PCGS Certified Gold Coins Vs. NGC Certified Gold Coins

There are two reputable third party services for evaluating and certifying gold coins in the United States, PCGS and NGC. Both services grade rare coins and neither sell coins. However, there are a few differences between PCGS certified gold coins vs. NGC certified gold coins.

The Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) was and is an independent agency that authenticates and grades rare gold and other coins for a fee. PCGS, which was founded in 1986, does not buy or sell coins. The company came into being because of a problem in the rare coin industry. Although there was a precise grading system in effect, anomalies would often result because individual graders would rate the same coin at different levels. For extremely rare and valuable coins this practice of grading high for sale and low for purchase could mean the loss of ten of thousands of dollars and more for the investor.

The Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) was founded a year after PCGS and is the official coin grading service for the American Numismatic Corporation. NGC was founded for the same reason as PCGS and operates along similar lines, providing an independent certification of authenticity and grade of rare gold and other coins.

At times it may be hard to locate a specific coin in your choice of NGC or PCGS grading, and you can feel confident investing in the alternative if your preference is unavailable.

Differences in PCGS certified gold coins vs. NGC certified gold coins do exist. Some PCGS certified gold coins grade higher than NGC and some NGC gold coins grade higher for similar coins than PCGS. However, both companies offer guarantees. Both companies will re-evaluate certified coins at the customer’s request. In each case if the company agrees that an error was made in grading, the company will replace the coin with one of the correct grade (NGC), or pay the current market value of the correct grade to the customer in return for the inaccurately graded coin. Neither company provides information on the frequency of mistakes in grading. NGC has a specific policy for rare gold coins separate from its usual guarantee.

For rare collector coins it is possible to get crossover grading, which allows a customer to ensure that a valuable coin has been accurately graded. In moments like these, an investor is better safe than sorry with an asset as valuable as rare gold coins.