Expert numismatic appraisal, including coin grading or coin certification recommendations. Should you go through the time and expense to have your coin certified? Will it upgrade? Will it CAC?
The Academy of Coins© often recommend coin certification by a reputable third-party coin certification company like PCGS or NGC. The cost per coin is usually between $30 and $50 (sometimes much more, depending on the services you require) and the whole process often takes between three weeks and 60 days. If you’re new to coin certification, the cost can be $200 to begin.
Before you start, find out if you should spend the time and money. Use our $7 online-only appraisal service to get a fast answer in 48 hours. Our expert coin graders and professional numismatists review your images of your coin and grade it without bias. Because we’re experts, we can get most information we need from good pictures of a coin. From there, you can decide if guaranteed coin certification is a good idea for you. We may save you wasted money, time, energy and effort when you let us look at your coins online.
Submit coins to PriceThatCoin.com, get our certification recommendation >
Before you invest the time and money in coin certification, find out if you should send your coin to a TPG. Use our Numismatist’s Professional Opinion service to find out your coin’s value. The entire quick and low-cost process is anonymous to maintain objectivity – we do not communicate your information to anybody.
One of these Lincoln Wheat Cents is worth $30, one is worth $300, and one is worth $3000. Can you tell which is which just by looking at them? We can. See below for the answers – are you right?
About the Academy of Coins©
The staff here at PriceThatCoin.com are all members of the Academy of Coins©, and we’ve appraised thousands of coins through the years. We’re expert numismatic graders. Grading coins accurately consists of authenticating the coins, then assessing their condition including potential problems that many novice graders miss that have the potential to substantially impact a coin’s value.
If you’re interested, you can learn more about coin grading by reading the Academy of Coins©’ article explaining coin grade and how it translates to market value. Accurate coin grading is an art and science that takes years to master. We often have dealers come to us requesting our coin certification recommendations.
One of these silver dollars is worth $10, one is worth $100, and one is worth $1000. Can you tell which is which just by looking at them? We can. See below for the answers – are you right?
Case Study: Colin the Collector
Colin has been carefully assembling a set of Capped Bust Half Dollars for about three years. He doesn’t have a huge budget for coin collecting, so he needs to make every dollar count.
He picked up a coin on eBay that he really likes. He’s convinced it’s Almost Uncirculated even though it’s in a Very Fine Details holder. He’s shown the coin to a couple of his dealer friends, but they concur with the grade on the slab. He knows they have the best of intentions, but he also knows they have inventory they want to sell him, and they didn’t spend as much time looking at his coin as he’d hoped. His friends that collect all agree he got a great deal, but they aren’t familiar enough with the type to offer really helpful advice. He’s thinking about sending the coin in for CAC approval if he can find a dealer that will do it for him, but of course a regrade in his favor would be a much better choice if possible.
Colin submitted that coin to PriceThatCoin.com online for a Complete Numismatic Report. Because he’s a good photographer, PriceThatCoin was able to explain problems with the coin he didn’t realize. They also pointed out the Overton number for him, which confirmed his suspicion that it was an R1 example. He decided to sell the coin instead and try to cherry pick a better example.
By using PriceThatCoin.com, he saved about $55 on shipping, certification and attribution, which in his experience took about 45 days. He only spent $18 with PriceThatCoin.com and got his answer in under a week. He could have gotten the same answer and coin certification recommendation from a Numismatist’s Professional Opinion, but he wanted a full explanation and a deeper look.
Submit coins to PriceThatCoin.com now and get our certification recommendation >
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Coin Valuation Answers
Were you right? The coin on the left is a 1909-S Lincoln Wheat Cent worth about $300. This is a coin you should definitely have certified if it’s in this condition. If it’s like this but exhibits problems, it might not make sense. The coin in the middle is a 1909 worth about $30. It’s hard to justify having this coin certified in this condition. If it’s much nicer, it might be worthwhile. The coin on the right is a 1909 VDB worth about $3000. In this condition, it should definitely be certified – but there are only a few in the world in this condition. Most 1909 VDBs are not worth enough to justify certification for most people right now. Minor differences, huge differences in value. We’re here to help you learn.
How was your hunch? The coin on the left is an 1890-CC Tail Bar, worth about $1000. This is a coin you should always have certified if it’s in this condition. The coin in the center is indeed worth about $10, but some coins that look like this are worth $500. This coin doesn’t need to be certified, but others that look like it definitely should be. The coin on the right is common, usually worth about $18, but it’s in uncommon condition. This coin’s condition is the best of the bunch, and though it’s a common coin, its current market value in this condition is around $100. This is another coin you should probably get TPG certified, but some people might not choose to depending on their situation. Just a couple of grade points lower, and this coin is not worth having certified.
How did you do? Coins are tricky! But we love this stuff. That’s why we do this – we’re here to help.
