So my NGC membership expires at the end of March, but I'm wanting to send in a batch of coins either tomorrow or Friday. Will they allow me to sign up for another year today, and give me the $150 credit with the $150 membership, or do I have to wait until my current membership expires to start a new one? If that's the case, am I able to sign up for a new membership and get the $150 credit to put towards my order I want to submit this week?
That is a good question but I would imagine you would have to wait. Call them. I have only a few times but an actual person answered and I got the answer to my question almost instantly.
This is what I do. I initially got my ANA membership courtesy of the Coin Show Radio. As an ANA member you get submission privileges through NGC. $25.00 a year for the ANA alone is worth it, then add on a "free" membership to NGC = no brainer.
I had a ANA membership for a year or so, it was actually Drew Wilson that convinced me to get it, but I let it expire cause I really didn't see all the benefits from being a member. What are all the benefits exactly?
Well, aside submission privileges at NGC, there's free admission to the ANA shows, extensive course work (including correspondence courses), the biggest numismatic lending library in the country, access to 125 years of The Numismatist, discounts from Whitman, Krause, Hugh Wood and others.... None of that matters to me, possibly excepting NGC down the road. What matters is doing my part to support the organization in the country working on behalf of numismatics.
See though, that's my problem as well. I don't really do graded coins except for ASE's so the privileges to NGC don't mean much, I never am able to go to an ANA show, course work doesn't interest me, library don't interest me, and their magazine didn't impress me when I read it. Even by supporting the effort, which I get.... I almost think I rather keep my money.
Well that's where each person "justifies" it to themselves or not. Now if you wanted to use NGC, I bet $25.00 per year sounds a whole lot better than $150.00 per year.
