Pre-grading should be an option but not a requirement. I send mine off for grading, and the shipping and insurance add quite a bit. I do 1-2 coins a year and also have to buy an annual membership with the grading service.
Name and Address withheld
When I buy coins from the mint, I buy them raw in the standard mint packaging. I expect a certain minimum quality, but I don't look for any particular grade. If I want it to be graded, I will send it in myself to a grading service. If the mint starts sending the coins to grading services hoping to charge premium prices for higher-grade coins, I will not buy them. The mint already charges high prices for its products, in some cases outright gouging the customers. The mint's duty is to produce coins for circulation and to sell to collectors and investors. It should sell those coins at cost, neither at a loss nor at a profit to the government. It should not be another coin dealer.
Louis Iudiciani, Cumberland, R.I.
I would NOT be interested in buying anything from the United States Mint. The issue prices are exorbitant and, in most cases, can be bought later on from dealers for below the issue price.
As for graded coins - I don't own any graded U.S. coins because I don't believe that a third-party grader's opinion is better than my own two eyes.
The fact that many coins are taken out of their plastic coffins and sent to be re-graded, coming back as a different grade, is proof enough that one grader's opinion may, and will, be different from another's.
I say - buy what you like and appeals to you, and save your hard-earned money for more coins, not plastic-encased opinions.
I do not want my coins delivered in anything but the OGP. I do not want a third-party opinion company involved in my coins at all. In about 40 years, these companies have taken control of our hobby, and most people today think a coin is lesser unless it's in a plastic slab with a UPC number on it. Unless THEY clean it, it's ungradable. That way they make more money for "cleaning and restoring" because they've made us believe we're too stupid to do it ourselves. I was doing it at 12 years old for free what they're now charging you to do. OGP or "raw" for me.
I always liked to have a coin in my hand that has been rated by NGC or PCGS.
Name and Address withheld
I would rather buy graded & slabbed medals as the grading services have trouble identifying the medals. I usually have to send a copy of the DeWitt, Rulau, or other page copies.
Just saves time and money, as large medal slabs can be quite pricey!
Colonel Lord Steve Cohn, QVRM.
Really, and have the U.S. Mint charge us even MORE for their already overpriced rubbish?? No way, keep them in the present packaging. They can always be broken out and submitted for professional grading at the owner's discretion. The U.S. Mint is no longer adequately serving the tried-and-true collector community. They are creating false demand by limiting their product releases, while at the same time lining their pockets with the over-inflated prices they charge for these coins. With everything costing more and more these days, who can even afford to justify purchasing this modern-day garbage?
I try to buy graded coins, as that takes away the headache, and graded coins are easier to hold and store than mint sets and packaging.
Name and Address withheld
