That’s the company’s message to the hobby in the wake of reports that at least one of the two largest grading services is considering the establishment of “premium-quality” grade designations.

CAC examines and evaluates coins that have been certified by either the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) or the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation of America (NGC). It then affixes a distinctive green sticker to the holder of each coin which, in its judgment, is “solid” for the grade that was assigned. Each sticker incorporates a tamper-evident hologram.

According to Albanese, CAC will continue to evaluate submissions, and determine whether to award stickers to those coins, strictly in the context of the basic numerical grades assigned by either PCGS or NGC. He said it will disregard any additional descriptive words or symbols.

“We don’t want buyers and sellers to get the impression that by stickering a coin, CAC is confirming someone else’s ‘PQ’ designation,” Albanese said.

CAC makes a market in coins that it has stickered, and its disregard of PQ-type designations will be reflected in its buying and selling prices.

“For example, CAC’s bid price for an 1892-O Barber quarter graded MS65 is $1,150,” Albanese said. “If the coin was graded PQ and had a CAC sticker, our buy price would remain the same – $1,150. If it had a star plus our sticker, we’d still pay $1,150.

Since opening for business in late 2007, CAC has received more than 144,000 submissions from member dealers and collectors, and has awarded green stickers to just over 68,000 of these. The declared insurance value of these coins totals about $800 million.

To date, the company has bought and sold CAC-stickered coins with a wholesale trading volume of nearly $150 million.

Further information about CAC, including directions on how to apply for membership and where to obtain CAC-stickered coins, can be found at the company’s Web site, www.caccoin.com.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
John Albanese
Certified Acceptance Corp.
Bedminster, New Jersey
1-908-781-9101

Up to now, CAC membership has been open only to dealers, and collectors wishing to submit their coins to the company have had to do so through member dealers.

The change reflects growing awareness throughout the hobby of CAC’s role in the marketplace, according to John Albanese, founder and president of the New Jersey-based company. It also is intended to simplify the submission process for collectors who might have found it difficult to make arrangements through dealers.

“We want to make it as easy as possible for people to submit their coins to us,” Albanese said. “At the same time, we don’t want them making costly mistakes, so we want to be sure they fully understand the submission process before they send us their coins.

“In particular, we want to be sure that they’re thoroughly familiar with how to send coins, including how to ship them through private carriers.”

CAC experts examine coins previously certified by either the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) or the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation of America (NGC). CAC then affixes a distinctive green sticker to the holder of each coin which, in its judgment, fully merits the grade that was assigned. Each sticker incorporates a tamper-resistant hologram.

The authenticity of CAC-stickered coins can be confirmed by going to the company’s Internet Web site, www.caccoin.com, and entering each coin’s serial number in the Verification Search form as directed.

CAC began operations in 2007 and now has several hundred member dealers throughout the country.

Collectors seeking acceptance as CAC Advanced Collector/Submitters must be members in good standing of the American Numismatic Association. They also must sign an agreement stating that they understand the company’s submission procedures and will comply with them and be bound by their terms.

Collectors will be charged the same submission fees as dealer members: $10 apiece for coins valued at $10,000 or less, $20 each for coins valued at more than $10,000. They also will be responsible for all shipping charges to and from CAC.

But those who are accepted as Advanced Collector/Submitters at this time will receive two special benefits.

First, they will be exempt from any fee increases through Dec. 31, 2012 on up to 100 coins per year. The regular fees will be charged on submissions exceeding that number in a given year.

Second, collector members will not be charged until at least Dec. 31, 2012 for any coins that do not receive stickers from CAC.

“We understand that it may take some time to become acclimated to CAC standards,” Albanese explained.

Submission fees are not waived for member dealers when coins they submit fail to “sticker,” because it is assumed that as professionals, they have in-depth knowledge of grading.

Albanese said the decision to broaden CAC’s membership was prompted, in part, by complaints from collectors that some member dealers were balking at processing their submissions.

“Reports of this kind are very distressing,” he said. “When dealers join CAC, they assume responsibility for providing prompt, courteous service to clients who want their coins examined by our graders.”

If it can be confirmed that member dealers have failed to provide such service, he said, their submission privileges will not be revoked, but their names and those of their businesses will be removed from the company’s Web site, which many collectors consult to determine the location of submission centers.

Further information about CAC, including directions on how to apply for membership, can be found at www.caccoin.com.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
John Albanese
Certified Acceptance Corp.
Bedminster, New Jersey
1-908-781-9101

The register encompasses all major types of federal U.S. coinage, but does not include Colonial coins or Territorial’s. It lists the types and grades of coins – and the number of each – that CAC has judged to be certified in appropriate grade levels.

“This is something we planned from the very beginning,” said John Albanese, founder and president of the company. “We waited until now to implement the plan because we wanted to ensure that the number of coins would be a representative sample.”

CAC experts examine coins previously certified by either the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) or the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation of America (NGC). CAC then affixes a distinctive green sticker to the holder of each coin which, in its judgment, fully merits the grade that was assigned. Each sticker incorporates a tamper-resistant hologram.

New Jersey-based CAC began operations in late 2007, and the Population Register reflects all certified federal coins that have earned the company’s stickers since that time – a period of approximately 20 months.

The register will be updated weekly, Albanese said, and will give coin buyers and sellers – free of charge – an accurate, reliable resource for assessing the number of well-graded certified coins available in the marketplace.

It will serve as a highly useful supplement to the PCGS Population Report and the NGC Census Report, he added.

The Population Register can be accessed at CAC’s Web site, www.caccoin.com.

“We feel we’ve successfully completed our rapid initial growth and we’re now growing more steadily,” Albanese said. “We’ve added extra staff and we’re ready to continue our robust development.”

Applications will be accepted through May 4. Applicants are subject to a review process, but there is no fee for either applying or joining.

More than 200 coin dealers currently are members of the New Jersey-based company, which began operations in late 2007. This is the first open membership period since May of 2008.

Members are authorized to serve as CAC Submission Centers, accepting coins to submit for the firm’s evaluation.

CAC experts examine coins previously certified by either the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) or the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation of America (NGC). CAC then affixes a distinctive tamper-resistant sticker to the holder of each coin which, in its judgment, fully merits either the grade that was assigned or a higher grade.

“CAC’s objectives,” Albanese said, “are to give consumers an easy way to identify higher-end coins and provide a formal basis for independent trading of those coins. We want the market to reflect what they’re really worth.”

For further information about joining CAC, contact Albanese at www.CACcoin.com.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

John Albanese
Certified Acceptance Corp.
1-908-781-9101