To grade or not to grade

News: Welcome to the Canadian Paper Money Forum.

Need some opinions.  I have a few decent notes nothing very rare but in good UNC condition ($100-$400 CAT price).  Is it worth while to send them in to be graded or not?  I have read a few posts that most people like them raw in just sleves and some sealed and graded.

Thanks
-Devin

It depends.  What is your purpose in getting them graded?

It depends.  What is your purpose in getting them graded?

To really have a complete understanding if the notes that I have as well as the ensure their safety for long term storage.

To really have a complete understanding if the notes that I have as well as the ensure their safety for long term storage.

You can store notes properly without having them graded ..so not a valid reason in my opinion.

Learn to grade your notes and get others to grade them if you go to a show
You will get a better idea of what to look for and what others see that you don't.
As always some prefer raw so they can handle a note before buying it others want graded so they know what they assume the are getting and feel more comfortable with it...
A known fact is if a note is slabbed and it does not grade high enough many collectors/dealers will just remove the notes from the holders and sell raw hoping to get a better profit....
In reality everyone wants as much as they can get when selling their notes so if the slabbed one is overgraded they wont care if it brings in a profit and leave it slabbed..
Sometimes getting a note slabbed is the best thing that can happen to it
All of its secrets are tightly hidden in sealed plastic....

Having a note graded by a third party doesn't teach you anything unless the person doing the grading explains how they arrived at the designated grade.

I don't recommend letting anyone except reputable dealers touch your money.  Some dealers don't let potential buyers handle their Unc notes because the notes end up damaged as a result of poor handling.  Literally, some collectors fondle and scrunch notes like a cashier at Walmart.  It shows poor manners if not downright corruption.  In other words, some people will take your Gem note, flick it, tell you it has a flick and offer you less money.  All right in front of you!  I'm not a dealer but I've been told by dealers this kind of crap happens at shows all the time.

I was thinking about dropping off some of my notes to BCS for grading and slabing.  I may want to sell them some day if I decide to change up my growing collection or if I find a more desirable note to replace.  If I decide the sell them I would want to make sure people know exactly what they are buying not just my best guess.

I was thinking about dropping off some of my notes to BCS for grading and slabing.  I may want to sell them some day if I decide to change up my growing collection or if I find a more desirable note to replace.  If I decide the sell them I would want to make sure people know exactly what they are buying not just my best guess.

People will not know what they are buying ..they will only know what BCS graded them at.
As many people here will say...they will only buy a raw note and not one that is TPG.
Why spend the money to grade ...it may not be a wise thing...especially if they are notes where the cost of grading does not make sense...

I had a bunch of notes graded because it was affordable and I wanted the nicer ones that way so they don't get mixed in with all my other ones and in the event that I do want to sell them they may be worth more.  For the most part I was quite pleased that they graded as well as they did and it affirmed that I didn't pay too much for them when I got them raw in various auctions.

That is what I am thinking, these notes are for my collection and will stay with me for many many years for the most part. 

I am truly torn

People will not know what they are buying ..they will only know what BCS graded them at.

Couldn't have said it better.

Third party graded notes in less than top grade sell for less than catalogue because people don't trust the grading.  Plain and simple.  Even people who don't know how to grade for themselves will assume that the stated TPG grade is too high, and they will bid lower to compensate for a perceived margin of error.  It doesn't matter how "conservative" a company is reputed to be because every company makes mistakes and logic tells us that undergraded notes are removed from their holders while overgraded notes will be forever locked in their plastic tombs, meaning that the available population of notes in a certain TPG's holder will gradually become less representative of the company's grading standards over time.  Furthermore, every company out there will only issue opinions on technical grade.  They don't evaluate appearance because there is no grading scale for appearance.  We've all seen incredible examples of notes that look far worse than their assigned grades.  This one is probably in everyone's top 3 of worst graded notes...

{http://www.give-a-buck.com/closet/PMG/gallery/1954-1000.jpg}

Once a note is slabbed, the few collectors in existence who are confident with their grading skills are essentially locked out.  I need to examine a note's surfaces to determine its true state of preservation, and this means holding the note up to light at an angle.  Can't do that with a note in a highly reflective slab.  I know there are people who say they can grade a slabbed note, and I would love for them to explain their technique.  Since I can't grade a slabbed note for myself and since sellers of slabbed notes don't take returns, there's no incentive for me to take a risk on a note based on someone else's opinion.  Most of the time, I don't even bid on slabbed notes because I know my bids will be too low.  I subscribe to "bigger idiot theory" (BIT) which tells us that the only way you're going to make a profit on an overgraded note is to find a bigger idiot.  Slabbed notes represent the pinnacle of BIT, meaning they are overgraded to the very edge of credibility, and even people with no idea how to grade are not going to believe a higher grade even if you take the notes out of their slabs and try to sell them raw.

As for the safety of graded slabs, we've already discussed this as it related to BCS holders which the company admits contain PVC...
http://www.cdnpapermoney.com/forum/index.php?topic=10287.0