Numismatic Guaranty Corporation
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The Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (or NGC) is a provider of third-party coin grading services to numismatists. The company was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Sarasota, Florida. It is the official grading service of the American Numismatic Association.
Coin grading is a fee-based service in which a coin or medal is sent to an independent company to render an opinion on its authenticity and condition. Graded coins are then encapsulated in a plastic holder or, colloquially, a "slab." A label insert identifies the coin and provides a grade on the 70-point Sheldon coin grading scale. Coins that are not genuine or have been altered in some way are not graded.
In 2003 Coin World conducted an investigation of PCGS, NGC and ANACS, three of the leading grading services. In this investigation, several coins were sent to each grading service. In not one single case did the grading services agree on the grade of any given coin, 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).
