An open letter from John Feigenbaum, President

David Lawrence Rare Coins just completed the acquisition of PCI and is currently in the process of transferring the company’s assets from Georgia to Virginia. First, let me say that I am very excited about this venture and you can expect great things to come from this new, old grading company.

A little history…
PCI is one of the oldest grading companies in numismatics. Originally founded around 1988, the company was named Hallmark, and though it was short-lived, coins in Hallmark holders have always been considered quality-graded items. There was a lot of integrity with that company.

The company then sold to new owners and was renamed PCI (short for Photo Certification Institute). The early PCI holders were also well respected and saavy collectors and dealers alike still covet the green-label PCI coins. Eventually, the company changed hands a few more times…and over the years the quality of the grading has suffered.

As President of David Lawrence Rare Coins, I have surrounded myself with a staff with over 75 years of collective numismatic experience. We have always approached our relationships with clients and their coins with utmost professionalism and I know that we can bring this same level of integrity to the grading of your coins.

I’ve personally been dealing in coins since 1979 and, until the true acceptance of third party grading around 1990, all dealers graded their own material. Some dealers were known for being more conservative (and accurate) than others. My father, David, taught me the importance of strict, conservative grading. There was no need to embellish the grades because we didn’t want to disappoint our mail-order clients.

The new PCI will bring the classic standard of grading back to this company!

When will we be ready for submissions?
As we get the new PCI operation reorganized, we do not encourage new submissions for 30-60 days. I’m told a few submissions are still here and trickling in, and we will alert those submitters about the delay and return any items (and payment) as requested. When we officially re-open for submissions, look for an entirely new label with a better design, more information and clarity.

You can also expect a different result than you previously expected on submissions. We will be much tougher on submissions than the “old” PCI. The new PCI coins will stand on their own in the marketplace. And David Lawrence Rare Coins will stand behind the new PCI with market support. We will make an active two-way market in the new PCI slabs.

In the meantime…
We are seeking relationships with variety specialists who will help us with difficult attributions. I am fond of PCI’s old “Signature Series” program which built on relationships which acknowledged experts in different fields. If you are such an expert, please contact me directly.

Of course, I’d like to hear from you regarding your thoughts for PCI. I believe we can make PCI into an important grading service. Please come back to this page for regular updates and added features to the web site.

We hope you’ll support us!

Sincerely,

John Feigenbaum,
President
PCI, Inc.

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