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"ACCGS IS THE NEW BEST CHOICE FOR AUTHENTICATION AND
GRADING"
- James DuPont
 History was made at the quarterly
meeting of the American Coin Club in Beverly Hills on June 1, 2003. At
this meeting, much discussion took place concerning the Amos Press investigation of all
the major grading services published in the May 26, 2003 issue of Coin
World. This was an objective, long-range study in which the same 15
coins were submitted to all eight of the major grading services during
eleven months from 2002 to 2003. In not one case did the grading
services agree on a single coin. For example, a common 1943 Walking
Liberty Half Dollar, came back in grades ranging from AU 58 to MS 65, a
difference of seven full grades. In another case, PCGS graded a 1901-O
silver dollar as MS 61 that PCI, a less popular and less expensive
service, graded as AU 58. In yet another case, PCGS graded a 1893-CC
$5 Liberty as XF 45, where ACG was more conservative and graded the same
coin as VF 35, a ten-point spread. Additionally, the coin had been
labeled as cleaned, yet other services, including PCGS, graded it without
printing the notation that it had been cleaned.
In response to these obvious
errors and inconsistencies among the eight expensive grading services, a grading committee
comprised of a group of volunteers from the Beverly Hills Coin Club
decided to form ACCGS - American Coin Club Grading
Service. With many members losing favor with the other grading
services, on July 1st, 2003, ACCGS was voted the official grading
service of the American Coin Club (ACC) and the Beverly Hills Coin Club
(BHCC). During the entire month of June, ideas and debate were
exchanged between senior members, and a policy statement was drafted for ACCGS with the aim of creating a grading and authentication service that
is more consistent and accurate than the eight other services
which evidently failed conformity tests in the Amos Press investigation.
With the recruitment of volunteers who love to grade and authenticate
collectibles, ACCGS has created a mutual relationship in which
senior members of both clubs learn more about their hobby. The
result is that ACCGS is virtually non profit, charging only $9 per item for grading,
authentication and slabbing in inert, non-PCV acrylic holders or
photocertificates (for odd size items) with tamper-proof airtight
holders affixed, The costs of the highest quality holders, climate
controlled offices, vaults, insurance on all coins while in ACCGS
possesion, a serial numbered database, labeling, microscopes,
counterfeit detection equipment, mail room labor, secretaries and the
patented sealing process adds up to cost nearly $9 per item alone. With
this low $9 standard fee, it should be no small wonder that ACCGS has
accurately graded 3,744 in July, 2003, just during the first
month of operation.
Some of the many ways that ACCGS has already established itself as a
better and more accurate grading service than others is by a
simple but long-overdue policy: ACCGS grades each item on
BOTH sides and prints both grades on the tamper-proof holder, instead
of "averaging out" one final grade based on both sides. It was
repeatedly brought up at the meetings that such "averaging" by the other
grading services cannot be accurate in any sense of the word. Every
coin or similar item has
two main sides and thus should be graded on both sides. It is very common,
for example, for many items to grade Mint State 63 on one side and MS 65, 66 or
even 67 on the other side. Reality dictates that many items do not sustain the
same number of marks, scratches, carbon spots, etc. on both sides.
Another
complaint about other grading services is that they often practice the
inaccuracy of
"net grading". This occurs when an item's actual grade is lowered because of problems such
as porosity, slight damage, hairline scratches, cleaning, etc. For
example, an item graded Very Fine that might have slight but
non-distracting problems will often be either rejected or "net graded to Fine, Good or even
lower, depending on the graders subjective "interpretation" of the
degree of the problem. A worse practice by the grading
services often occurs when the coin is rejected outright by the grading
service due to some of the problems cited, yet they charge a fee anyway
for "examination" and DO NOT REFUND the customer's money. Even ANACS, which will grade some problem coins, will return
the coins ungraded if they think that the item has "ongoing" corrosion or
residue from previous holders. ACCGS policy is that a coin is graded by actual
wear and bag marks, and any such problems mentioned above are then noted on the holder
in addition to the grade based on the ACTUAL wear for circulated items
and ACTUAL bagmarks for uncirculated items. For example, if a coin
is Very Fine and cleaned, it still has the detail and wear of a Very
Fine coin and thus should be graded as such, with the designation " Very
Fine, Cleaned" on the holder.
Another policy instituted by ACCGS
incorporates the use of high quality, completely inert acrylic holders
that have maximum optical clarity. ACCGS holders are safely sealed
by a patented process and then registered and serial numbered.
Thus, ACCGS holders are impossible to compromise without breaking their
seals and cannot be duplicated. ACCGS does not use dangerous
inserts or "caskets" in their holders like many of the grading services. This can cause
chemical damage to coins. ACCGS holders are 2" x 3' - a perfect size for easy fitting in
many standard collections and boxes.
ACCGS
has several volunteers who
rotate in shifts of three according to time schedule. These volunteers
are well-trained, using the most modern counterfeit detection and grading techniques.
These volunteers
have collectively spent over $30 million on rare coins in the past 25
years. In addition to their general expertise, many have
additional specialties in areas as diverse as large cents, silver dollars,
gold coins, early silver issues, casino
chips and tokens. These teams include a finalizer who must have at least 20 years grading experience to
make sure that the grading of the other volunteers are as fair, accurate and
consistent as possible.
Some of the many ways ACCGS accomplishes
the goal to be a better grading service is with smaller
standard fees of only $9 per items and trained volunteer experts who
come from a close alliance with the American Coin Club (ACC) and the
Beverly Hills Coin Club (BHCC). These organizations have guaranteed to
offer for sale all ACCGS graded items at their monthly auctions. All three
organizations guarantee that any ACCGS-graded item will be offered for
public sale at the same graded printed on ACCGS holders, at a minimum
bid that represents it's fair market price at the time of posting for
sale. These auctions are published monthly to a
world-wide audience on the internet at
www.bhcoinclub.org and
www.americancoinclub.org
ACCGS-graded items can also be auctioned in the clubs quarterly
bulletin, Rare Coin Magazine, giving further exposure to some of the
wealthiest collectors in Beverly Hills and around the world.
Although both organizations and other auction firms usually charge a 15%
to 20% commission for selling coins, for ACCGS graded coins, the
sales commission is only a flat 10%, with no buyer's fees charged.
Buyer's fees often work against the seller in that such fees bring down
the final price of the seller's coin. Only two organization split the
small commission. ACCGS receives no revenue from the auction. The
commission profits, if any, are used for the club's National
Collectibles Library Fund, International Museum Fund and their Young
Outreach Programs, which include the distribution of free collectibles
to promote interest among young collectors with the goal of producing future collectors for our hobbies. This relationship helps
volunteer club members who have at least ten years experience with
grading to learn even more about their hobby while giving
other members and non-members a more consistent and stable marketplace to sell their items.
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