Leading
Grading Services Announce Plus Designation NGC
- Posted on 3/25/2010
New
grade discriminator will be used to indicate premium quality;
NGC welcomes dealer and collector feedback on the new service
line.
The plus designation, a notation of premium quality, has
been announced by NGC and PCGS. The service will be available
from NGC beginning in approximately 60 days and is already
available from PCGS. Denoted by a + symbol appearing after
the grade, the plus designation indicates that a coin is of
superior quality for the grade and that it approaches the
next technical grade level. In numismatics, in addition to
plus, several terms are used interchangeably to indicate this,
including premium quality, PQ and high-end.
Aspects of the service offered by NGC and PCGS are similar.
The plus designation applies only to US coins from select
classic series, and it is not currently planned to be applied
to modern coinage issues. Additionally, it will be used on
eligible coins grading from the XF-range up to MS 68. For
coins to be evaluated for the plus designation, submitters
will have to opt in to a plus designation review service in
addition to the standard grading tier.
After the service launch, in approximately 60 days, coins
with the plus designation will receive a point premium in
the NGC Registry and will be reported in a forthcoming enhancement
of the NGC Census. Additionally, price guides and coin trading
networks, including the Certified Coin Exchange, will be supporting
the plus designation.
"The coin marketplace has evolved in the nearly 25 years
since NGC and PCGS began certifying coins, and this is a very
logical progression. We have always been conscious of the
variation within grades. By providing this information on
the label in the plus format, it is communicated in a simple
and direct way that allows these distinctions to be readily
understood," comments NGC Chairman Mark Salzberg.
PCGS founder David Hall stated, “The reality of the marketplace
is that coins considered high-end for the grade are recognized
by sophisticated dealers and collectors and such coins are
worth a premium in the marketplace. The term plus has been
part of the everyday trading and grading lingo for years.
For the market’s two leading grading services to recognize
this reality and designate these premium coins as part of
their grading services is a huge benefit to all participants
in the rare coin market.”