Numismatic Guaranty Corporation

The Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) is a privately owned, international coin certification service based in Sarasota, Florida. It is the world's largest third-party coin certification service by volume, having certified more than 32 million coins. NGC certification consists of grading, authenticating, attributing, and encapsulating coins in clear plastic holders. NGC has been the official grading service of the American Numismatic Association since 1995 and the Professional Numismatists Guild since 2004. The service currently employs nearly 30 full-time graders.

Overview

Coins or other numismatic items can be submitted to NGC for certification, which consists of authentication, grading, attribution, and encapsulation in sonically-sealed plastic holders (aka slabs). A paper insert lists the date, grade, variety, and other key information. A 70-point Sheldon coin grading scale is used. Cleaned, scratched, or otherwise impaired items are encapsulated and assigned a verbal "details" grade, but not a numerical one. Certification fees vary depending on several factors, such as turnaround time and a given coin's value. NGC has certified over 32 million coins.

Certification offers significant protection against counterfeiting and over grading, but does not definitively guarantee what a numismatic item's value is. Even within the same grade, different coins can have widely differing values. NGC guarantees the accuracy of its grading: compensation will be given for coins which NGC regrades lower. NGC's Census Report reveals how many examples of each coin issue NGC has certified in each grade, which helps to determine rarity levels.

History

NGC was founded in 1987 in Parsippany, N.J.. In 1995, NGC was named the official grading service of the American Numismatic Association. Five years later, NGC introduced its trademarked Star designation to identify coins with exceptional eye appeal. In 2001, the same year that it launched the online NGC Registry program, NGC relocated to Sarasota, Fla. In 2004, NGC announced that it had certified its 10 millionth coin: the Hawaii Five-0 specimen of the 1913 Liberty Nickel. That same year, NGC was named the official grading service of the Professional Numismatists Guild.

NGC relocated in 2006 to a 60,000-square-foot secure building that also houses the other members of the Certified Collectibles Group (CCG): Numismatic Conservation Services (NCS), Paper Money Guaranty (PMG), Certified Guaranty Company (CGC) and Classic Collectible Services (CCS). In 2007, NGC released its EdgeView® Holder for the Presidential Dollar series, and in mid-2008 it announced that the holder would be standard for all coin types. The holder was tested by the Smithsonian Institution and used to encapsulate the top 200 US coins from that museum’s collection. With the launch of the EdgeView Holder, NGC began imaging most of its coins in an initiative designed to combat holder counterfeiting. By January 18, 2011, NGC reported that its image database included more than 3 million coins, and in April 2013 reported that the number of images had passed 7 million.

In 2008, NGC Ancients was introduced as a certification program for ancient coins. A year later, NGC introduced the Scratch-Resistant EdgeView Holder, which has the same appearance as its standard EdgeView Holder but utilizes the same scratch-resistant coating used in eyeglasses. In 2010, NGC revealed that it had certified 20 million coins. Two years later, it announced that it has certified 25 million. By April 2014, more than 30 million coins had been graded by NGC. NGC has opened satellite offices in Zurich, Switzerland and Konstanz, Germany, as well as affiliate submission centers in Guangzhou, China; Hong Kong, China, Seoul, South Korea; Taipei City, Taiwan; and Singapore.

Dealer Survey

A survey of major coin dealers, conducted by the trade associations the Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG) and the Industry Council For Tangible Assets (ICTA), revealed the dealers' "Superior" rating for NGC, the highest given for any service. Of the other 10 grading services evaluated in the survey, only the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) also received the "Superior" rating. Survey respondents gave their professional opinions about 11 grading services based on 12 criteria, such as grading and authentication accuracy. Each category was ranked by the respondents on a 10-point scale ranging from the lowest, "Unacceptable", to the highest, "Outstanding".

External links

• NGC's website