ANA Registry PROS and CONS
By now, all of you have heard that ANA is going to be
hosting a coin registry sometime later this year. The Registry is being
designed by NGC, the official grading service of the ANA, and will probably
look very similar to the registry that NGC already maintains. So I guess
the obvious question is WHY? I have given that some thought and here are
my Pros and Cons to this idea.
PRO
It will drive more activity to the website in general and possibly increase participation in our forums from current members who have not participated (The Vast Majority)
It will lead to increased membership as non-members use the new ANA registry
and see the benefits of membership as an adjunct to their registry activities.
It will lead to increased attendance at the National Money Show as that will be
the annual venue where registry set winners will be recognized.
It will be a haven for registry fans who want to display both NGC and PCGS
coins in the same set without restriction. I understand that current ANA
members will get some kind of special icon indicating their membership (not
necessarily a major incentive to join) .
In summary, it will increase revenue for the club and increase activity on the
website.
CON
It deviates from the spirit of the club in that this seems
like a purely commercial venture that is not going to enhance individual
members as they can already utilize registry sets maintained by both NGC and
PCGS.
It gives the appearance of ANA being some kind of puppet for NGC and other
commercial ventures. One feels that ANS would never be involved in such a
base effort.
I suspect It is not something most member care about or support. I have
NGC registry sets, I have no desire to have them transported automatically
here, although that is the plan.
In summary, it may increase club revenues but at the cost of her soul.
Comments
user_7180
Level 5
Only time will tell how this impacts the ANA and its membership. A simple duplication should hurt, but a morph in to other Numismatic areas could help.
Mike
Level 7
You know i just left my NGC Registary site. You have sets we here can only drem of . There sets are complete expensiv its very hard to navigate. The people.here i recomend they know everything they have to. Its very confussing. I was told that my Ike set would be acceped in my nickle set even though i had a heading for the Ike set. I have over 480 coins over there im not close. Yes two sets are one and two in there catagory but thats it. The pages keep on moving. They NGC get questions everyday. Unless you have very special sets and coins i dont think it stands a chance here. What are the yns going to do.? Watch.? Thats what im doing.they have a whole.section of people trying to help those who cant navagte the site. For me its a place to watch and keep my coins. Thats it. They take PCGS coins after they say there ok. You get them back in a email mixed up with all your pcgs coins try seperating them . Its no joke there in for double the work at the ana. Frustration at the ANA. Extra workers to answer. And the ones at NGC will hop over here with there already winning sets. Enjoy my friends caos is on the way. The new members will from NGC were else! Give it a try now you have plenty of time. Let me know how easy it is. I will sum this nup its a gimmick. Pure and simple. I will leave my coins at NGC because they will not know what to do. Waite till you see all the pages involved!!
slybluenote
Level 5
I'm not sure if I'm even qualified to weigh in on this subject. I do know this though. I'm currently using my collections on this website. I tried to use the NGC registry but was told that my coins had to be graded by NGC first. I only have 1 NGC graded coin and 1 PCGS graded coin. So I decided not to use the NGC registry. So far, the only problem with "my collections" is that it won't let me edit the collection after I post it. The good part is that my coins don't have to be graded by a TPGS to be displayed on the website. Thanks for the post Malcolm. It is certainly "food for thought"! Charlie
Coin Collecting With Tyler
Level 4
Thank you for sharing your knowledge to the coin collecting community
Liberty Walking Half
Level 5
very good points; I really don't think the ANA should do this -- we have a great online community here, do we want to risk messing it up?
LNCS
Level 5
I think it is an excellent idea and look forward to participating.
"SUN"
Level 6
I agree with Longstrider. I see as a gimmick.
coinsbygary
Level 5
I will say this that the ANA was on the right track with the "My Collections" part of my ANA home page. Unfortunately, this feature was clumsy and difficult to work with. For now, I'm in a wait and see mode. I wasn't really pressing for this change but now that it's coming I'm curious about what effect it will have. Still, I can't help but wonder why the ANA didn't make "My Collections" a little more user-friendly. I tried it but found the NGC registry much easier customize to my liking.
It's Mokie
Level 6
You're right on about My Collections feature, Gary, it could have been an outstanding feature , but they made it so difficult to work with that it's just not worth the effort to start or to maintain.
Mike
Level 7
Gary unfortunately the NGC site and the ANA site will be put together. The sad thing the ideas people came up with won't count. You and everyone knows there going to do it no matter what we say. You can have 16000 people.say no and come January it's done. When have they ever ever asked our opinion. That's what I thought never. It truly never was a place for collectors come January the ANA as we know it will cease to excist
Longstrider
Level 6
I'm against it. Here's why. First it's a transparant attempt to gain member ship. Good idea bad way to do it. NGC and PCGS both already have this. We, as ANA members can have a NGC Registry set now. What do we gain. It should also allow ANACS sets. They were originally a part of the ANA after all. IT should have a raw set area. Also numi items. I ran into a similar idea in a separate co. I was with. It too is a charitable, tax exempt company. Giving prizes is a fast way to loose this rating. We ended up loosing the members that wanted to continue with prizes. Can't do it. I hope all these and other concerns are addressed before it is rolled out.. Good luck to us. On that note did anybody here get to vote on this idea???
It's Mokie
Level 6
To me, an ideal registry set should contain both coins and other related objects like you might see at the ANA show exhibit area. The closest I have seen to that, given the restrictions of the PCGS or NGC format are the custom sets that Gary puts together, they are not just an accumulation of coins, but a true educational experience. Custom sets are that opportunity to be creative and some folks are masters at that.
Well worn Copper
Level 5
I agree with Mike B. as well as Gary and say this as an overall non-competitive individual. "Buy the best you can afford" has always been the golden rule for me, and while I enjoy seeing what others have accomplished, it usually comes down to years of searching and/or a matter of deep pockets. An ANA registry should include stuff such as raw coins (or better yet) collections made up from metal detector finds or even pocket change. Let's get creative, especially for our younger members! Until then the NGC registry seems to be doing just fine. I personally find the modern registry sets kind of boring, however.... anyone can find PR70 and MS70 coins with no problem, throw them together and claim it's a registry set.
World_Coin_Nut
Level 5
I have mixed feelings about this. If done properly I feel that the registry is educational. I have both competitive and non-competitive sets on NGC but I hope they will not be automatically migrated into the new ANA registry. I do like that you will be able to use both PCGS and NGC coins but Gary is correct in that they should consider raw and other grading services.
Mike
Level 7
Gary the first thing I read was our Mission Statement. This goes entirely against it. We are an institution of learning. Now we If Not the teaching and learning and go to its who has the best set that counts. Some of our members have done well. To them I wish them well. What happens to the kids or those who just started and countless members who have collected what we want. That statement now hurts those with a collection there proud of. But not good enough for such competition. I said it. The ANA will be an organization of competition. The learning part I fear will overtime lead to just a registry site. There all in it P.C.G.S N.G.C. And A.N.A. Sounds more like a monopoly than an independent center for learning. Who can beat who? Who gets the big bucks.I will stay in the non competitive part of It if i stay. Thanks great blog.
Golfer
Level 5
Hosting a coin registry seems like a good way to promote numismatics. Maybe more ANA members will start a coin registry since its part of the ANA. Will be interesting once its established.
coinsbygary
Level 5
Those are all valid points but like NGC the ANA is a business albeit chartered by congress. The ANA has to make money or it will fail. NGC has been the "official (fill in the blank)" of the ANA since I can remember. Apparently, over the years this relationship has been beneficial to both businesses. I've heard people complaining that the ANA should have its own registry. For the ANA to reinvent the wheel would have been a fool's errand. What is disappointing is that the ANA's registry, if it is to be truly independent, should allow raw and certified coins from any legitimate grading company. You mention ANS and interestingly it has a different mission like the cataloging of numismatic items like the newly acquired die library of the defunct Medallic Art Corp. The mission of the ANA encompasses knowledge and research and like you, I hope the ANA never veers off her mission as described in her founding charter. In the end, the proof is in the pudding.