I was at my favorite local coin shop yesterday and while the coin dealer was asked about getting coins graded and the cost of membership to NGS, I mentioned why not just get your coins slabbed through ANACS and save the membership fee. The coin dealer replied that ANACS stopped grading and slabbing about 2 years ago. There Site still looks fully functional, so now I am confused???
He probably just confused ANACS with someone else. Last I heard ANACS is still grading coins. Maybe he was thinking someone else but said ANACS. That's my guess.
That might be a warning to take everything he says with a grain of salt. ANACS is definitely still in business.
Perhaps the discussion was about getting coins slabbed by the "ANA" because the ANA got out of the slabbing business a long time ago. ANACS still slabs coins so se-collectibles has a good point.
Yes, he is thinking about the change that ocurred about 2 years ago. ANACS was bought by James Taylor and they got all new graders. So it is an entirely different company, with different grading standards than it ever had before. So I would assume that in his mind ANACS (meaning the old ANACS) does not grade anymore because it is not same company. He is not far from right.
For all practical purposes, ICG and ANACS did a personnel swap. I was at the Central Florida Coin Club's show today, Randy Campbell was there working his tail off taking submissions and giving advice. A mutual friend told me that Randy told him that he normally doesn't fill one case up with submissions, but he was already on his 2nd for the show.
Randy is a great guy. We got to talk for several hours one evening after the Fun show last year. I must have ask a hundred questions. He loves to talk coins.
Calling what ANACS does today "grading" is sort of stretching the term. They slab loads of MS-70s for home shopping networks, and loosely grade whatever else is submitted to them. Do not submit to ANACS - and do not buy newer ANACS holders. Anything more recent than their small white holders is unreliable, to say the least.
