What is a 1987 W silver eagle MS 70 PCI certified coin worth?

Answer 1

The value of a MS-70 certified coin will vary widely, depending on which company did the certification. PCGS and NGC are considered the top tier grading services -- much more highly regarded as the services to have your coins graded by. They are more strict and consistant in their grading practices, have a much higher collector demand for them, and therefore are worth significantly more money. The second tier of grading services -- ANACS and ICG -- are not quite as highly regarded and are worth significantly less money than the top tier services. But they are still significantly better than the third tier services. The other grading services, like PCI, SEGS, NTC, SGS (and several others) are much less highly regarded and are considered the third tier (AKA Third World) grading services. They are more lenient, and give out alot more of the MS-70 grades, sometimes to coins that do not deserve them. Therefore, their value is almost always much less than coins from the upper tier services. For example, recent eBay sales show NGC certified MS-70 1986 Silver Eagles regularly selling for over $400 (and one for almost $800). At the same time, ICG certified MS-70 coins sold in the $100-$200 range. And third tier service coins sold mostly in the $35-$45 range (with one at $21 and one at $66). And in examining several other years, again the trend remained the same. While there were no 1987 coins in the top & second tier holders sold on eBay to do a direct comparison, the trend would remain the same. Third tier 1987 coins sold in the $15-$46 range. So to answer your question, your 1987 Silver Eagle graded by PCI as MS-70 for $40 is within the normal price range -- just a little on the high side for this year.