milk customers dry and provide less than adequate service on the cheap and hope they don’t notice.

I agree with the MS64 grade on the 87 cent. Lots of nicks on Lincokln's suit/shoulder. The nickel is not full steps, the three of them are interrupted on the left side of the main stairs. It's taken a long time and a lot of submissions like this but I now can see coins closer to the way PCGS does.

I can see the split series on the 'R'. You are correct, it is a variety for certain. I was going to send a bunch of my Benjis into PCGS but now I'm thinking twice about it!

Thanks for doing videos like this! I don't have a ton of disposable income, and I wanted to get a few family heirlooms in slabs so I can let my kids hold them and look at them. Nothing incredibly valuable, but they're sentimental. No way I'm wasting my money on PCGS these days. I'll probably do ANACS for the price if I decide to do it.

The quarter in the wrong holder shows the wrong denom on their website too, and the value is for a nickel so it's all sorts of messed up.

Fun video to watch, but sorry about your difficulties.

Good thing I saw this video. Not giving a 25 cent proof B the proper and obvious grading and calling it a 5 cent us unforgivable. Makes coin grading with PCGS look real bad. Wow!

Im definitely second guessing sending my coins in now!

When you have a coin that has hazing or toning on it still sealed in the mint set cellophane, you can actually submit the coin for grading still sealed in the cellophane from the mint to prove that it isn't really environmental damage or artificial toning.

Thanks for showing us the unboxing!

Damn dud just started getting into this and I was about to send off gold coins to them. Would you recommend NGC instead?

I agree with their grades, mostly .....I was grading these as the video progressed and before you moved your thumb for the reveal and pegged most of them. The 1959 quarter and 1896 Morgan I agree with you on. Missing VAM's on other Morgans, idk....I would need to examine under magnification myself, but yeah I can see them blowing off your paid for requests. They did not attribute those properly. The 5 c quarter is a crying @$$ shame really. Shoddy service by PCGS. The cleaned details on the 50 Centavos is typical PCGS bs. Cleaned with what? They don't know if it was really cleaned. The 1857 FE, I need to really look at it. The 1908 S looks genuine. The 1878 S is not cleaned. Once again, PCGS swings and misses with their "cleaned" bs. That coin wouldn't cartwheel had it been cleaned. Amateur hour indeed. $5000 in submissions fees in 2022? Makes you think, right? Think of the nice coin you could have purchased for $5000? A better date Saint Gaudens? 3rd party coin grading and authentication is unnecessary, unless you plan to sell online or sight unseen, OR you plan to sell in-person to idiots, which unfortunately includes most of todays collectors. They actually think if a coin is encapsulated, that it changes the coin! Like some kind of new aged alchemy of sorts. Its ridiculous. I shake my head wondering why so many in this hobby are subletting an interesting and crucial aspect of this hobby (grading and authentication) to a third party, and pay a fee for this worthless service to boot! And why submit modern coins to grading services in the 1st place? You are effectively massively reducing their value. 1987 P w/ full steps? No value there. $30+ for grading of this coin? There's no demand for this coin. You''ll never get your money out of this even if they gave you full steps.

There are so many similar reactions nowadays. I had an idea of creating a website in form of a data base where anyone can register every grading that they feel is obviously wrong, one would have to register so that every complaint can be linked to a person to protect against abuse of any kind, and also to be able to proof their mistake should any of the grading services get pissed of, which I'm sure they would. Anyone can register and then logg on and choose from a list of all grading services, upload photos and chose from a list of problems and also the possibility to add a note explaining ones thoughts. there should also be a complaint field for other problems, like unfair charges. The rate of t his site growing would be completely dependent on how bad of a job these grading companies does, so it's a perfect way to kick them where it hurts and forcing them to not abuse their monopoly. This site would probably grow fast and it would quickly get noticed by all the major grading companies, especially the ones who screws up a lot like PCGS and it would force them to do better. I don't think it would be a problem to get people to take the time submitting problems, because when you receive your coins back and find obvious mistake and signs of laziness, people get fired up and all that energy is more than enough to make people want to post about the problems. The numismatic community need to come together and do something like this. It wouldn't be too expensive to create this, but it could still be crowd founded and I'm sure there are a lot of disappointed customers that would be willing to chip in. I'm not a coin collector myself and don't know all the details that would go into how to make a complaint that touch on all angles of the problems that are common with grading mistakes, we would need people like you with a lot of experience of grading submissions, and someone that do websites. You have a small channel, but perhaps there are huge channels on youtube as well that would be interested in spreading information about a new database like this. It's up to the community to come together because there has to be some consequences for this constant behavior, there needs to be some accountability. That's the only way when it comes to monopolies, thats just the nature of it, they will never improve if they don't have to and the service will continue to get worse and worse at the same time as prices will go up and up. As long as they see that they can get away with it. If you made a graph over the last 10 years I doubt that their services has improved somewhere along that timeline, rather it has worsen consistently. I would love to be a part of something like this, but I think it needs to be people from USA involved since it's there all those companies are located, and we would need some coin collectors that are working in the judicial system to make sure it's made correctly and we don't get sued. I'm living on the other side of the planet. But I could at least try to plant the seed. Don't just submit coins, submit complaints! That our slogan :D

Hey im curious, after the time thats passed since this video how do you like NGC in comparison to PCGS? I only have three slabbed pieces, a proof 70 eagle, a ms 70 malta eagle and a ms69 Eagle from mu birth year i got as a gift so i definitely dont know much outside of what ive watched ob your channel and a couple others but i only have NGC and think i like them more except not being able to see the rims with the slab not being transparent. Im mainly a stacker but my interests in numismatics have definitely been growing and i think id like to get a good specimen of each denomination, starting with the silver halfs in at least a ms64. Do you sell any? Im on a fairly limited income since im on disability but i love coins. Im not looking for key dates but mainly just shiny with all the details. Id love to talk more sometime but im on my way out but i look forward to hearing back from you.

What do you pay for bulk submissions ? Some don't seem worth the grading price .

Acceptance to frustration to miffed to upset to rage🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂 your voice was hilarious the way you went through all the degrees of pissed! I got a 59 quarter with the rev but I’m not seeing it on the pcgs coin app so I wonder if they dont recognize it.

I made a video talking about how pcgs seems to grade coins incorrectly quite often, the example I chose was a 2006 Lincoln cent that graded a 67 and another that graded 68. The 67 looked a lot better in terms of quality compared to the 68 and the value between them is pretty substantial. So all in all they should grade with machines that can pick up even the smallest surface defects and use human eye grading to set a base of what it could be?

Can I use a silver polishing cloth on my 64 Kennedy's? I have 13 that have been in a Kennedy half dollar bank for 60 years. There's a small amt of tarnish. Thank you.

May one ask or many may ask what are the prices they charge per coin or does it change from coin to coin?

Good video. Kind of humorous. I have submitted all my stuff to NGC over the years and never used PCGS. That being said, a lot of these I just would not have sent in. Anything with a milk spot or haze in the fields isn’t worth it. No 64 kennedy is worth sending in. No Lincoln cent is worth it. I don’t think the grading was that bad other than the blatant mislabel. The foreign coin did look cleaned to me. And there had to be some diagnostic on the IHC to tell them it was fake. Personally everything was what I’d expect to see. I don’t think you should be that upset other than a lot of them simply should have been weeded out to begin with on your part. It’s always a learning experience. PCGS does not do all the obscure attributions. Sometimes there is machine doubling that is not recognized or acknowledged as a variety or doubled die.

They messed my coins up big time. I had a 1921s Morgan Dollar MS66 and they took it all the way down to a damaged AU. Mind you it wasn't damaged until they tried to reholster it in a cross over. I am so disappointed. Now my $12k coin is worth $57. I would NEVER send another coin to them.

After they charge for variety attributions, how long do they take before refunding the difference or do they apply the excess amount to future submissions? The way you’re describing your grading experiences with PCGS makes me cautious of submitting coins to them, or submitting coins for grading to any grading company right now. Coin submissions is a more complicated process than I realized before watching your videos. I hope that your future PCGS submissions produce better results for you or that you use NGC or ANACS. Good luck man.

I watched this thing on how pcgs does its grading. According to them each coin has 3 different people grade it. If the first 2 give the same grade then the 3rd double checks the order and gets it ready for the slab. If the first 2 have different grades then the 3rd gives it a hard look to determine who was correct. They can only choose one of the grades if they cant then the process starts over from the beginning. Did they changed the process? Idk. The video I watched had someone doing a walkthrough and following the process each step with a pcgs supervisor explaining what's happening. There's a lot of redundancy in their process to prevent any of these things from happening so why are they happening so frequently? It can't be just a lack of unskilled employees... a major change in the processing like adding automation (printing of labels). Something simple as a computer printing a few steps ahead of the process instead of printing labels at the end could mess up All of the redundancy putting place.

that is scary about PCGS now, they screwed on some of these coins.

You should get the misprinted quarter one graded. Like case and all. Commented to early many quarters. But the one I was referring to was the .25 with 5c on the label

On the varieties that you sent in, were they all listed with a FS number ?

Machine doubling happens when the dies come together and either one of the dies barley rotates or the coin does. It doesn't double stamp the coin.....

Great Video. This proves that PCGS is not all they are acclaimed to be. Number one grading service out of the top 3. I agree. Is that variety attribution on the quarters type B on certain years.? I have a roll of 1955-D I am going to go thru.

So PCGS has been making tons of mistakes when it comes to both the denomination on the label and the mint mark! The mint mark is something that is really serious in my opinion. I have seen them mis mark to key dates. On the morgan dollars keep in mind that it has to be a strong strike on both sides to get a ms-65. You need to have full detail in the harline and breast of the eagle. Pcgs is pretty good on the morgans for grading based on strike. However, on some coins like buffalo nickels i have seen them give as high as a ms-66 with a weak strike that has little detail on the tail and head of the buffalo.

I have run into the same with my last couple orders. I have stop my Platinum Membership. I have even questioned if I have got back the same coins that I sent in. another thing that PMO is the taking so long to grade when it seems like they give preference to some dealers.

You definitely have a point with the wrong designation with the quarter! I mean if you can’t get the denomination of coin correct, what is the probability of getting the grade incorrect?

PCGS lost the real graders now they got micky mouse crew

How,much did they charge for grading. I have a bunch of coins I need to get graded

I get way too many coins returned from PCGS graded Cleaned/Unc Details. I'm really trying to improve my skillls in recognizing cleaned coins but it can be so frustrating. I've examined returned coins really carefully and in some cases I'll give them the benefit of the doubt but on many coins returned as cleaned it's difficult to find anything wrong.

The video is great to learn!

I do like the clarity of your pictures

question?? did you think pcgs should have treated 1964 kennedy half dollars came from your grandmas collection special because they were grandmas coins ,why? no offence i just want to know why you feel they are better?

How much is a error grade from the “Experts” worth?

I do not understand varieties very well, but is machine doubling or in my case machine tripling not considered a variety???? I have a 2000 Sacagawea dollar that I submitted to ICG to be graded for the variety and it came back as plain MS65.... You can see the tripling plainly with no magnification... If anyone can please help... Thank you

I just got back a lot of 5 modern day paid for serves including variety attributions and did not get that serve. Not sure why I am bothering to pay for this service. I have a few more lots already at PCGS so I'll let them complete then reconsider.

...and don't beat yourself up too much for their F-ups...it is NOT personal...I have been hearing these same complaints from MANY other folks that have had identical issues with PCGS for the last 3 or 4 years especially. Something is WRONG at PCGS and it is NOT the collector's fault !!!!!

The phillipine coin is definately cleaned with the dark fields around the lettering and clear in the rest of the field. Yhe wear on the shield on the reverse is not weak shrike but definite wear. Its cleaned xf.. many of your coins were accurately graded. Some of the varieties were not varieties. Like the double d. Just because you want a variety or think it is a variety doesnt mean it is.

@rocky’sramblings… Hey brother so many nice coins, where do you get your coins from?

I just saw this video now and I have to say that I had the same problems with PCSG. I put in a number Morgans, Franklin Proof which was perfect. The Morgans came back and was stated cleaned which they clearly weren’t. I had a perfect proof Franklin and it came back as a 64 but no mention of full bell lines which it had. There were others as well. Very fustrated.

#pcgs owes you brother for sure. And that Philippines? It was much better than that 64 they graded, it's clear as day. A box of mistakes. And I think you deciding on keeping that 5¢ slab error is a wonderful idea. Thank you brother 🤙

Lol the intro!

They definitely market graded you for the milk spot. The whole coin looks maybe 68 but that milk spot right in the #1 device on the coin will just never get you a 68. I enjoy your videos. You shouldn't let the "haters" frustrate you too much. Their intentions may be of ill will but sometimes what they say about grades or attributions could be right. Just take it for what it is despite the source. As far as the attributions, in doing your research do you look at the die markers to see if they match up with your coin? I think that might be the key.

Always soak coins in acetone for 5 minutes or so and gently rinse with distilled water. And let dry. Do not rub. That will melt slight PVC off the coin. They can call PVC damage when you can’t even see it. Silver is good. But I don’t recommend unc copper with great color being soaked.

I like the pics you added to the video. Very good quality. How did you take those?

Leaving the comments as I watch the video. Currently at the 1959 type B reverse and you are 1000% correct on that, they fucked up. I also think you're right about the quarter holder that says 5C instead of 25C, itll be worth more for that error in the future, probably even now. I'll edit as video goes on 64 D MS 65 is absolutely a DDO, you can see the split seraphs 100% I'm surprised one of those kennedy proofs didnt actually come back cameo, it appeared frosty enough to me and also the 1896 morgan does appear to me to have the doubled stars, man they are straight screwing you over and just taking your money and wasting your time. I would use anacs, I believe they're cheaper also and in the future once getting all the proper attributions you could do a crossover for to have them in pcgs holder. I wont edit anymore cause I'm just gonna be flooding your notification section, unless I see another outrageous screw over and cant help myself

Something to tell you with ANACS if you dont already know. They will charge you for the variety/vam attribution (i think its $13 bucks). Heres what i learned the hard way.. you will have to eait approx one month longer on ALL THE COINS YOU SUBMIT when you send a VAM in. ALSO, if its not that exact VAM, they will not put the correct VAM attribute on it unless you pay them $16 per coin! That is not disclosed (that i saw) on their site or form when you submit it.

You are not alone. IMHO this grading service (and others) does an even worse job on foreign coins. I have a coin struck in Guatemala just after the death of Spanish King Carlos IIII, with the bust of Carlos IIII and text for his successor, Ferdinand VII; however the holder claims incorrectly that the bust is that of Ferdonand VII. This mistake has been made several times, as documented in Heritage Auctions records of past sales. Similar problems with Ethiopian silver, with examples of the common type of 1/8 birr labeled as the much rarer one. -- and auction houses don't always catch these errors (especially if they can earn a higher commission by flogging a mislabeled coin).

I was told some collectors like graded coins that are mistakes . Pay extra for pcgs mistakes .

I’ve heard the graders receive half the grading money and two different graders will grade it independently and have to agree or it goes back around

Damn I'm sorry thats happened to you. I think for the full steps, again I'm not 100% I can never be with PCGS, but there is a nick on the far bottom right on the front steps that 'seem' to touch more then one step. That might be why you didn't get it. The strike on the previous FS you showed as comparison also seemed to be a stronger strike. Other then that I think the steps are pretty fine.

Last post. Sorry to ramble. PCGS’ True View Pics seem to make the coin way better looking than when in hand, no?

I dont play the slab game, for many of the reasons shown here, so I cant say much but it was a fun informative watch thank you

That quarter labeled 5 cents cud add to ots value and be a variety itself

The 1987 nickel has a couple of places where there is a break in one of the steps…particularly the 2nd step from the top.

Dan at Coinhelpu uses acetone to remove residue. Says he has sent coins to pcgs after with no problems.

I bet the “error” quarter slab will bring you a premium for it being messed up👀 PCGS opened up the CAC program and have overloaded themselves. Pretty sad

Some of the coins looks like they would've benefited from an acetone wash. The environmental damage coin looked like it had cellophane residue and the 1957 proof half looked like it had waterspots.

What kind of microscope are you using?

GREAT VIDEO, THOUGHT IT WAS JUST ME

My coin dealer loves raw coins… he’s super knowledgeable and I trust his opinion over any slab company… the best part is I dont have to pay insane grading prices for his opinion… because thats all they are is grade opinions

On your type B quarters... one was a Philadelphia and the other was a Denver, that might have something to do with not getting the variety!

Gidday mate how's it going i hope you are much better after the unboxing of your gradered coins i can't believe they were so wrong with 70percent of your coins pcgs need there heads read so to speak im so sorry mate.Anyway the best of luck with your next orders.kind regards Gregory Lee from Melbourne VIC Australia.Col Cowboy 🤠🇭🇲😁🖐️👍.

This has convinced me to not send several off to pcgs . Unacceptable mistakes , especially for the cost. "UP TO 3 PEOPLE REVIEW EACH"..BULLSHIT !! Credibility means everything in this market.

PCGS needs to fix their mistakes, 1) they need to pay for the shipping both ways. 2) give you the Variety Attributions for free on the Quarter for type the Type B. And what ever else they messed up.

The milk spot knocked it down.

The worst part of dealing with bad grading is when these bums go out for the 2 martini lunch at the local bar.

Many people are giving CAC a try and going back to ANACS. PCGS grades waaaaaay to hard, pricing too high, taking too long, and are missing attributes. They aren't the only game in town!!

I’m so sorry for leaving so many comments. But as I go along, I see more to discuss. On 64 proof half dollar the milk spot absolutely kills it.

I looked up the trueview of your 59D quarter. Looks like a big booger of a die chip in the MM and a bit of die deterioration.

NGC and PCGS save their MS 70 for dealers. Once they reach a set number they had out MS 69s to collectors.

Have a few error slabs from PCGS also.

PCGS is under rating coins to protect the registry investor. I will not use them anymore.

Man that morgan 1898 o is ms 65 ++ all day all year... ...

I have a 1952 Portuguese angola 20 escudos i want to send into pcgs through my local coin shop but man im not sure i want too 😅 its a great coin, would definitely get a mint state grade lol

Honestly ANACS gets a bad rap,but they are actually doing a decent service these days!! I think PCGS is ,as you say, are either using subpar employees or they are rushing through orders and consequently resulting in inaccurate grading and poor service,!!

I would be pissed as well. I’m sending many to be grade but thinking NGC If they do that and take 4 months I just won’t use pcgs