Change may be in the air at one or more coin grading services, but dealers, collectors and investors will find business as usual at Certified Acceptance Corp. (CAC).

That’s the company’s message to the hobby in the wake of reports that at least one of the two largest grading services is considering the establishment of “premium-quality” grade designations.

CAC examines and evaluates coins that have been certified by either the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) or the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation of America (NGC). It then affixes a distinctive green sticker to the holder of each coin which, in its judgment, fully merits the grade that was assigned. Each sticker incorporates a tamper-evident hologram.

According to Albanese, CAC will continue to evaluate submissions, and determine whether to award stickers to those coins, strictly in the context of the basic numerical grades assigned by either PCGS or NGC. He said it will disregard any additional descriptive words or symbols.

“We don’t want buyers and sellers to get the impression that by stickering a coin, CAC is confirming someone else’s ‘PQ’ designation,” Albanese said.

CAC makes a market in coins that it has stickered, and its disregard of PQ-type designations will be reflected in its buying and selling prices.

“For example, CAC’s bid price for an 1892-O Barber quarter graded MS65 is $1,150,” Albanese said. “If the coin was graded PQ and had a CAC sticker, our buy price would remain the same – $1,150. If it had a star plus our sticker, we’d still pay $1,150. And if it came with an asterisk or a rainbow or a halo, we’d still pay $1,150 – as long as it had a sticker.”

Since opening for business in late 2007, CAC has received more than 144,000 submissions from member dealers and collectors, and has awarded green stickers to just over 68,000 of these. The declared insurance value of these coins totals about $800 million.

To date, the company has bought and sold CAC-stickered coins with a wholesale trading volume of nearly $150 million.
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The Certified Acceptance Corp. (CAC) is now accepting membership applications from collectors. Those who meet certain requirements will be eligible to submit certified coins directly to the company for evaluation.

Up to now, CAC membership has been open only to dealers, and collectors wishing to submit their coins to the company have had to do so through member dealers.

The change reflects growing awareness throughout the hobby of CAC’s role in the marketplace, according to John Albanese, founder and president of the New Jersey-based company. It also is intended to simplify the submission process for collectors who might have found it difficult to make arrangements through dealers.

“We want to make it as easy as possible for people to submit their coins to us,” Albanese said. “At the same time, we don’t want them making costly mistakes, so we want to be sure they fully understand the submission process before they send us their coins.

“In particular, we want to be sure that they’re thoroughly familiar with how to send coins, including how to ship them through private carriers.”

CAC experts examine coins previously certified by either the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) or the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation of America (NGC). CAC then affixes a distinctive green sticker to the holder of each coin which, in its judgment, fully merits the grade that was assigned. Each sticker incorporates a tamper-resistant hologram.

The authenticity of CAC-stickered coins can be confirmed by going to the company’s Internet Web site, www.caccoin.com, and entering each coin’s serial number in the Verification Search form as directed. (more…)

After months of careful preparation, the Certified Acceptance Corp. (CAC) has unveiled a Population Register on its Internet Web site giving detailed information – at no charge – on certified coins it has examined.

The register encompasses all major types of federal U.S. coinage, but does not yet include Colonial coins or territorial gold. It lists the types and grades of coins – and the number of each – that CAC has judged to be certified in appropriate grade levels.

“This is something we planned from the very beginning,” said John Albanese, founder and president of the company. “We waited until now to implement the plan because we wanted to ensure that the number of coins would be a representative sample.”

CAC experts examine coins previously certified by either the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) or the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation of America (NGC). CAC then affixes a distinctive green sticker to the holder of each coin which, in its judgment, fully merits the grade that was assigned. Each sticker incorporates a tamper-resistant hologram.

New Jersey-based CAC began operations in late 2007, and the Population Register reflects all certified federal coins that have earned the company’s stickers since that time – a period of approximately 20 months.

The register will be updated weekly, Albanese said, and will give coin buyers and sellers – free of charge – an accurate, reliable resource for assessing the number of well-graded certified coins available in the marketplace.

The Population Register can be accessed at CAC’s Web site, www.caccoin.com.