More than 130 collectors and dealers from around the country attended the Professional Coin Grading Service luncheon at the Florida United Numismatists convention in Orlando, January 11, 2008. Collectors Universe, Inc. President and PCGS co-founder, David Hall, and PCGS President, Ron Guth, discussed the history of coin grading, the possible future of grading, and answered questions from the audience.

Hall emphasized to the audience composed of members of the PCGS Set Registry, PCGS Collectors Club and PCGS authorized dealers, “We seek your input. We seek your help. It’s your grading service.”
Among the topics addressed by Guth and his comments:

• Computerized Grading: “Maybe someday, down the road.”
• Coin Recognition Software: “We are building a digital image database of rare coins.”
• Fractional grades: “MS-61.5? I’m not sure how possible that is.”
• 100-Point Grading Scale: “The 70-point grading system is so entrenched and big, it would be difficult and confusing to convert (to 100 points). It could wreck the market.” (more…)

NGC designs custom holder to house the 200 most rare, unique and famous American coins in the Smithsonian’s National Numismatic Collection.

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History today announced a pilot project to assess the use of protective coin holders for the National Numismatic Collection housed at the museum. The 200 most rare, unique and famous American coins in the collection will be placed into customized plastic holders that will allow greater access to coins while improving their protection.

This initial group of coins was chosen because they are the most frequently handled. The project is a collaboration between the museum, the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation and the Numismatic Conservation Services, which donated their services and developed the holders to meet museum specifications. NGC also provided the materials necessary to re-house the coins, along with two storage cabinets which will offer enhanced security for these numismatic treasures.

“We are pleased to be able to provide superb protection for these rare objects while at the same time extending access to the research community,” said Brent D. Glass, museum director. “The coins are popular for scholarly study and now they can be handled safely.”

“NGC is privileged to work with the museum to help solve a collections management challenge. We are honored to make the full breadth of our expertise and our services available to the NNC and the greater numismatic community,” said Mark Salzberg, chairman of NGC.

David J. Camire, president of NCS, added “The focus that the museum has put on the long-term preservation of the NNC should be strongly commended. It’s a great privilege to commit our resources and energy to this important initiative.”

The holder is made of inert mold-injected resin and the label, identifying the coin in it, is printed on acid-free paper. Its overall size is roughly 60 mm wide by 85 mm tall. It can accommodate coins up to 45 mm in diameter and nearly 5 mm thick. Coins are placed in pre-molded cores that are semi-rigid which is then encapsulated in a clear outer shell. (more…)

This world-class collection of Ancient and World coins will be auctioned by Ira and Larry Goldberg on May 24-28, 2008 at the Crowne Plaza Beverly Hills and on Ebay Live.

Catalogues prices will be $15 US each, $30 International, or $40 US, $60 Int. for the entire set of 3. Catalogues: Ancient Coins, European Coins, and New World Coins (including Africa, Asia, and Oceana). Tentative date for catalogue availability is April 1, 2008. Call 1-800-978-2646 to place your order. (Subscriptions will include this catalogue.)

Because of the intense worldwide interest in this collection, we strongly suggest you make your hotel arrangements and bidding arrangements as soon as possible.

The Millennia Collection is now a featured gallery on the NGC website. Click here to view the gallery.

This gallery presents just a small sampling of the variety and extraordinary rarities that are included. Many predictions suggest that when the Millennia Collection sells, it will become the most valuable collection of world coins ever sold.

Selected examples from the collection formed the raison d’etre for Whitman’s recent award winning Money of the World: Coins That Made History, a gorgeous, full-color coffee table book co-edited by Ira and Larry Goldberg. The National Literary Guild awarded “Best World Coin Book” for 2007. This book presents coins as objects of purpose and importance, as well as having a fascinating history attached to them. The entire Millennia Collection far exceeds the hundred or so coins presented within this book, however; it is with nearly a century’s worth of cumulative collecting effort and skill that this astonishing array of over a thousand numismatic treasures have come to light.

Although counterfeiting techniques keep improving, mintmarks are still added to coins using the same two methods. Skip Fazzari describes how to spot these fakes.

When many things get old, they are discarded and new things, perhaps better made, take their place. Not so with old counterfeit and altered coins. Although some fakes are taken off the market each year and are either put into reference collections or destroyed, others remain to plague another generation and are passed on to one unsuspecting collector after another.

Most will agree that coin alterations consist of the addition or removal of parts of a coin’s design. Interestingly, although techniques of fakery have improved over the years, a majority of the coins with added mintmarks are still made by two methods. For the most common type of alteration, a numeral or letter is applied directly to the surface of the host coin. The micrograph taken at 20x shows an example of a coin altered in this way. In this case, a “D” mintmark has been placed on the reverse of a genuine 1916 Mercury dime to produce a coveted 1916-D coin. Read Full Article

The American Numismatic Association has received a $447,095 donation to support educational programs and produce a much-needed consumer awareness booklet with helpful information on coin collecting.

The donation is from the settlement of a class action lawsuit, Francisco v. Numismatic Guaranty Corporation, concerning First Strikes designation. While admitting no wrongdoing or liability, NGC settled the case and discontinued the use of First Strikes, believing that controversy from the lawsuit would not be in the best interests of the hobby.

The parties, with the court’s approval, agreed that the lion’s share of the proceeds go to the ANA to further support its mission of collector education.

“This donation allows the ANA to implement new strategies as well as enhance its delivery of numismatic education to a vastly larger audience,” said ANA President Barry Stuppler. “We are obviously greatly appreciative of NGC’s commitment to best practices in our hobby, and to its efforts to support education, which is a fundamental value of our Association.”

“The ANA is the hobby’s premiere organization, and no one is better at developing and delivering educational programs,” said NGC Chief Executive Officer Steve Eichenbaum. “Coin collecting is a very complex hobby and everyone benefits when collectors are knowledgeable and well educated.”

Stuppler said the ANA would soon begin work on an educational consumer awareness booklet that will include consumer tips as well as basic information on grading, authentication and conservation. The booklet also will discuss the minting process and what constitutes a “first-strike” coin, plus feature a rich frequently- asked-questions section as well as a comprehensive listing of helpful resources for collectors. (more…)