For immediate release
January 5, 2007
PNG,
ICTA Announce Results
of
2006 Grading Services Survey
(Orlando, FL)
– The Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG) and the Industry Council For
Tangible Assets (ICTA) have jointly released results of their third dealer’s
survey of rare coin authentication and grading services. The survey indicates
the professional opinions of numismatists who buy and
sell coins for a living.
Survey respondents were asked for their professional opinions
to evaluate eleven grading services based on 12 different weighted criteria,
such as grading and authentication accuracy. Each category was ranked by the
respondents on a ten-point scale ranging from the lowest, Unacceptable, to the
highest, Outstanding.
The final tally lists no grading service as “Outstanding."
Numismatic Guaranty Corporation of America
(NGC) of Sarasota, Florida and Professional
Coin Grading Service (PCGS) of Newport Beach, California
were rated, "Superior."
ANACS of Austin, TX and
Independent Coin Grading Company (ICG) of Englewood,
Colorado were ranked "Good."
PCI, Inc. (PCI) of Rossville, Georgia
and Sovereign Entities Grading Service (SEGS) of Chattanooga,
Tennessee were listed as "Poor."
ASA-Accugrade, Inc. (ACG) of Longwood, Florida, Numistrust Corporation (NTC) of Boca Raton,
Florida, Hallmark Coin Grading Service (HCGS) of Vancouver, BC,
Canada, American Coin Club Grading Service (ACCGS) of Beverly Hills,
CA, and Star Grading Services (SGS) of Bellville, OH. were listed as
"Unacceptable."
"This past October, PNG issued a consumer advisory about online auctions
where many coins are listed as 'certified,' but not all authentication services
use the same criteria for determining the grades of coins. We conducted
a third survey as a continuing response to hobbyists’ concerns about perceived
wide variances in the grading standards between different rare coin certification
services," said Robert Brueggeman, PNG Executive Director.
"As in 2002 and 2004, these 2006 survey results are being
published solely as a service to the numismatic marketplace. The results do
not necessarily reflect the views of PNG, ICTA or any particular PNG or ICTA
member with respect to any particular grading service or services."
PNG and ICTA distributed surveys to its full-time professional
members on November, 2006, but did not send duplicate surveys to people who
belong to both organizations. Respondents sent their completed surveys to the
certified public accounting firm, BiggsKofford, of Colorado
Springs, Colorado. A total of 129 qualified and verified
surveys were tabulated by the CPA firm.
In the latest survey, participants were asked to rate the
eleven grading services in these twelve categories with weighting factors (in
parenthesis) disclosed in advance to survey participants:
- Accuracy of grading Mint State-60
and Proof-60 or higher (12%).
- Accuracy of grading About Good-3
to About Uncirculated-58 (12%).
- Accuracy of modern coin grading,
1965 to date (12%).
- Ability to detect altered,
repaired, damaged, cleaned or counterfeit coins (12%).
- Grading guarantee (12%).
- Accuracy of all attributions
including color, surface, varieties and mint errors (10%).
- Consistency of accurate grading
(10%).
- Marketplace acceptance and availability
of pricing for coins certified by the company (6%).
- Customer services and products provided by phone,
print or on the Internet (4%).
- Collector benefits provided, such as population
reports, registries and educational information (4%).
- Quality and security of the
company’s certified-coin holder (4%).
- Cost for certification services provided, considering
price and turn-around time (2%).
Not all of the survey participants responded with respect
to all 11 grading services, and some did not respond with respect to all 12
criteria. Other responses were not counted because the participants responded
affirmatively to PNG/ICTA's request that they disclose
any ownership or other affiliations they might have with particular grading
services.
All the original surveys are being held by the CPA firm, BiggsKofford.
For additional information, contact Robert Brueggeman, PNG Executive Director,
3950 Concordia Lane,
Fallbrook, CA 92028. Phone: (760) 728-1300. Fax: (760) 728-8507. Web: www.PNGdealers.com.
E-mail: info@PNGdealers.com.
Or, Eloise Ullman, ICTA Executive
Director, P.O. Box 1365, Severna
Park, MD 21146. Phone: (410) 626-7007.
Web: www.ICTAonline.org. E-mail:
EloiseUllman@comcast.net
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