Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC), based in Sarasota, Fla., has become the first third-party grading service to certify more than 50 million coins, tokens and medals.
Founded in 1987, NGC employs more than 35 full-time graders plus hundreds of support staff with offices in the United States, Great Britain, Germany and China. The grading service also boasts a network of more than 20 official submission centres and thousands of authorized dealers in many countries, including Canada.
“NGC is honoured by the incredible support of collectors and dealers over the years that has propelled us to this significant milestone,” said NGC chair and grading finalizer Mark Salzberg.
NGC also certified what it called ‘an intriguing and high-profile error,’ Canada’s 2017 one-kilogram gold ‘Timber Wolf’ coin muled with the obverse of a silver coin (not shown).
NGC is celebrating the recent milestone by featuring 50 rare coins from numismatics’ roughly 2,600-year history – with a few Canadian highlights – at bit.ly/3qNlHpb.
Among the NGC-graded Canadian coins is the 2017 one-kilogram $2,500 “Timber Wolf” coin muled with the obverse of a silver $250 piece. Certified as Proof-70 with an “Ultra Cameo” designation, the coin is “special” because of its low mintage and high value.
“The sheer volume of coins produced by mints does result in the occasional error escaping quality control procedures,” reads the NGC website. “However, even when a coin’s mintage is small and its value is high, an error can still occur. This Canadian $2,500 gold coin had a mintage of only 10 coins, but the obverse for its $250 silver counterpart was accidentally used, creating an intriguing and high-profile error.”
Earlier this month, the U.S. private equity firm Blackstone acquired a majority stake in NGC’s parent company, Certified Collectibles Group, which also owns Paper Money Guaranty and other third-party grading services for collectible comic books, trading cards, stamps and estate items.