The Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) is a third-party appraisal service for grading rare coins. It determines the condition and authenticity of each coin it grades to provide consumers with an independent knowledgeable rating on which to judge the coin. It was founded in 1986, and is located in Newport Beach, CA.
An early PCGS slab.In the May 26 2003 edition of Coin World, the hobby newspaper had announced that they had conducted an investigation of PCGS, NGC and ANACS, three of the leading grading services along with several other grading services. In this investigation, several coins. were sent to each grading service. In no case did the grading services agree on the grade of any given coins. , and in some cases the difference in grading was seven points off (it is standard in U.S. numismatics to grade coins on a point-scale from 1 (poor) to 70 (perfect)). In one case ACCGS had graded a coin as "cleaned" and several grades lower than PCGS which PCGS had not noted was "cleaned". However PCGS has a policy for reimbursing customers if they had wrongly attributed, wrongly authenticated, or significantly overgraded a coin.
In 1990 the FTC(Federal Trade Commission), which oversees business ethics and fraud, filed a civil action against PCGS alleging exaggerated advertising claims. PCGS did not admit wrongdoing, but agreed to submit its advertising for review for a period of five years. In a filing in Federal district court in Washington, the company agreed to include a statement in its newspaper and television advertising affirming that certification by P.C.G.S. does not guarantee protection.
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