How Much Does it Cost to Have a Coin Graded?

Whether you are buying or selling rare coins, it is important to know how much it will cost to have them graded. Having the coin professionally graded will give you peace of mind and ensure that you are getting exactly what you are paying for.

NGC and PCGS charge grading fees based on the coin type and maximum value. They also charge for shipping and insurance.

Costs

When it comes to getting a coin graded, there are many costs associated with the process. These include grading fees, shipping expenses, and insurance costs.

If you are looking to get a coin graded, you must consider the value of the coin and its condition before deciding whether it makes financial sense to submit it. You also need to factor in the time it takes for the coin to reach the grading company and back again.

Once the coins are submitted, a team of experts will examine them and assign a numerical grade. They will then encapsulate them in airtight slabs to protect them from wear and environmental damage.

The experts will look at the coin’s type, variety, denomination, mint mark (if it has one), possible mint errors, and the coin’s edges and surface preservation. They will also check the design devices and authenticity.

NGC

The Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) is one of the most well-respected grading services worldwide. They have been grading coins since the 1940s and have certified more than 47 million coins to date.

NGC provides a variety of certification services, including authentication, grading, and attribution. They also offer encapsulation, which helps preserve your coin’s condition in the long run by avoiding handling and natural environmental wear.

Upon request, NGC examines coins in recognized varieties and assigns an appropriate attribution. This can be important for a coin that is in a series that has specialized reference works, and can significantly increase its value.

NGC offers three tiers of grading, with economy options available for coins worth $300 or less. Regular grading costs $38 and has a turnaround time of about 50 business days, while express grading is $65 and has a turnaround of 15 business days.

PCGS

The cost of having your coin graded by the PCGS depends on several factors. You have to pay a grading fee, and you also need to pay for shipping and insurance.

In addition, you need to consider the turnaround time for the grading process. It usually takes about a week to receive the coin back from the grading service and another one to two weeks to return it to you.

Fortunately, the PCGS offers a special application that lets you easily compare your coins to photos of them in PCGS’s grading guide. This will make it easier for even a beginner to determine the approximate grade of their coin.

The PCGS also encapsulates its coins in tamper-evident capsules. These capsules ensure that the coins are not damaged during the grading process. They also allow for easy identification and verification of authenticity. This helps to prevent counterfeit coins from being sold to the public. With record-high precious metal prices, certified coins have the potential to gain much higher resale values than uncertified coins.

ANACS

When buying coins, it’s important to take due diligence. That means ensuring that the coins you are considering are from a trustworthy source, and have been graded by a reputable third-party grading service.

ANACS is the oldest of the three major third-party grading services. They are also the cheapest.

They use what feels like a Happy Meal Toy for their holders, and their submission forms are cheap to fill out. They do not participate in registry set competitions, which hurts them when they are competing with NGC and PCGS.

Another great feature of ANACS is that they attribute VAM (Values Associated with Mint) numbers for many different coin types, including silver dollars and other error coins. No other grading service attributes these well-documented attributions.

If you have any variety or attribution coins in your collection, ANACS can verify and research these attributions for you for an additional $12 per coin, along with the grading fee.