As the title says I have a few that I am sending off and I am curious as to what to look out for in the way of marks and nicks etc... Will a small needle point dot,mark effect it so it doesn't go MS70 or is the grade more to do with detail in the actual design. I have one with a few nicks almost some other contact in the minting process and am wondering would this effect it too much and grade low or doesn't it matter. This is quite a rare coin and would hold good value in OMP already, so if it comes back MS67/68 it may effect the return value. Can someone assist with what they have received and what they thought before sending ? Cheers Just to add I am not too worried about a few spots on the surface as they will go to NCS anyway.
Needle like specks in a frosted surface are quite common and probably play a lesser role compared to a true scuff or scratch or rim nick. Odds of getting a 70 are pretty low so I would never even expect to get one unless you want to be disappointed. MS69 is going to look flawless to the eye. MS68 may have a small rim nick or two. MS67 and below you will see noticeable, but minor, rim nicks, scratches or lint marks. Not all spots can be removed by NCS. Toning generally can be, but toning and white oxidation spots are different. Some spots are caused by actual chemicals being pressed into the metal during the minting process. These cannot be removed. Some light milk spots may be removed or minimized, but again, it depends on the severity. Another thing that cannot be removed is a yellowish/white frost that is now commonly being found on post 2007 pandas, even graded ones. It looks like this "stain" is on the surface, but it is actually in the metal and has slowly risen to become visible. I had a 1996 panda with one small oxidation spot. Sent to NCS and the spot is still there, less noticeable, but there and it got an MS68. Rest of the coin is gorgeous. I have a number of coins that were OMP, looked great and came back MS68. I posted the results of my most recent submission to NCS in another thread (http://forums.silverstackers.com/topic-20967-ngc-charging-for-varieties.html): Well first off, my whole strategy with pandas is to only purchase the ones I manage to find for below current market value. Second, I only submit coins for grading that I feel I can later sell and cover my expenses even if they do not get a MS69. I make an exception here if the coin is very toned or dirty where I think conservation will at least restore it to a point where someone besides my bargain hunting self would be willing to purchase it. Here's a rundown of the coins again, with the found status next to the grade and my prediction for the coins that came back different than expected: 1989 CHINA PANDA S10Y MS 69 OMP 1997 CHINA PANDA S10Y MS 69 OMP 1990 CHINA PANDA S10Y MS 68 CAPSULE-ONLY 2001D CHINA PANDA S10Y MS 68 OMP (predicted MS69) 1993 CHINA PANDA S10Y MS 68 OMP (predicted MS69) 2001 CHINA PANDA S10Y MS 66 LITTLETON COIN HOLDER -- PREVIOUSLY OPENED, VERY DIRTY COIN, F'IN BAD EBAY DEAL (NOT AS SHOWN IN PHOTO) -- (predicted MS67) 2007 CHINA PANDA S10Y MS 69 CAPSULE-ONLY 2000 CHINA PANDA S10Y MS 69 CAPSULE-ONLY 1996 CHINA PANDA S10Y MS 68 CAPSULE-ONLY, HAD AN OXIDATION SPOT DEVELOPING ON TEMPLE 1990 CHINA PANDA S10Y MS 68 CAPSULE-ONLY 1992 CHINA PANDA S10Y MS 69 VERY TONED, LOOSE IN CARDBOARD 2X2 FLIP (predicted MS68) 1993 CHINA PANDA S10Y MS 67 VERY TONED, LOOSE IN CARDBOARD 2X2 FLIP (predicted MS69) 1995 CHINA PANDA S10Y MS 68 CAPSULE-ONLY, FOUND AT LOCAL SHOP 1996 CHINA PANDA S10Y MS 69 CAPSULE-ONLY 2001 CHINA PANDA S10Y MS 69 CAPSULE-ONLY 1985 CHINA PANDA G5Y MS 69 OMP 1987Y CHINA PANDA G5Y MS 69 OMP 1987Y CHINA PANDA G5Y MS 68 OMP (predicted MS69) 2009 CHINA PANDA G20Y MS 67 LOOSE, DIRTY (predicted MS68) 2010 CHINA PANDA G20Y MS 67 LOOSE, DIRTY (predicted MS68) While I am bummed about a few of the coins, I'm not too concerned. 68s still get strong action from my observations, the MS67 1993 shouldn't be an issue either. The MS67 G20Ys I was able to purchase and grade for less than the price of an OMP. The 1987Y is a low census coin, so MS68 should fair well. It's all gold at the least, and I have no doubts that I will be able to still get a solid return on those. I was chatting with a pal who is a big panda seller on ebay and also an NGC/NCS customer. He too noted that in the last few months it seems NGC is being more conservative with the grades. But like I said before, that's the gamble we all take when submitting coins. When I get these all back and can check them out again, I may consider breaking out the 2001d, 1993s and 1987y to resubmit, just to see what happens. I was pretty confident on all of those as I could not see any flaws under my scope. So far I have submitted 32 coins to NCS: MS69: 17 MS68: 10 MS67: 4 MS66: 1 While those results aren't impressive, the first 12 I sent in I really had no idea how to evaluate the coins so it was a complete experiment to learn what to look for. This batch of 20 I chose to submit coins that I knew would not be MS69. I'll likely be a bit more critical on the post-2000 coins now because of the price increase for NCS and NGC services, but pre-2000 I am still satisfied with MS68 as long as I got them for bargains to start with. Plus, of the 7 OMP submitted on this lot, 4 were MS69 and 3 were MS68, so while the sampling is limited, it reinforces my confidence in MS68. If I had the choice between an OMP that I could not see in person, or an NCS MS68, I would take the NCS MS68, even if it was more a bit more than OMP. Sorry for the long reply. There are a lot of conversations about OMP/Grading/Conservation throughout the Panda Forum archive if you look for them.
