I just signed up for an NGC associate submission account through my ANA membership and am waiting to receive my submission forms to send in my first batch of coins for grading/re-holdering. In anticipation of this, I was reading through the service options and noticed there are several imaging services available. I'm assuming the Internet Imaging option is simply that they provide you with the basic low res slab photo that they use for certification verification. What about the Photo Vision option they offer for $15? Is that worth it? How does it compare to PCGS TrueView? Confusingly, they describe Photo Vision as a coin image PDF sent by email, but then they also list a Digital Delivery add-on for $5 per Photo Vision described as a PDF of your Photo Vision image sent via email. That just seems like an option to pay $5 extra for what you're already getting. What am I missing here?
Here is a very recent example of the NGC "Photo Vision" service. I think they did a good job, but it's clearly not as good as PCGS TrueView. I would recommend it to anyone that uses NCG and does NOT want to take their own coin photos, in this case, it's well worth the $15. There is no Reverse Slab shot in the $15 package, which is odd. In regards to "a coin image PDF sent by email", this also confused me, but after using the service let me explain. They email you a PDF, which "presents" the 4 images in a nice format, but you can also click and save the individual images like I have done above. Its about simplicity and presentation. I do think NGC could explain this better in the description of the services. No need to pay any more that $15, so ignore the digital delivery addon cost. Here is exactly what the PDF looks like: Hope this helps!
Yes. Your reply will certainly help everyone that reads this thread. I have never had a coin imaged by the TPGs.
So the the closeups are taken with the coin already slabbed. Did you send this coin in raw? I'm assuming there is no option available for the coin to be photographed out of the holder even if it's sent in raw or being reholdered. While I prefer the look and feel of NGC slabs to PCGS slabs on the whole, those white prongs are much more distracting for closeups.
I did NOT send it raw, it was a reholder. BUT, they crack them out and could have taken them raw, but I read specifically the process is SLAB > Photo. I saw no options to change this, but they might take a special request. Email NGC and ask, or better yet, call. Unlike PCGS customer service, NGC is very friendly.
I would expect they only take photos in the slab because then everything is preset. They don't have to worry about different sizes of coins and so on. Slip in the slab, take a picture, turn it over, take a picture... it's probably all pre-configured with the proper exposure and lighting and so on. Taking pictures of raw coins would take a lot longer.
It makes sense that they only do it that way, but it's unfortunate since when reholdering a coin the TPG is the only party that will be able to photograph the coin raw. It would be nice if they offered that service, even if they charged a premium. Thanks again for sharing your experience, geekpryde.
