World Identification And Numismatic Grading Service (Wings)?

Thanks mkman123 for bringing this to the top. I guess I should have
done a search before starting the other thread.

I never understood CAC...so if its stickered...it is solid for the grade!? So if my PCGS coin is not stickered what's that say? That PCGS didn't grade correctly? Or its not solid for that grade? I want to start a company that certifies CAC stickers....

I think it important to accept the reality of the market forces in play even if you don't like it. Here's the reality. Every day as a dealer I receive several emails from Heritage offering gold coins for sale. They have a column per grade for NGC & PCGS coins. They then have a CAC column offering the same coin but with the CAC sticker. The CAC coins are always always always higher. The premiums range from 10-70% plus. So while you may be happy with your grade from PCGS, the reality is that it would be worth more if it had a CAC sticker (I am not affiliated in any way with CAC). Does that make sense? The answer is that it is irrelevant because the market forces don't need to make sense for their to be demand and for this market to exist, and even thrive. CAC is not saying that the coin is graded improperly they are saying that it is solid for the grade, or above. So your coin in 65 with a PCGS sticker may in fact by premium quality for the grade but since it hasn't been reviewed by CAC, the buying public will not pay a premium quality price for it. Why. Because most people are incapable of grading. They buy the holder and not the coin. I suspect that most readers in this thread fall into that category. Since this is a thread regarding WINGS, they do not follow CAC's criteria. They will only sticker a coin that is premium quality for the grade assigned by the grading services.

Same with WINGS. It doesn't mean that if a coin is not stickered by WINGS that it is misgraded. In fact, the coin can be solid for the grade but not nice enough to qualify. Moreover, WIGNS stickers not only PCGS and NGC (which are the only 2 that CAC does), they also sticker ANACS and ICG. Further they just expanded by now accepting coins certified by the Canadian company I.C.C.S.
You can read more about WINGS at http://www.wingscoins.com.

Also, to keep you current as to the growing trend, there is now a company that just started that only stickers US coins that are premium quality. They followed WINGS lead and will be in direct competition with CAC. Finally, there is another company that opened in the past year that stickers currency.

So what is happening is that the market forces are beginning to demand these services as more and more people recognize that grading services may not be the be all to end all. These stickering companies are sort of like the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. I mean for a few bucks if your coin is worthy of receiving a sticker it is probably worth more. And that is the public speaking based on auction results and prices that dealers charge. Check it out for yourselves.

Remember, none of this would be possible unless there is a demand. Obviously there is. Go back and read the book, "Who moved my Cheese". The mouse that was most receptive to change and stayed ahead of the crowd ended up ahead.

Good luck.

Hi

And I couldn't disagree with anything that you said. CAC has two excellent reviewers who know what they are doing. Can't comment as to how much time each coin is reviewed. In my experience, it could be as short as 5 seconds or as long that is needed for much higher priced coin since that would have the greatest impact on prices.

WINGS, does not rely on 2 graders. They recognize that the world is a much larger market and the period is much greater. While it is only a few centuries for US coins it is more than double that for world coins. In fact, there are many countries that are no longer in existence whose coins are traded. To provide a better service for collectors they have contracted with a string of consultants that are experts in their field. So if you have a Chinese coin for example, a Chinese expert will look at it if need be.

I know that their philosophy is that if there is any question whether or not the item is premium quality for the assigned grade that the coin will NOT get a sticker. "When in doubt, throw it out" is the approach. This way in the long run, the dignity of the sticker will never be questioned and buyers will know that they are getting a PQ coin. Either the coin is or isn't. If questionable then no sticker. Just sound policy for the customer.

MightyMike, now that you accept ICCS coins how will you reconcile the difference between US grading standards for Canadian circulated coins and the Canadian grading standards. I'm sure you're aware that for coins such as Victoria 50 cents, EF40 coins graded by US TPGs are overgraded 80% of the time according to Canadian (and ICCS) standards.

Is this the same guy/team that ran/runs NGS? Heard something about this on the PCGS forums.

Gotcha. Wasn't sure. Just saw a post on another site about someone doing the stupid CAC type thing. I'm sorry but that whole CAC thing is a bunch of crap.