Professional Coin Grading Service
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Professional Coin Grading Service
Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) is an American third-party coin grading, authentication, attribution, and encapsulation service founded in 1985. The intent of its seven founding dealers, including the firm's former president David Hall, was to standardize grading.Laibstain, Harry. ''Investing, collecting & trading in certified commemoratives: an in-depth analysis of gold & silver issues 1892-1954''. DLRC Press, 1995, p. 1-134. The firm has divisions in Europe and Asia, and is owned by parent company Collectors Universe. PCGS has graded over 42.5 million coins, medals, and tokens valued at over $36 billion. History PCGS was founded in 1985 by seven dealers, including the firm's former president, David Hall. The founders' intent was to establish definitive grading standards, backed by a guarantee of grading accuracy. PCGS began operations on February 3, 1986. The firm has since started grading foreign coins and established divisions in Europe and Asia, and was purchased by ...
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Collectors Universe
Collectors Universe Inc. is an American company formed in 1986, now based in Santa Ana, California, which provides third-party authentication and grading services to collectors, retail buyers and sellers of collectibles. Its authentication services focus on coins, trading cards, sports memorabilia, and autographs. The company reached the combined total of 75 million certified collectibles in 2019. Collectors Universe is also a publisher in fields relating to collecting. The company engages in business-to-business market for certified coins under Certified Coin Exchange, and a business-to-consumer under Collectors Corner. PCGS Coin Authentication and Grading Services focuses on coins market and have authenticated and graded over 42.5 million coins, medals, and tokens with an estimated market value of over $36 billion. History In 2000, Collectors Universe acquired James J. Spence, Jr.'s sports autograph authentication company and later acquired privately held Odyssey Publicatio ...
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Third-party Grading
Third Party Grading (TPG) refers to coin grading & banknote grading, grading of stamps, cards, comic books, etc., authentication, attribution, and encapsulation by independent certification services. These services will, for a tiered fee, "slab" an item. Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS), Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC), Independent Coin Graders (ICG), and ANACS are the most popular and credible services. Together they have certified over 80 million coins. All four firms guarantee the grades and authenticity of their certified coins. Certified Acceptance Corporation (CAC) is a coin certification service which certifies—and makes a market in—certain high-end coins already certified by PCGS or NGC. History Modern third-party coin grading service is presently defined by the tamper-resistant plastic "slab," which encapsulates both the item and its certification. Before the slab, there was no way to permanently tie the certificate to the actual item being certifie ...
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The Coin Collector’s Survival Manual
''The Coin Collector's Survival Manual'' is a coin collecting and investing reference book authored by Scott A. Travers that was first published by Arco, a Prentice-Hall imprint, in July 1984 simultaneously in hardcover and paper editions. Its then 22-year-old author bluntly detailed the coin industry's perils and pitfalls in buying, selling and storing valuable coins based on his experiences as a dealer. The book has since been updated and published in multiple editions. In 1988, when its second edition was published by Prentice Hall Trade, a division of Simon & Schuster, it was considered an important part of the coin literature. The third (1994); revised third (1996); fourth (2000); and revised fourth (2003) editions were published by Bonus Books of Chicago. Beginning with the fifth edition, ''The Coin Collector's Survival Manual'' incorporated another book authored by Scott A. Travers, ''How to Make Money in Coins Right Now'', and the combination work was published in 2006 by ...
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Near Field Communication
Near-field communication (NFC) is a set of communication protocols that enables communication between two electronic devices over a distance of 4 cm (1 in) or less. NFC offers a low-speed connection through a simple setup that can be used to bootstrap more-capable wireless connections. Like other "proximity card" technologies, NFC is based on inductive coupling between two so-called antennas present on NFC-enabled devices—for example a smartphone and a printer—communicating in one or both directions, using a frequency of 13.56 MHz in the globally available unlicensed radio frequency ISM band using the ISO/IEC 18000-3 air interface standard at data rates ranging from 106 to 424 kbit/s. The standards were provided by the NFC Forum. The forum was responsible for promoting the technology and setting standards and certifies device compliance. Secure communications are available by applying encryption algorithms as is done for credit cards and if they fit the crite ...
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Universal Product Code
The Universal Product Code (UPC or UPC code) is a barcode symbology that is widely used worldwide for tracking trade items in stores. UPC (technically refers to UPC-A) consists of 12 digits that are uniquely assigned to each trade item. Along with the related International Article Number (EAN) barcode, the UPC is the barcode mainly used for scanning of trade items at the point of sale, per the specifications of the international GS1 organisation. UPC data structures are a component of Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs) and follow the global GS1 specification, which is based on international standards. But some retailers (clothing, furniture) do not use the GS1 system (rather other barcode symbologies or article number systems). On the other hand, some retailers use the EAN/UPC barcode symbology, but without using a GTIN (for products sold in their own stores only). Research indicates that the adoption and diffusion of the UPC stimulated innovation and contributed to the growth ...
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Numismatic Guaranty Corporation
Numismatic Guaranty Company (NGC) is an international third-party coin grading and certification service based in Sarasota, Florida. It has certified more than 50 million coins. NGC certification consists of authentication, grading, attribution, and encapsulation in clear plastic holders. NGC is a subsidiary of Certified Collectibles Group (CCG), which owns six collectible certification services and is in turn owned by Blackstone, a multibillion dollar New York City hedge fund. History NGC was founded in 1987 in Parsippany, N.J. as one of the first independent third-party coin grading companies. In 1995, NGC was named the official grading service of the ANA, though this is purely for marketing purposes as the ANA does not encapsulate coins in its collection, and those that are encapsulated are a mix of donated coins by different services including rivals such as PCGS. NGC commenced operations at its new location in Sarasota, Florida in 2002. That same year, NGC was named the ...
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Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction over federal civil antitrust enforcement with the Department of Justice Antitrust Division. The agency is headquartered in the Federal Trade Commission Building in Washington, DC. The FTC was established in 1914 with the passage of the Federal Trade Commission Act, signed in response to the 19th-century monopolistic trust crisis. Since its inception, the FTC has enforced the provisions of the Clayton Act, a key antitrust statute, as well as the provisions of the FTC Act, et seq. Over time, the FTC has been delegated with the enforcement of additional business regulation statutes and has promulgated a number of regulations (codified in Title 16 of the Code of Federal Regulations). The broad statutory authority granted to the FTC provide ...
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Coin Collecting
Coin collecting is the collecting of coins or other forms of minted legal tender. Coins of interest to collectors often include those that were in circulation for only a brief time, coins with mint errors, and especially beautiful or historically significant pieces. Coin collecting can be differentiated from numismatics, in that the latter is the systematic study of currency as a whole, though the two disciplines are closely interlinked. A coin's grade is a main determinant of its value. Commercial organizations offer grading services and will grade, authenticate, attribute, and encapsulate most coins. History People have hoarded coins for their bullion value for as long as coins have been minted. However, the collection of coins for their artistic value was a later development. Evidence from the archaeological and historical record of Ancient Rome and medieval Mesopotamia indicates that coins were collected and catalogued by scholars and state treasuries. It also seems pr ...
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Currency
A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general definition is that a currency is a ''system of money'' in common use within a specific environment over time, especially for people in a nation state. Under this definition, the British Pound Sterling (£), euros (€), Japanese yen (¥), and U.S. dollars (US$)) are examples of (government-issued) fiat currencies. Currencies may act as stores of value and be traded between nations in foreign exchange markets, which determine the relative values of the different currencies. Currencies in this sense are either chosen by users or decreed by governments, and each type has limited boundaries of acceptance - i.e. legal tender laws may require a particular unit of account for payments to government agencies. Other definitions of the term "curren ...
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First Strike Coins
First strike is a marketing term used by third party coin grading services which refers to coins which were struck first by a mint. The U.S. Mint maintains that there is no widely accepted and standardized numismatic industry definition of First Strike coins. Several coin grading companies have decided that a "first strike" coin is one that shipped from the mint in the first month of the new minting. No U.S. Mint First Strike Program The U.S. Mint has stated that they do not keep track of which coins were struck first. The mint has dates on the packaging for the coins, however they also state that the shipping dates do not reveal exactly when the coins were struck. Lawsuit In 2006 a Miami lawyer filed a 10 million dollar lawsuit in a Miami court, alleging the "First Strike" label is deceptive. The lawsuit was filed against the two coin grading companies: Numismatic Guaranty Corp., (NGC) based in Sarasota, Fla., and Professional Coin Grading Service, (PCGS) of Newport Beach, Cali ...
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Coin Grading
Coin grading is the process of determining the grade or condition of a coin, one of the key factors in determining its value. A coin's grade is generally determined by six criteria: strike, preservation, luster, color, attractiveness, and occasionally the country/state in which they’re minted. Several grading systems have been developed. Certification services professionally grade coins for tiered fees. Overview A "grade" measures a coin's appearance. There are generally five main components which determine a coin's grade: strike, surface preservation, luster, coloration and eye appeal. Grading is subjective and even experts can disagree about the grade of a given coin. History U.S. coin grading has evolved over the years to a system of finer and finer grade distinctions. Originally, there were only two grades, new and used. This changed to the letter grading system beginning with the lowest grade – ''Basal State'' (also ''Poor'' (PO)), then continuing ''Fair'' (Fr), ''Abou ...
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