DGS announced today that effective immediately, all grading and certification operations at Dominion Grading Service (DGS) has been discontinued.

In a statement posted on the David Lawrence Blog page, the following explaination was given:

“In the time since we started DGS, both PCGS and NGC have made great strides and improvements to their grading technologies and practices and we no longer feel that our services are needed. Additionally, CAC is doing a fantastic job of assessing the quality in PCGS and NGC holders.

As for DGS, we simply do not feel that there is enough demand for collector coins at this time to merit our further investment. We have discontinued grading at DGS at this time. If you have DGS-graded coins to sell, please offer them to us for sale. We remain committed to the quality and standards of our grading at DGS and we still make two-way markets in DGS-graded coins. ”

In April 2008 DLRC launched Dominion Grading Service using the assets of the old PCI grading services thay had purchases as a base. At the time John Feigenbaum said ” “we had initially planned to keep the PCI brand name, but we quickly realized that it would be impossible to overcome the confusion that would ensue as we endeavor to recalibrate the [PCI] grading standards. Therefore, we have decided to discontinue the PCI brand in favor of an all-new grading company named Dominion Grading Service.“

Although Dominion used the same holder as PCI, that’s where the similarities end. DGS grading was based on strict standards (i.e. Photograde, for circulated coins). On mint state coinage, DGS graded conservatively with a focus on eye appeal, freshness of surfaces (including originality) and marketability.

Some of the innovative concepts at DGS were:

1. AuthentiVIEW ™: DGS introduced a service called AuthentiVIEW ™ which was integral to the submission process. All coins submitted above the “Budget” tier (i.e. valued above $100) were imaged — and this imaged serve as an authentication tool for any DGS certified coin. Anyone was able to go online, enter a serial # and see an image of the coin in the holder after it was graded.

2. Visual Population Report: DGS was the first grading service to have an entirely visual population report on its web site. Users who wished to look up populations were able to see the AuthentiVIEW images of all the coins graded. Feigenbaum stated at the time, “We anticipate this to be a useful tool for all numismatists. Just imagine the ability to see every 1901-S quarter we’ve certified; or a more common coin like the 1933-S Walker. This visual archive will be available to everyone.”

3. Net Grading of Problem Coins: Coins that have been cleaned, repaired, or damaged in any way will be slabbed in the same holder and label as undamaged coins, but the holder will describe the problem without “net grading the coin”. Coins will not be double-punished. The actual best determination of grade will be stated along with the notation of the problem. For example a coin may be described as: DGS AU55: Lightly Cleaned, Reverse scratches. According to Feigenbaum, “most coins are not perfect or original and it’s a shame not to have them in holders.”

Virginia Beach, VA. The graders at Dominion Grading Service were very excited to receive some high powered submissions lately, including five numismatic gold rarities. These rarities, and their final grades are:

1879 Flowing Hair $4 DGS Proof 62 (Altered Surfaces)
1795 $5 Small Eagle DGS AU50 (Altered Surfaces, Tooled)
1795 $10 DGS AU50 (Lightly Cleaned, Tooled, Rim Damage)
1920-S $10 DGS MS62 (Cleaned, Environmental Damage)
1921 $20 DGS AU53 (Reverse Scratches)

Senior grader Mike Ellis says “The more coins we get out there in DGS holders the more the numismatic community is learning to appreciate the value we offer. All five of these coins are rare and valuable, albeit some with minor problems and cleaning.”

Ellis continues, “We feel that collectors need to know the degree of severity of such problems, as well as the specific problems – so they can make an informed and accurate determination of value. When clients submit these kinds of coins for authentication and grading, we know we are doing things right.”

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Virginia Beach, VA. – In July of 2008 Ken Potter wrote an extensive and lavishly illustrated article reporting on the discovery of a most interesting and eye catching die variety found on an 1857 Liberty Seated Quarter dollar. It has since been embraced by the numismatic community and dubbed the “Smoking Liberty” variety.

Potter reported the variety was first spotted by collector John O’Hare who showed it to friend and fellow collector, Saverio Barbieri, in the early part of 2000. So smitten by the variety was Barbieri he began an eight-year search for more specimens. After searching an estimated 30,000+ Liberty Seated quarters of that date on eBay and shows across the country Barbieri found a total of 28 specimens bringing the known population to 29 pieces. O’Hare still has his “discovery piece” he first shared with Barbieri.

Since publication of the seemingly rare die variety Mike Ellis, senior grader and variety specialist at Dominion Grading Service (DGS) in Virginia Beach, Virginia, found one in a client’s submission which was encapsulated by DGS as a lightly cleaned AU55 making it the first “Smoking Liberty” encapsulated as such. It brought the number of known, slabbed examples to three, the first two being unattributed examples in NGC MS-64 and NGC MS-61.

Both NGC and ANACS have since declined to attribute the coin in their holders, citing the new variety as being too much of an unknown.

This is a common reaction to new varieties submitted to major grading services as they opt for more information to come to light before proceeding. Barbieri asked PCGS, NGC, ANACS and ICG at the recently concluded FUN show in Orlando, Florida again if they were ready to attribute this really fun variety on the holder. Again they reported they were not yet ready to do so. (more…)