Professional Coin Grading Service

This complaint is the first contact that I have had with this customer and I am engaging him directly to try and resolve the issue.

Over the past thirty-five years PCGS has graded and authenticated over 43 million coins. As part of a public company, PCGS maintains strict processes and controls to ensure that the coins a customer sends in are the same coins that the customer receives back. These controls are tested on a regular basis by an independent third-party. Additionally, PCGS does not maintain an inventory of coins from which a coin could be accidentally switched. From the time each package is opened until the time items are returned to the customer, the complete process is done under camera to protect both customers and employees.To be quite frank, it is almost impossible for a coin to be switched out with another coin of the exact same date/denomination.

I will continue to work with the customer directly to try and resolve this issue and provide him confidence that the coin he received back is in fact the same coin that was sent in.

David R - VP, Operations

Unfortunately PCGS does sometime have the difficult job of telling a customer that the coins they thought were worth a significant amount of money are actually worth less than the customer anticipated. It is for this reason that PCGS offers Price Guides, Auction Prices Realized, Photograde, and other numismatic information online so that customers can make an informed decision about the potential value of their submissions. We also have a vast PCGS Authorized Dealer network to help customers identify coins that can have significant value add by third-party grading.

When coins are submitted to PCGS, they are analyzed by multiple experts to determine authenticity and grade (regardless of value).

With regard to return shipping, PCGS purchases outside insurance through multiple insurers that are backed by international underwriters. The USPS/FedEx label on the package does not include the insurance costs as purchased through these third-party insurers. Customers can rest assured that all packages shipped by PCGS are insured at the declared value as listed by the customer on their original submission form.

Due to this customer's bad experience, I would be happy to work with them personally on future submissions to help streamline the process.

Thank you

PCGS processes more than 2,000,000 coins a year. In our 33 years of operating, PCGS has multiple and extensive procedures in place to ensure that each coin submitted is the exact coin returned to the customer. We are 100% confident that the coins returned to Brad were the ones originally submitted by him.

As to his complaint about his credit card charges, he was charged the correct fees. His original submission form, that he completed and signed, does have the total amount due for the submissions. PCGS did need to process this over two separate charges, however the total he provided and authorized, is correct.

We are 100% confident that the coins returned to Brad were the ones originally submitted by him. Brad purchased a membership on 12/21/18. I believe his complaint of an incomplete package was due to submission forms not being included however during the last weeks of 2018, our sub forms were expiring, we had not yet received the 2019 sub forms. In order to not delay his and other customers membership kits, these were shipped without sub forms. The submission forms are available on our website and were finally shipped to Brad on 1/8. Brad has submitted 2 orders in the last 2 months. Submission 5818135 was sent first, it was in process with PCGS 1/17-1/28/19, for 15 coins. This submission was sent for Express Service, but he requested to use his free voucher (included with his Gold Membership) as partial payment. Brad was contacted by email explaining that the voucher was not available to use for Express Service ($65/coin), the order would need to be processed under Regular ($35/coin), Brad approved this change. His charge for this order was changed from $847, which he calculated on his sub form, to the approved $442 actual charge to his credit card. Brad’s second submission *** was submitted for Express ($65/coin), he submitted 13 coins. During the processing of the submission, our Operations team realized that these coins were being submitted for a higher service (Express), but were low value coins. They decided that instead of charging the customer $65/coin, which would be a high overpayment vs the actual value of the coins, the fee and service tier were changed to Economy ($27/coin). This was done simply to save out customer some money. By changing the service tier, this did not change the actual outcome of the grading or the turnaround time. The fees charged for this submission was $427, instead of the $986 that the customer submitted for. This submission was still completed in 6 bus days, Express service has an estimated turnaround time of 5 bus days

PCGS processes more then 2,000,000 coins a year. We have multiple processes and procedures in place to ensure that each coin submitted is the exact coin returned to the correct customer who submitted it.

For security reasons, we are not able to release photos or videos from inside of our secure processing facility, however we are 100% confident after a thorough investigation that the coin that was submitted to PCGS by Leslie *** was the coin returned to Leslie ***.

See attached.

PCGS Shanghai Operations Manager, Alfred ***, has been in communication with the customer and with the Chinese Market Supervision Administration Officer regarding this issue. We have agreed to refund the fees to the customer. Mr. is awaiting a response from the customer regarding the refund.

This matter is being resolved in China between PCGS Shanghai and the customer.

PCGS is a division of *** which is a publicly traded company. In the 32 years since PCGS’s founding, *** has graded and authenticated over 67 million items for a combined current value of over $32 billion. The nature of our business is that customers submit their coins and other collectibles to us for authentication and grading services.

In this instance, the customer submitted coins to PCGS that were previously graded by another Third-Party Grading Service and requested that they be put into PCGS holders. When a coin is submitted to PCGS that is already graded by another Grading Service, this is considered a “Crossover.” Crossovers are reviewed by multiple PCGS Grading Experts including a Senior Grade/Verifier. If PCGS’s Grading Experts do not believe the coin in question would qualify for the same grade in a PCGS holder, the coin would not be removed from its holder and would be returned to the customer as is.

We’ve contacted the customer directly via email, our response to the customer is below;

Good Afternoon Mr.,

My name is ***, I am the Customer Service Manager for PCGS. Your email was forwarded to me as soon as my team saw it in our email inbox. I apologize if this response is later than you expected, we receive a very high volume of calls and emails every day and we do our best to respond to each as quickly as possible.

I reviewed your email below, your Revdex.com complaint regarding this order, the notes my team left on the order and I have spoken with the Customer Service Representatives that you spoke with regarding this order.

I apologize if my team was not able to provide a full and adequate response as to why your coins did not cross.

As to “DNC” – this stands for “Did Not Cross’ and is typically indicated on a Crossover that our graders did not feel met or exceeded whatever the minimum grade for that specific coin was based on PCGS’s standards. I believe there was a bit of confusion or miscommunication on what exactly you wanted as a minimum grade for each coin. Based on your submission form, you requested “ANY” which is any numerical grade from 1 to 70, however on the letter you provided with the order you stated, “if by chance you folks grade either one of them lesser than a 70, please do not crack out, but send them back in the ICG holders.” I know that you spoke with a few of our Customer Service Representatives and the Receiving Associate who processed your order after the submission was received, however the issue seems to have not been fully corrected prior to the order being completed and shipped back to you.

I am going to have one of our Customer Service Representatives send you an email with instructions on how to return the coins to PCGS that did not cross, they will also provide you a pre-paid and fully insured FedEx mailing label to return the coins to us for us to continue to review them. If for some reason you’re not able to print the label, please let me know or let the Customer Service Representative that emails the label to you know and we will print and mail a physical label to you.

Please reply to this email stating you are ok crossing the coins into PCGS holders at ANY numerical grade prior to sending them back, this way I can be sure we’re processing the order how you would like.

As to PCGS’s Grading Standards in general, PCGS is known as the “Standard for the Rare Coin Industry” and also as the most conservative grading service in the industry. This is typically why PCGS holders fetch a much higher premium than coins graded by other Third Party Grading Services out on the market. With PCGS being considered more conservative than other Third Party Grading services, our opinion will vary from the other services and we will not always agree with their opinion. Although ICG or IGS may have graded your specific coins as a 70, PCGS did not agree with that grade based on our standards.

For future orders of crossover submissions, you have a few options as to when PCGS will remove your coins from their crossover holder and put them into a PCGS holder;
Crossing at the same gradeIf you do not list a minimum grade in the “Minimum Grade” column on the submission form, the numerical grade listed on the graded holder will be considered your minimum gradeIf PCGS’s Grading Experts do not believe the coin will cross at the current or a higher grade based on PCGS’s standards, the coin will not be removed from its holder and will not be placed into a PCGS holderCrossing at a lower minimum gradeIf you choose to do so, you can specify a minimum grade lower than the grade currently on the holder. For example, if your coin is currently in an MS65 holder but you would accept an MS62, you would list MS62 in the minimum grade column for that specific coin. You cannot specify a minimum grade higher than the current grade listed on the holder.If PCGS’s Grading Experts believe your coins is an MS62 or higher, we will remove the coin from its holder and will place it into a PCGS holder. If you list a specific minimum grade and PCGS believes the coin’s grade should be higher than that, PCGS will place the coin into a PCGS holder with the grade our Grading Experts believe the coin qualifies for based on PCGS’s standardsIf the coin is deemed as “Genuine, Not Gradable” (explained in the next bullet point), PCGS would not remove that coin from its holder and it would not be placed into a PCGS holder.If crossing at “ANY” gradeIf you write “ANY” in the minimum grade column for a crossover, PCGS will remove the coin from the other Grading Service’s holder and will place it into a PCGS holder as long as our Grading Experts feel the coin warrants a numerical grade anywhere from 01 to 70. If a coin is deemed “Genuine, Not Gradeable,” the coin will not be removed from the crossover holder and will not be placed into a PCGS Holder.“Genuine, Not Gradeable” coins are coins that are authentic but because of a problem, PCGS is not able to numerically grade them. For example, a coin may be authentic and numerically graded by another Grading Service but if PCGS believes the coin has been cleaned, damaged, or falls into one of our other “No Grade” codes, even if you state “ANY” as the minimum grade the coin will not be removed from its holder and placed into a PCGS holder. If crossing as “GENUINE”If you indicate “GENUINE” in the minimum grade column on the submission form, PCGS will remove your coin from its holder and place it into a PCGS holder as long as it is authentic and does not have any of the following issues:Coin is counterfeitCoin has PVC (Polyvinylchloride) on the coinThe lamination of the coin is peelingOur Grading Experts are not able to render a 100% opinion on a coin

For additional information on our “No Grade” codes/reasons and PCGS’s Grading Standards in general, please visit www.PCGS.com/Grades.

I hope that I have been able to address each of your concerns and/or questions with this email.

I will be responding to your Revdex.com complaint with an opening statement followed by the full text of this email.

If my offer to have you return the coins, that did not cross, to PCGS to cross them and my other responses in this email are to your satisfaction, please respond to the Revdex.com complaint once you receive the updated email from them and confirm that you are satisfied with PCGS’s response.

If you have any questions or need additional information, please let me know.

Based on the large volume of coins graded each day at PCGS, our graders are not able to leave notes on each individual coin. They indicate their opinion of each coin when inputting the grade, no grade and or designation(s) into our internal PCGS grading system. We would not be able to provide Mr. with any other information or notes other than that the two coins returned in their original holders did not cross.

As to Mr.’s statement of a possible coin switch, PCGS keeps no inventory on-hand other than what customers send us to grade. After over 32 years of operating, PCGS has multiple and extensive procedures in place to ensure a coin is not mishandled at any time during our process. The coins submitted to PCGS are the coins that were returned to Mr..

PCGS Memberships are non-refundable however based on Mr.’s request, we have started the refund process to have the full $69 refunded back to his original form of payment. Typically, if cancelling a membership, the customer’s submission privileges are removed as well as they no longer have a valid membership, for Mr. we will keep his access active until the end of his original membership term, 3/29/2018. Once the original membership term expires, Mr. will have the option of renewing his membership manually or allowing it to lapse.

PCGS is a division of Collectors Universe which is a publicly traded company. In the 32 years since PCGS’s founding, Collectors Universe has graded and authenticated over 68 million items for a combined current value of over $35 billion. The nature of our business is that customers submit their coins and other collectibles to us for authentication and grading services. In this instance, this customer received a PCGS-graded coin as a gift. In the customer’s complaint, he mentioned that he was unsure if his friend purchased the coin directly from PCGS or not. PCGS does not buy or sell coins, we strictly authenticate and grade them. The coin was most likely purchased from another coin collector or from a PCGS Authorized Dealer online or in Mr. Friend’s local area.

Mr. noticed two small blemishes or imperfections on the inner gasket of the PCGS holder (an inner plastic gasket holds the coin inside of and in place in the PCGS holder). Mr. contacted PCGS regarding the issue he observed on the holder. PCGS requested images as is our normal procedure to ensure that customers are not sending PCGS-holdered coins back to PCGS for “correction” if they are correct and in the appropriate condition. We informed Mr. that small blemishes such as the ones he had mentioned were not uncommon but we would still work with him to attempt to correct the issue once images were received as he was not satisfied with the current condition of the holder and gasket.

Once images of the coin holder issue were received, we provided Mr. with a pre-paid and fully insured FedEx label along with step-by-step instructions on how to send the coin to PCGS so that we could review the issue in-person and potentially correct it.

Upon receiving the coin at PCGS, the coin was reviewed by one of PCGS’s most senior experts. The coin in question was correct as-is with no issue other than two small blemishes on the inner gasket. The coin was removed from the PCGS holder and gasket and placed into a new PCGS gasket then into a new PCGS holder. The PCGS holder was then sonically sealed by PCGS personnel. Prior to the coin being shipped back to Mr., the PCGS Customer Service Representative that was working with Mr. personally reviewed the coin and holder in question along with our Operations Personnel. They determined the blemish that Mr. had referred to on the PCGS holder/gasket was no longer on this new gasket.

The coin was then sent back to Mr., once again on PCGS’s account, fully insured and at no cost to Mr..

Once Mr. received the coin back he was still not satisfied with the PCGS holder. At this point, Mr. contacted PCGS Customer Service again and proceeded to inform our staff that he was not satisfied with the correction and felt that the issue had not been resolved. Mr. was advised that if he was still not satisfied with the small imperfection on the inner plastic he could send it back to PCGS again on our account and at no charge to him for us to review the holder again but Mr. did not want to go this route.

All plastic used for PCGS holders, gaskets and any material that PCGS uses are of very specific materials and compositions to ensure that they cannot harm any coin or collectible that is placed into a PCGS holder. Once a coin is placed into a PCGS holder it is typically not removed, extreme amounts of research and care go into developing all materials used by PCGS to ensure the safe storage of the coin or other collectible over time. Throughout the process used to manufacture PCGS materials, very small blemishes or imperfections can sometimes be found in the outer areas of PCGS holders and/or gaskets. These small imperfections by no means affect the value of the PCGS-graded coin as they are on the PCGS holder and not the coin itself.

As previously stated, PCGS does not buy or sell coins, thus we would not be able to exchange the coin in question. During the very beginning process of assisting Mr., we did let him know that typically if there is an issue such as this, the coin can be exchanged through the person that the coin was purchased from. Sometimes for the consumer this is easier and quicker than sending the coin back to PCGS directly.

If Mr. would like to send the coin back to PCGS, I personally, along with our Operations Manager, will hand select the plastic holder and inner gasket to replace the current holder and gasket when placing the coin into a new PCGS holder. We cannot guarantee that there may or may not still be a very small blemish on the plastic as is common.

PCGS will contact the customer via email to provide a FedEx
return label.

We will review and attempt to correct the issue as quickly
as possible.

I will place an alert on the customer’s PCGS account
internally so that when the order is received at PCGS I will be notified so
that I can walk the order through the process.