NGC to photograph all certified coins to help combat countefeit slabs...

http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2791072#Post2791072

NGC has announced today that we are imaging every single coin that we certify. Security images of the coin in its holder are captured before it leaves NGC. We began this initiative with the launch of our new holder on October 1, 2008 and already have a digital archive of over 750,000 NGC-certifed coins.

 

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So what do you think? Good or bad?

 

how are they going to get the coins they have a;lready graded. i for one am not mailing them my coins to photograph. if they are not goign to get the old coins to photograph then this will make the whole exercise meaningless as the majority of their work is in the past at this point

 

They have been photographing coins since October 1, so if you have a new holder, you're already covered.

I would imagine they'll offer a reholder with photograph for older coins. Today this service is $5/coin.

 

so i have to pay money to them again. thats a rip off they should be paying me $5 per coin if they want to photograph it. let me go see if they photographed my coin i did get some in october. where exactly do i see the pics in their population report?

 

just as i feared the international coins are missing pics. here we go again :whistle:

 

Just curious. What do you think can be bad about this. I doubt that it will fix the problem, but anything will help. The only question I have is how available the pics should be and I am not sure I know the answer to that.

 

Mike - I think this is a good thing......it can only help. For me, it is irrelevant since I can't stand their new holder and am not slabbing coins generally. While my opinion about their holder may be irrational on my part, the design is a major detractor to viewing the encapsulated coin.

 

other applications?

What other applications might this photographic archive be used for? Will it be used to combat that guy that sends the same coin over & over hoping to get a higher grade? Can anyone think of other uses (good or bad)?

Very best regards,
collect89

 

If the photo archive concept is widely embraced by the market you make have to if you want to sell any expensive coins. Either that or accept a lowball bid for them. Ive seen this several times when one of the top two made a major change in one of their slabs. You start seeing buy offers that state "new holders only, lower prices for older holders" and sellers touting in their ads that their coins are all in the new holders. I could see offers being restricted only to those coins that can be verified in the photo archives.

The picture files will not be available for viewing until 2009.

Pictures are supposed to be available on the serial number certification page which is now going to be free to all. (Previously it was only available to paying members.)

My concern is "How good are the images going to be?" NGC has never had a good reputation for their photography. The images in their Photoproofs are just so so, the images for their program that lets you get images of your submitted coins for $3 were just mediocre scans, and the images of the Eliasberg foreign gold coins on their photocertifcates were all out of focus. If the images are not high resolution with sharp focus and the color accurately represented then it isn't worthwhile because the coin in hand won't look like the photo, and small detail needed to verify that the coin in the picture is the same one as the coin in hand will not be visible. And you still have the limitation problems inherent to the low resolution available from a computer screen.

 

Conder101,

Here is a quote from the NGC.

I read that as saying it is only open to dealers and Collectors Society members. Are you seeing something I am not?

 

Image / trait recognition

A coin is submitted to the TPG & they put a photograph of it into the database. The computer spits out possible matches from the data base which have previously been graded. The finalizer immediately determines that this coin has previously been at the TPG before & knows the previously applied grade. Is this technology good or bad?

Very best regards,
collect89

 

I can't think of a single bad thing, but clearly others who have responded to this thread disagree.

 

First off, I am not aware of anyone indicating that this information will be used as you suggest. But even if it were, I would view it as a good thing....

One of the biggest problems with TPG grading, in my opinion, is that over time all coins tend to get into the "maximum" grade (i.e. overgraded) holder. If the TPGs were to use this information to limit this phenomenon, I would, personally, view this as a good thing....Mike

 

I think this is a good thing. It can only help. It might not be the best system, but it's a step in the right direction.

 

It's a fantastic idea IMO.

 

It's all good

Quote:
Originally Posted by Collect89
A coin is submitted to the TPG & they put a photograph of it into the database. The computer spits out possible matches from the data base which have previously been graded. The finalizer immediately determines that this coin has previously been at the TPG before & knows the previously applied grade. Is this technology good or bad?

First off, I am not aware of anyone indicating that this information will be used as you suggest. But even if it were, I would view it as a good thing....

One of the biggest problems with TPG grading, in my opinion, is that over time all coins tend to get into the "maximum" grade (i.e. overgraded) holder. If the TPGs were to use this information to limit this phenomenon, I would, personally, view this as a good thing....Mike
Last edited by Leadfoot; Today at 02:26 PM.


I think it is all good. For many years I have been asking the guys at PCGS and NGC if they utilize the ability to compare a new submission to photographs of previously submitted coins. Historically, the answer has always been NO.

It will be interesting to see how the public uses (and abuses) the database. Maybe Mr. Public will like to compare his coin to others in the database & maybe even find his own coin in a previous slab. Maybe Mr. Public will be buying a coin from some Ebay scammer & then discover that it is a picture of his own slab. It's all good.

Very best regards,
collect89

 

great, now we have to worry about counterfeit coins, counterfeit slabs, AND counterfeit photos of slabs, what has coin collecting come to.

 

Agree, but it is not in their self interest to do so. By reducing this resubmit practice, they would be taking a hit on their profits.