About PCGS and NGC

Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) & Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC)

Providing Security, Value and Liquidity in Today's Rare Coin Market

We are an Authorized Dealer for both PCGS and NGC, and not only sell coins that have been certified by these firms, but can also assist in having coins submitted to these firms for certification.

Founded in 1986 and 1987, respectively, Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) and Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) revolutionized the U.S. rare coin market by solving the related problems of first how to determine a coin's level of preservation as accurately and precisely as possible, and then how to use that level of preservation to assign a specific grade for that coin that would be universally recognized throughout the market. PCGS and NGC adopted the 1-70 numeric grading scale that was developed decades ago by Dr. William Sheldon for grading large Cents. At the bottom of the grading scale, a coin assigned a numeric grade of "1" is barely identifiable as to type, while at the apex of the scale a coin graded as "70" is technically perfect. Groups of numeric grades are also associated with traditional descriptive terms, so our "1" would be referred to as a Poor-1 and our "70" is fully described as MS- (read: Mint State) 70.

The actual grading process at PCGS and NGC is conducted by teams of professional rare coin experts with years of experience in grading and otherwise evaluating rare coins. The use of consensus grading by teams of experts ensures that the process is as accurate as possible. And as independent services that are not affiliated with any dealers, auction houses or collectors, PCGS and NGC can assign grades based solely upon an individual coin's merits in the absence of ulterior motives such as profit and financial gain. The fact that the coin's owner is kept confidential from the graders further ensures the objectivity of the grading process at PCGS and NGC.

When a coin is submitted to PCGS and NGC, the first step undertaken by the graders is to determine its authenticity. Only genuine, authentic coins move on to the next stage of the process, which is the actual determination of the coin's grade. Once the authenticity and grade of a coin are determined, it is then sonically sealed in an inert plastic holder that not only provides ease of viewing for the coin but, more importantly, serves as a safe long-term holder to protect the coin from damage. Also housed within the holder (or "slab" as these holders are usually referred to by experts) are small paper tags (or "inserts") that identify the coin and provide the grade, a unique bar code for identification purposes and other pertinent information. Once placed into a PCGS or NGC holder, a coin is considered to have been "certified." And once certified, a coin carries with it a universally recognized set of characteristics that will help determine the level at which it will trade in the market.

PCGS and NGC enjoy such strong reputations among both dealers and private collectors/investors that they have become the standards for determining value in the rare coin market of the 21st century. Coins certified by these services possess readily identifiable value and, as such, enjoy a level of liquidity that simply did not exist in the U.S. rare coin market prior to the establishment of these two firms. For this reason, Morgan Gold recommends that collectors and investors purchase only those coins that have been certified by PCGS and NGC.

At its most basic level, the rare coin market in the United States is governed by the forces of supply and demand. These are basic concepts that underlie the value of almost all commodities, be they tangible assets such as real estate and precious metals or equity assets like stocks and bonds. Yet in order to fully understand the value of a collectible United States coin, one must also understand the rarity of that coin and be able to determine its level of preservation. For it is these two factors that uniquely tailor the forces of supply and demand to fit the United States rare coin market of the 21st century.

Rarity has always played a critical role in determining value for United States coins, even during the 19th century when the numismatic market was in its infancy. The number of coins produced for any given issue and, even more importantly, the number of examples of that issue that have survived, determine the supply of that issue. That supply, in turn, defines the rarity of a particular issue. It is important to note in this regard that rarity can be absolute or relative.

Level of preservation, condition or, technically speaking, the "grade" of a coin, is the other important factor that determines value in the U.S. rare coin market of the 21st century. This was not always the case, however, for prior to the late 20th century the grade of a coin was very much subordinate to its rarity in determining value. There were far fewer grades applied to United States coins in, say, the 1940s and 1950s, then there are today, and specialists often assigned a grade to an individual coin in an arbitrary manner. By the late 1970s/early 1980s, however, the interest in United States coins as both collectibles and investment vehicles had grown to such proportions that rarity alone could no longer define a coin's desirability. The grade of that coin was now also needed to accurately determine its value. This blending of rarity and grade, in turn, gave birth to an entirely new concept: condition rarity. Through condition rarity, rare coin experts now recognize that there is a grade, or level of preservation, at which virtually all classic United States coins become rare.

This concept of condition rarity is perhaps best illustrated by looking at a single issue in the popular Morgan Silver Dollar series of 1878-1921. The 1892-S, with a mintage of 1.2 million pieces, certainly has the potential to be at least a relative rarity within its respective series for this is a limited mintage by Morgan Dollar standards. Yet enough worn examples have survived that an 1892-S at the lowest levels of preservation can be obtained for no more than $30-$35. On the other hand, an example of the 1892-S that survived without acquiring any wear from circulation is so rare as to be worth at least $25,000-$30,000, if not considerably more. Clearly, the 1892-S is a leading condition rarity within the Morgan Silver Dollar series.

As grade developed into a critical component of value as the U.S. rare coin market matured during the latter half of the 20th century, the need arose concurrently to determine a coin's grade in a more precise, accurate and universally accepted manner. This need became even more acute as greater numbers of collectors and investors--many with no prior experience in rare coins--entered the market in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The scale against which coins are graded expanded to include greater subdivision within the basic levels of preservation. But what was really needed was a way for the market to assign grades to coins that would be universally accepted by dealers, collectors, investors and other buyers. Using the 1892-S Morgan Silver Dollar as an example once again, the danger of using traditional grading practices in the modern U.S. coin market becomes clear. How does the buyer know that an 1892-S marketed as a "high-grade example" really is a high-grade example? Can they accept the word of the seller as fact? Perhaps more importantly, will potential buyers agree with that grade when the time comes to sell? Obviously with an issue such as the 1892-S Morgan Silver Dollar, the difference in a few grading points could result in a difference in thousands of dollars.

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