Coins graded by PCGS and NGC are valued on the same 1 to 70 Sheldon scale and sealed in plastic holders called slabs, with the grade printed on a numbered label. Collectors accept both. What a slabbed coin brings depends on the coin, its grade and current collector demand, and we read each slab in front of you before giving a written, item-by-item offer.
What PCGS and NGC do
PCGS and NGC are independent grading companies. A collector or dealer sends them a coin and pays a fee, and the coin comes back graded and sealed in a hard plastic holder. Collectors call that holder a slab.
The grader assigns a number on the 1 to 70 Sheldon scale. The company prints it on a label sealed inside the holder along with the year, the mint mark, the denomination and a certification number. Nobody can touch the coin without breaking the plastic, so the grade stays with it as it passes from one owner to the next.
That sealed grade is why slabs exist. A buyer and a seller who have never met can agree on what a coin is without passing it back and forth under a loupe, and a coin bought at a show in the 1990s can be checked against the same record today.
Both companies check that a coin is genuine before it gets a number. A counterfeit or altered coin goes back to the sender without a grade. A real coin that has been cleaned or damaged is sealed with the problem described on the label, which the section on details grades below covers.
How the two companies compare for a seller
For someone selling, the two holders work in much the same way. Both companies use the 1 to 70 scale and put uncirculated, or mint state, coins at 60 and above. Proof coins carry their own prefix on the label: PR at PCGS and PF at NGC.
Collectors in most series accept either holder. Demand can lean toward one company for certain coins, and we price each slab off current collector demand for that coin, in that grade, in that holder.
The age of the holder sometimes comes up too. Older slabs from both companies look different from the ones made today, and some collectors look for early holders. We note the holder style on the written offer when it affects what a coin brings.
For most coins, one grade point moves the price more than the choice of company does. An MS64 and an MS65 of the same date can sell far apart, and on a scarce coin the step from AU58 to MS60 can matter just as much. We read the number first and the company second.
| PCGS | NGC | |
|---|---|---|
| Grading scale | 1 to 70 Sheldon scale | 1 to 70 Sheldon scale |
| Mint state grades | MS60 to MS70 | MS60 to MS70 |
| Proof prefix | PR | PF |
| Cleaned or damaged coins | Genuine label with a details description | Details grade with the problem named |
| Checking a slab | Online lookup by certification number | Online lookup by certification number |
Reading the label on your slab
The label carries most of what a buyer wants to know. The top line usually gives the year and mint mark. The grade sits below it, and the certification number is printed near the barcode.
Grades on circulated coins run from P (poor) through G (good), VG, F, VF and XF to AU (about uncirculated). MS (mint state) covers 60 to 70. A plus sign after the number means the coin sits at the top of that grade.
The coin in our photo is an 1884-CC gold piece graded VF20 by PCGS. VF stands for very fine, a circulated grade with moderate wear on the high points. The CC mint mark places it at the Carson City Mint, which struck coins from 1870 to 1893.
You can type the certification number into the grading company's website to see whether the record matches the coin in the holder. It takes about a minute per coin and is a good habit before you sell or buy anything in plastic.
- Year and mint mark, such as 1884-CC
- Denomination and coin type
- Grade prefix and number, such as MS63, AU58 or VF20
- Certification number and barcode
- Any added designation, such as a plus grade or a named variety
Details grades and counterfeit holders
Neither company gives a number grade to a coin that has been cleaned, polished, scratched or repaired. Those coins come back with the problem named on the label, and collectors call them details coins.
A details label still confirms the coin is genuine. Collectors pay far less for it than for an original coin with the same amount of wear, because cleaning lowers both grade and value. The gap is widest on coins that would grade high without the problem.
Counterfeit slabs exist, mostly for popular coins like Morgan dollars and gold. A fake copies the holder and the label, so the certification lookup and a close look at the coin itself both count. We check every slabbed coin under a loupe through the plastic.
Never open a slab to clean a coin or move it to another holder yourself. Breaking the plastic voids the grade, and the coin has to be graded again before most collectors will pay a slab price for it.
When grading raw coins pays
Grading costs a fee per coin, plus insured shipping both ways, and the wait can run several weeks. On a common date in circulated condition, the fee can use up most of what the slab adds. Most buyers take those coins raw, meaning out of a holder.
Sending a coin out makes more sense for scarce dates, gold and high-grade uncirculated pieces, where a buyer wants the certainty of a slab. The Chicago commemoratives can fall in this group when they are sharp: an 1893 Isabella quarter or a 1918 Illinois Centennial half dollar with original luster.
At a free appraisal we can point out which raw coins are strong enough to justify grading and which sell well as they are. Some sellers grade a few of their best coins and sell the rest raw on the same day.
Modern bullion coins work the same way. A Silver Eagle or Gold Eagle graded MS69 or MS70 can sell above its metal content to collectors who want top grades, while the same coin out of a holder trades close to its gold or silver value. Proof Eagles in their original Mint box and paperwork are usually best left as they came.
How we price graded coins at an appointment
At a private appointment we read each label and check the coin through the plastic under a loupe for eye appeal. Two coins with the same grade can differ in toning and luster, and collectors pay more for the one that looks better.
Pricing follows current collector demand for that coin at that grade, drawn from published price guides, dealer wholesale sheets and recent auction results. Graded coins go in the collector group, so a slabbed better date is never priced as bullion.
You get a written, item-by-item offer covering every slab and any raw coins you bring along. Accept it and you are paid the same day in cash, or by a same-day wire to your bank for larger sales. Decline it and you leave with every coin and the written list.
Bring every slab you have, including the ones that look ordinary. A common date in a very high grade can bring more than a scarcer date with heavy wear, and a family going through a relative's coins often cannot tell from the label which is which. We explain each one as we price it.
Selling slabbed coins in Chicago
Slabbed coins turn up all over Chicago and the suburbs, from a desk drawer in a Lakeview condo to a safe-deposit box held for thirty years by a family in Orland Park. Sellers who want to sell PCGS coins or NGC coins in Chicago often find a short stack of slabs sitting next to albums of raw coins. The two need different handling, and a buyer who sorts them line by line will price the slabs off their labels and the raw coins off what is in front of them.
The slabs we look at range from modern Silver Eagles and Gold Eagles in high mint state holders to circulated Morgan dollars and pre-1933 gold. Older holders from both companies come out of North Shore estates in Wilmette and Glenview, and Hyde Park families sometimes bring a Columbian half dollar or an Isabella quarter that a relative had graded years ago. Each slab gets its own line on the written offer, with the grade as printed.
We meet by private appointment, Monday to Saturday from 10am to 6pm, and the meeting place is set when you book. Call (773) 241-8624 and we call back the same day.
For a large run of slabs from an estate anywhere in Cook or DuPage County, ask about a home visit when you call. A handful of graded coins takes about 10 minutes to go through.
Ready to sell? See how we handle selling PCGS and NGC graded coins in Chicago, read about a free coin appraisal, or call (773) 241-8624.