@iowaboy46: "i bought a ATB 5oz slabbed by pcgs. its graded as BU. curious, why not use 
M62, M63, or whatever the numerical equivalent is?"
    @mhb: "<quote>
Two reasons I can see:
The primary distributors were not supposed to sell different grades of
coins at different prices, so there was no advantage to them of paying
for a numerical grade.
I don't have access to the agreement between PCGS and whoever had your
hockey pucks slabbed (presumably a primary distributor like A-Mark), but
my guess is that because PCGS doesn't have to honor a grading
guarantee on BU coins, the distributor may have been able to negotiate
a lower price.  PCGS might have also agreed to the lower price in hopes
of "double dipping" if people sent the coins back for a numerical grade.
The coins I got from A-Mark are slabbed "Choice BU" and to my
uncalibrated eye range from MS67 up.  I won't be paying for reslabbing,
nor will I slab any pucks I buy directly from the mint.
Mike Benveniste  <email_address> (Clarification Required)
You don't have to sort of enhance reality. There is nothing
stranger than truth.  Annie Leibovitz"
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