[Sarasota, Florida] Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC), http://www.ngccoin.com, the world leader in third-party coin grading, announced the opening of a new European branch office in Konstanz, Germany. The new location will address growing demand for NGC’s expert services throughout Europe, while offering coin dealers and collectors a faster, more efficient method to submit coins to NGC’s U.S. headquarters for certification and grading.

“We are very excited about the location in Konstanz and the opportunity to connect with more hobbyists in Europe,” said Steve Eichenbaum, NGC CEO. “Offering a straightforward submission process out of Germany will hopefully make a big difference for dealers and collectors throughout the EU. Mostly, we’re looking forward to seeing some beautiful European rarities surface in the coming year.”

European dealers and collectors currently rely on NGC’s Switzerland location to submit coins to NGC’s headquarters in Sarasota, Fla., USA. While the current office is reliable, efficient and cost effective for dealers and collectors in Switzerland, the new location will benefit customers in EU member states.

“The new Germany location will no doubt generate excitement throughout the EU member states,” said Richard Stein, director of NGC European operations. “NGC grading — not to mention the NGC holder — is in high demand here in Europe, and we’re thrilled to think of the many great World coins we’ll be able to certify. I can’t help but think the auction prices will be impressive, as well, with so many NGC-graded World coins going to market.”

NGC brings 25 years of experience certifying and grading collectible coins in the popular and growing numismatic marketplace. The U.S.-based company employs a large staff of full-time coin graders, many of whom are among the most skilled and acclaimed in their field, making NGC the world’s largest third-party coin grading company. The knowledge, integrity and dedication of NGC’s grading team ensure a level of accuracy and consistency unparalleled among grading services, allowing hobbyists around the world to collect with confidence.

About Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC)
Founded in 1987, NGC has become the global leader in rare coin authenticating and certifying, having graded more than 24 million coins. With a presence in the U.S., Switzerland, Germany, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea and China (Guangzhou and Hong Kong), NGC provides customers with an independent, impartial source of grading integrity and guarantee of authenticity. The trusted choice for thousands of collectors and dealers worldwide, NGC’s record of uncompromising standards has helped to foster greater stability throughout the rare coin marketplace.

PNG Forms Coin Doctoring Definition Committee

(Temecula,California) — The Professional Numismatists Guild (www.PNGdealers.com) has formed a committee composed of PNG members and non-members to research and draft an industry-acceptable definition of “coin doctoring.” 

“They will draft an exhaustive but concise definition.  Coin doctoring is a crucial, perplexing issue that needs to be addressed for the benefit of collectors and dealers,” said Jeffrey Bernberg, PNG President.  “We’re determined to get this done.”

The committee is headed by John Albanese, President of Certified Acceptance Corporation (CAC) and the National Consumer Alliance (www.StopCoinFraud.com), a non-profit numismatic organization involved in consumer education and protection.  Albanese was also a co-founder of Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) in 1986 and the founder of Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) in 1987, the two largest, independent third-party rare coin authentication and grading companies.

Also serving on the committee are former PNG Vice President John Feigenbaum of David Lawrence Rare Coins; Frank Greenberg of Delaware Valley Rare Coins; PNG Immediate Past President Paul Montgomery of American Precious Metals Exchange; Laura Sperber of Legend Numismatics; and Scott Travers, author of The Coin Collector’s Survival Manual.

“The committee consists of a varied group of respected numismatists who have a wide range of expertise. Our job is to specifically define coin doctoring so we can better protect consumers from buying coins that have been tampered with in a manner meant to deceptively alter a coin, and thus, affect the long-term value of their investment,” said Albanese.

“The doctoring problem plagues the industry as a whole and has the potential to affect the credibility of all rare coins, certified or otherwise. The PNG is the ideal organization to lead an unbiased charge against the unsavory tactics of coin doctors because the PNG stands at the forefront of numismatic integrity and leadership in the professional coin community.”

In July 2010, the PNG Board of Directors in partnership with NGC and PCGS adopted a definition of coin doctoring “to help combat the deliberative and unacceptable alteration of coins in an effort to deceive.”  However, that definition subsequently was rejected by PNG members in January of this year. 

“The PNG By-Laws provide the general membership with the opportunity to override decisions made by the Board.  In this case, the membership voted overwhelmingly to keep the previous PNG Code of Ethics definition in place and not adopt a more-substantive new wording specifically about coin doctoring until the issue could be more clearly defined,” said PNG Executive Director Robert Brueggeman. 

 ”We’re now working to get that clear definition and the consensus of the membership.”

(Newport Beach, California)–The Certified Coin Exchange (CCE), the world’s largest online dealer-to-dealer network, has added sight unseen bidding and trading in “plus” (+) grade designated coins certified by Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) and Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC).

“This enables CCE dealers to make a market in plus-graded coins,” said Cassi East, President of CCE, a division of Collectors Universe, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLCT).

The change coincides with the introduction of the revolutionary new PCGS Secure Plus service.

“The new CCE functionality was developed in the lead up to the announcement of the addition of ‘plus’ grades from the rare coin market’s two leading grading services, PCGS and NGC. Both certification companies will be designating a ‘+’ for high end examples for the grades 45 thru 68 (excluding 60 and 61). CCE Market Makers posting bids and asks in plus-graded coins on the exchange will enhance the already excellent market liquidity for graded coins,” East stated.

“Additionally, Collectors CornerSM, the premier online marketplace for serious collectors, has also added plus grades. This enables Collectors Corner dealers to list plus graded coins available for sale to the public. Check www.collectorscorner.com for the latest plus-graded listings.”

The new CCE rule for plus-graded bidding reads: For coins graded “+” (for example, MS64+), sight seen bidding is not allowed. All bids are automatically sight unseen. Further, all sight seen bids for non-plus grades will be automatically posted as sight unseen bid for the plus grade.

“For example, if you are bidding $2,000 sight seen for a MS65 $20 Saint Gaudens, you will automatically have a sight unseen bid of $2,000 posted for a MS65+ $20 Saint Gaudens. Quantity amounts on the automatic plus grade bids will match your quantity for the non-plus grade sight seen bid,” East explained.

For additional information about the Certified Coin Exchange and Collectors Corner, visit online at www.CertifiedCoinExchange.com and www.CollectorsCorner.com, e-mail at helpdesk@CertifiedCoinExchange.com or call (800) 733-6623.

]]> http://coinagemag.com/blog/the-big-one-just-got-bigger/feed/ 0 http://coinagemag.com/blog/and-this-from-ngc/ http://coinagemag.com/blog/and-this-from-ngc/#comments Thu, 25 Mar 2010 21:25:30 +0000 marcy http://coinagemag.com/?p=461 Leading Grading Services Announce Plus Designation

New grade discriminator will be used to indicate premium quality; NGC welcomes dealer and collector feedback on the new service line.

[Florida] The plus designation, a notation of premium quality, has been announced by NGC and PCGS. The service will be available from NGC beginning in approximately 60-days and launched formally by PCGS on March 25, 2010. Denoted by a + symbol appearing after the grade, the plus designation indicates that a coin is of superior quality for the grade and that it approaches the next technical grade level. In numismatics, in addition to plus, several terms are used interchangeably to indicate this including premium quality, PQ, and high-end.

Aspects of the service offered by NGC and PCGS are similar. The plus designation applies only to US coins from select classic series, and it is not currently planned to be applied to modern coinage issues. Additionally, it will be used on eligible coins grading from the XF-range up to MS 68. For coins to be evaluated for the plus designation, submitters will have to opt-in to a plus designation review service in addition to the standard grading tier.

After the service launch, in approximately 60-days, coins with the plus designation will receive a point premium in the NGC Registry and be reported in a forthcoming enhancement of the NGC Census. Additionally, price guides and coin trading networks including the Certified Coin Exchange will be supporting the plus designation.

“The coin marketplace has evolved in the nearly 25 years since NGC and PCGS began certifying coins, and this is a very logical progression. We have always been conscious of the variation within grades. By providing this information on the label in the plus format, it is communicated in a simple and direct way that allows these distinctions to be readily understood,” comments NGC Chairman, Mark Salzberg.

PCGS founder David Hall stated, “The reality of the market place is that coins considered high end for the grade are recognized by sophisticated dealers and collectors and such coins are worth a premium in the marketplace. The term plus has been part of the everyday trading and grading lingo for years. For the market’s two leading grading services to recognize this reality and designate these premium coins as part of their grading services is a huge benefit to all participants in the rare coin market.”

During the next two months, NGC will be finalizing and announcing service details. Comments from dealers and collectors are welcome on any aspect of this new service. Correspondence should be directed to plus@ngccoin.com, and all messages received will be thoughtfully considered. Additional information about the service will be reported on NGC’s website, www.NGCcoin.com, and can be requested by e-mail.

(Fort Worth, Texas) – The Professional Coin Grading Service (www.PCGS.com) has launched PCGS Secure Plus™, a revolutionary new process with high-tech security and scrutiny to increase the confidence of collectors and dealers, and a new certification designation that potentially can increase the value of coins.

The PCGS Secure Plus process uses laser scanning to help detect coins that have been artificially enhanced since their last certification, combat “gradeflation” and excessive resubmissions of the same coins, and can also be used to help identify recovered stolen coins. Additionally, PCGS expert graders can now designate deserving, superior-quality coins as “Plus” within their respective grades, an important distinction when there are big differences in value between one grade point and the next.

Announcement of the unprecedented breakthrough was made by PCGS executives on the opening day at the American Numismatic Association National Money Show™ in Fort Worth, Texas. They explained how the new process of digitally scanning each coin to capture its distinctive characteristics is being integrated into the PCGS grading system and how it helps resolve important issues in the rare coin marketplace by offering:

Increased precision and consistency in grading

Improved detection of altered coins

Less chance of “gradeflation”

More likely recovery if a PCGS Secure Plus coin is stolen

Increased value of high-end coins within each grade

Developed after years of extensive software and hardware development and testing in partnership with Coinsecure, Inc. of Palo Alto, California, the PCGS Secure Plus service digitally captures a unique “fingerprint” of each coin that is then entered into a permanent data base.

PCGS Secure Plus will introduce a new level of confidence and security in the coin collecting market” said PCGS President Don Willis. “We believe that PCGS Secure Plus addresses several of the leading issues affecting the industry today. PCGS Secure Plus is a patent-pending process wherein a coin is laser scanned, imaged and registered in a permanent data base. Every coin has its own identifying characteristics. Coins are like snowflakes at the micron level; they are very different from each other. If a coin has been previously registered in our system it will be identified whenever it’s again scanned by us, so duplication of coin information will be eliminated. As a result, population reports, condition census and other potentially distorted information will be much more accurate for PCGS Secure Plus coins.”

“The process also can help detect if a previously registered coin has been artificially toned, dipped or processed in some other way in an effort to get a higher grade. Not since PCGS introduced encapsulated third-party grading in 1986 has such an important step been taken to protect the consumer. We believe PCGS Secure Plus will totally revolutionize the coin grading business,” said Willis.

“Thousands of tests of the current PCGS Secure Plus system now have been performed, and not once did a previously registered coin go unmatched and not once did we get a false-positive match. Extensive testing was done by many individuals in an attempt to break this system, including all the gimmicks and coin altering processes PCGS has seen over the years, such as foreign material applied to a coin’s surface. We even tested coins that had been scratched and marked up. All of them were recognized and matched with the PCGS Secure Plus system. No one has been able to beat this system,” Willis stated.

“PCGS Secure Plus is an innovative service that also addresses the significant price gaps between one grade point and the next by formally recognizing high-end specimens within respective grades,” said David Hall, Co-Founder of PCGS and President of its parent company, Collectors Universe, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLCT). “The reality of the marketplace is that coins considered high end for the grade are recognized by sophisticated dealers and collectors and such coins are worth a premium in the marketplace. The term ‘plus’ has been a part of the everyday trading and grading lingo for years. The high end for any particular grade represents the top 30 percent of the scale within a grade and I estimate that the plus designation would apply to approximately 15 percent to 20 percent of the coins within a grade. Those technically superior coins in the high end for their grade will now have a plus sign (+) on their PCGS insert label.”

“The evolution of the rare coin marketplace has produced significant price gaps between some coins that are only one grade point apart. For example, the PCGS Price Guide lists 1880-O Morgan dollars as $2,000 graded PCGS MS64 and $25,000 in MS65. PCGS Secure Plus will more accurately reflect the quality and market value of coins designated as ‘Plus’ and meeting our strict requirements,” said Hall.

The Plus designation will be available only in conjunction with PCGS Secure Plus service and in grades XF45 to MS68, except for MS60 and MS61.

Another benefit for the hobby is that if a PCGS Secure Plus-certified coin is ever lost or stolen and subsequently resubmitted to PCGS, it can be automatically identified and the recovery process will begin for the rightful owner.

PCGS Secure Plus is being offered as a separate, new service. All existing PCGS services will continue to be offered without change except for Rarities and Ultra Rarities which now will only be offered with the PCGS Secure Plus service. Initially, PCGS Secure Plus will be offered for Walkthru, Express and Gold Express services only for raw coins, re-grades and re-holders.

“When PCGS opened in February 1986, we ‘flicked a switch’ and changed the rare coin market. We’ve just flicked another switch, and this changes everything. Imagine a world without coin doctoring. Imagine a world without ‘gradeflation.’ This is the right thing to do,” said Hall.

“This is an exceptional development,” declared well-known numismatic consumer advocate Scott Travers, author of the award-winning Coin Collectors Survival Manual and a paid consultant to PCGS. “PCGS is going to be acknowledging what most of us have been trying to increase awareness of for years by recognizing coins that are at the high end of the spectrum. Consumers are now going to have this singularly valuable piece of information available to guide them in buying and selling coins.”

For additional information, contact PCGS Customer Service at (800) 447-8848, or visit at www.PCGS.com.