American Certified Coins

ironman - please only post one thread, as posting 5 of them will do you no good whatsoever. I have not dealt with these guys, but someone here probably has.

Hi Ironman and welcome to the forum! Lots of friendly people here with plenty of expertise to help out.

ACC acccoins.com is yet unproven as a serious grading company although its website is more straightforward than most of the other hundred plus such wannabe slabbers. Treat the coin as a raw coin rather than one which has been professionally graded by one of the top TPGs (PCGS, ANACS, NGC, and ICG) until proven otherwise. Like ALL the other wannabe slabbers except for the top four TPGs, ACC does not offer a guarantee of its grades.

Fred

ACC will still have a long uphill road to travel to receive industry recognition as a legitimate slabber no matter how impeccable his credentials. The top TPGs are well-entrenched with huge bases of support and the numbers of coins already graded over the years ensures their continued success in the market. If ACC had started out as more than a one-person operation (I don't count the woman who does not have a numismatic background), hired two or three graders away from PCGS, ANACS, ICG, and/or NGC, embarked on a huge well-funded publicity and public relations campaign prior to launch, attended major coin shows with on-site grading and slabbing, and was otherwise well-funded (hundreds of thousands, maybe more than a million), then it might have had a chance to play in the major leagues. However, as it stands right now, it is perceived as just another alphabet slabber and will never gain market acceptance. Why have a coin graded and slabbed if the market has never heard of the slabber and there is no guarantee of grading accuracy? The only advantage is that the coin is protected in a holder. I give ACC two to three more years before it folds.

I am also not comfortable with his description of Mint State coins: "MS60 to MS69 coins may have scratches, contact marks and other surface imperfections which will determine the grade." MS-67 and above should not have scratches nor bag marks. The only differences from MS-67 to MS-70 is in the quality of the strike.

A certificate of authenticity for a slabbed coin is a redundancy. The slab itself is all the guarantee of authenticity needed if the TPG is reputable. From ACC's website, I would feel comfortable that he is not slabbing a counterfeit, but that's about the limit of my comfort level until his coins have been on the market for a few years and have withstood the test of time.