Anyone who is interested in starting a coin collection will soon realize that they will need to collect certified coins. The reason for this is that the condition grade or rarity of a coin is validated, and the chances of purchasing a counterfeit coin are removed. Sometimes referred to as slab coins, a certified coin typically comes in an air tight plastic container, with a label attached that states which coin it is and the grade of its condition. Several reputable services offer a certifying service, with the main ones are listed below.PCGSG: The Professional Coin Grading Service have one of the best reputations out there. They will not grade a coin that has been damaged or may even be slightly considered to be a problem coin. This means that coins graded by this service command a premium price. Each coin comes back sealed in a hard plastic case, and the coin can not be removed from this without completely destroying the case. As well as offering security when buying coins that are pre-certified, it also means that a higher price can be asked when it comes to selling them.
ANACS: The American Numismatic Association Certification Service is another service that is held in high esteem. Their most notable asset is that they do not have any ties with other commercial interests such as jewelers or dealers. This makes them perhaps the most independent of all the major coin grading services in the United States.
NGC: The Numismatic Guaranty Corporation was founded in 1987. The sole purpose of this organization is to grade coins, and an interesting fact is that their full time graders are not allowed to trade in coins themselves. Many collectors find this to be very reassuring. The graded coins are returned in a sealed plastic case, complete with relevant information and a bar code which is registered to the coin on their database.
ICG: The fourth of the major coin grading services offer to grade, authenticate and then seal the coins in a plastic case. They will grade coins not just from the United States, but also from around the world, and they have a high degree of professional respect.
Whilst to the novice it would seem that four different organizations offering the same service is a bit of an oddity, it does provide for a more fluid market place, where it is still quite possible to buy a coin graded by for example ICG, and then have it re-graded by PCGS. Some coin owners do indeed choose to have extremely rare coins graded by more than one source.
As a general rule, coin collectors should really only buy certified coins in order to ensure that they have the genuine article. The reality is though, that much of the fun of collecting comes from spotting a bargain at a sale or at an auction, and then getting it graded afterwards. Like anything, the road to becoming an authority on coins is a long one, where quite often mistakes lead to progress.
