Several leading third-party grading services have reported increased certifications in 2021.
Last year, the U.S.-based Certified Collectibles Group (CCG), whose many affiliates include Numismatic Guaranty Company (NGC) and Paper Money Guaranty (PMG), certified more than nine million collectibles – one every 3.5 seconds.
The CCG companies, which certify coins and banknotes plus comic books, trading cards, sports cards, stamps and other collectibles, have now certified nearly 70 million items altogether.
NGC certified 4.9 million coins, tokens and medals in 2021, bringing its total to more than 52 million certifications since its 1987 founding. Sixteen NGC-certified coins sold for more than $1 million US in 2021.
PMG certified 1.3 million banknotes in 2021, bringing its total to nearly seven million certifications since its 2005 founding.
A total of 17 of the top 25 most valuable coins sold in 2021 were graded by PCGS.
Another non-CCG-affiliated grading service – California’s Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) – certified eight of the top 10 most valuable U.S. coins auctioned in 2021.
Altogether, 17 of the top 25 most valuable coins sold in 2021 were graded by PCGS, which has certified more than 48 million coins since its 1986 founding.