As with diamonds and other rare gems, determining the condition-or grade-of a rare coin is one of the most important aspects of buying and selling coins. A coin’s numeric grade, as determined by an objective third-party grading service, is an overall evaluation of its appearance based on widely accepted factors. Independent Coin Graders (ICG) is a truly independent third-party grading service for numismatic collectors and dealers, offering professional and accurate grading, at reasonable prices. ICG has been grading coins, tokens and medals from around the world for collectors and dealers in the industry since accepting the first submission in December of 1998. ICG started with the idea that the graders should be as objective as possible when looking at a coin. The ownership of the coin should in no way influence the grade the coin receives, nor should the grader’s own motives impact it. At ICG you can trust that the graders and staff do not buy or sell coins, and will treat your coin as they would one from the most well known dealer in the industry. Today ICG offers some of the fastest turnaround times in the industry, often at a fraction of the cost. We do not require membership, we do not have minimum submission requirements, and want to make the process of having coins graded and authenticated as pleasant as possible. Whether meeting with one of our graders at a show or in our office, calling customer service, or simply mailing in a submission, every client should satisfied with the service they receive, and if not, we make sure we take every action to ensure we correct the problem.  

ANACS, America’s Oldest Grading Service™ ANACS’ rich and noble history began in 1972. It was created by the American Numismatic Association (ANA) with a mission to correct an urgent problem facing the coin hobby. The ANA is a century-old, not-for-profit educational association for collectors of coins, tokens, medals and paper money. The ANA, like the U.S. Olympic Association and the American Red Cross, is chartered by the U.S. Congress. In the early 1970s, the ANA board of governors recognized that something significant needed to be done about the counterfeit and altered coins that were plaguing the coin community. Their solution was ANACS, the American Numismatic Association Certification Service. ANACS began with a staff of two experts with Washington D.C. as its home. Washington was chosen in order to utilize the Smithsonian’s Numismatic Collection and to be near the Treasury Department, specifically the Secret Service. This was a time when many people could never be quite certain if the coins they were purchasing, or even selling, were genuine or counterfeit. Something had to be done to protect and uphold the integrity of the coin industry, especially if it was to grow into the mainstream as a hobby and a business. Little had been written on the subject and the science of counterfeit detection was still in its infancy. ANACS certified its first coin as genuine on June 15, 1972. As the need for the service grew and as the benefits were proven over and over, additional experts were added to the ANACS staff. In 1976, ANACS was moved to Colorado Springs where ANA had its headquarters. Three years later, ANACS began grading coins using the technical grading standards that the ANA had established earlier with its book, “The Official American Numismatic Association Grading Standards for United States Coins,” a monumental work that the ANACS staff helped create. Coins were given a grade for each side of the coin, obverse then reverse (e.g., MS-65/63). The service took off. A few years later ANACS was grading nearly 3,000 coins a month. (Today, that would be a good day at ANACS!) No one had yet thought of encapsulating the coins in plastic holders. Instead, ANACS issued a photo certificate showing both sides of the coin, the dual grades and pertinent comments about the coin. In 1983, Kenneth E. Bressett was appointed Director of ANACS. Ken was, and still is, the long-time editor of “The Red Book” and a frequent numismatic author and speaker. Ken hired and trained a team of graders at ANACS, many of whom moved on to become some of the most famous names in coin collecting. Many are still professionally grading coins today, others are leading, national coin dealers, while still others are highly respected numismatic researchers and authors. In 1989 ANACS discontinued issuing photo certificates and began encapsulating coins in tamper evident plastic holders. A year later, the ANA board of governors sold ANACS to Amos Press, publishers of Coin World. In December 2007, ANACS was acquired by EKW, LLC, of Colorado and on January 1, 2008 was relocated to Englewood, Colorado, a Denver suburb.

With an unparalleled commitment to accuracy, consistency and integrity, Numismatic Guaranty Corporation® (NGC®) is the world's largest and most trusted third-party grading service for coins, tokens and medals. Since 1987, NGC has graded more than 48 million coins, each one backed by the industry-leading NGC Guarantee.

The establishment of PMG followed the incredible impact that third-party grading had on the coin collecting hobby. The same problems that plagued coin collectors prior to third-party coin grading affected collectors of paper money—without third-party grading, it was easy for sellers to overstate a note’s grade and many counterfeit and altered notes were unwittingly purchased as genuine. In 2005 PMG was established to provide a fully independent opinion of a note’s authenticity and grade. PMG employs more than 20 full-time note graders as well as outside consultants. To ensure impartiality, PMG and its full-time graders do not buy and sell notes commercially, and strict procedures are in place to prevent consultants from influencing the grades assigned to their own submissions. The combined expertise of the PMG grading team results in unparalleled accuracy and consistency. The expert and impartial grades assigned by PMG and backed by the PMG Guarantee give buyers and sellers greater confidence, increase liquidity and result in higher prices realized. Collectors and dealers around the world have embraced PMG certification and, as a result, PMG has become a leading third-party paper money grading service with more than 5 million notes certified.

Since 1986, PCGS has been the industry standard for the authentication and grading of rare coins. Coin grading and authentication emerged as a solution to rampant counterfeiting and coin doctoring in the collectible coin industry. With our team of renowned experts in vintage and modern U.S. and World coins, PCGS has built the most trusted brand in coin grading and authentication. Backed by the PCGS guarantee and tracked through the PCGS cert verification database PCGS coins are the most secure, most liquid and highest valued coins in the market. PCGS pioneered the tamper-evident, sonically sealed, high security method of coin encapsulation to allow for safe storage and peace of mind. Since then, the addition of the PCGS TrueView photo service has created the perfect way to display coins both in your home and digitally. Whether you are a seasoned collector, or you just inherited a family collection, having your coins authenticated and graded by PCGS ensures maximum security, value and liquidity.

Dynamic development of the numismatic market around the world has led to the creation of an urgent need for specialized services for grading of coins. Genesis of grading goes back to grading in late nineteenth century, when the magazine "The Numismatist", introduced the first numerical grading scale. However, in present scenario, grading system developed in 1948 by William Sheldon which is based on a 70 point standard grading scale system. The grading of coins is required by collector of coins who wants to know the actual grade of the coins they possess. The grading of coins is one of those areas of numismatics that is inevitably somewhat subjective, and people are often inclined to over grade or under grade their coins, particularly when trying to sell them. Consequently, the correct grading of a coin remains the most important factor, alongside rarity, affecting its value. Official grading is an effort to bring more confidence to investors in rare coins. Grading services certify the authenticity and rate the quality of individual coins.