Is an off centered coin penalized when being graded?

[Guest]

Hello all;

i've got a couple of beautiful 1974-p lincolns that i'm thinking about submitting to a third party grading service (pcgs, ngc) to see what they think about them. The only real major problem i have with these coins is that they are somewhat 'off center' but they're not so off the mark that they stand a chance of being considered an 'error'. My question is this:

is a slightly off centered coin penalized during the grading process?

i've sent along some photos of the coins i mentioned above for you to look at. Just in case it will help you answer my question,

thanks in advance to all who may shed some light on this for me!

[engine823]

I'm not an expert by any means but I believe the mint allows for some slight issues such as this and still considers them normal. That being said I believe the grading service would as well.

[amosamos16]

Not to sound condescending but I would not send these out to be graded. The fees to grade these out weighs their value by a long shot. If you want a slabed 74 I would imagine you could pick one up at eBay for half the cost of sending it out. Remember they made millions of these and fine examples can be found without to much trouble.

[jallengomez]

Sonya-
I agree with the above. A 1974 would have to hit a grade of MS67 in order to be worth the grading fees, and neither of these coins would hit that grade. The first one is the best of the two and is certainly a solid GEM, so put it away and protect it and keep it. It's a nice coin.

Jody

[liveandievarieties]

To answer your original question Sonyaonya, you shouldn't have any problem getting those coins into normal holders.

But, I have to echo what the others say- the high grade slab game is absolutely brutal. I've sent countless memorial cents that I think are absolutely incredible, only to get grades of MS64 and 65. And I'm really not a bad grader, I buy and sell for a living! I have had much better luck on earlier wheats, but it's nearly the same story for post-1954 cents. I'd venture to say that for every MS-67 I get, I send in over 100 different coins, no joke.

I do know that some people have had luck doing bulk submissions of 100 of the same date...but again, really pricey and quite a gamble. I like the suggestion that you buy a nice MS-66 on eBay for $10, it'll probably end up being one of my coins!!

[jcuve]

...is a slightly off centered coin penalized during the grading process?...

I agree with what has been said about buying an already slabbed '74 (or just about anything post '50 or so).

And an off-center cent should not impact the grade, however, the coin shown is not off-center but has a slight MAD (misaligned die) and is within tolerances. Good luck!

[lara4228]

Sonya,

What did you end up doing? Did you send it off to get slabbed or did you end up buying one off of ebay?

Lara