What do these mean on PCGS slabs?

What do the series and coin mean on a PCGS slab? I have a 1937 S Buffalo with series:19 and Coin:63 on it, does that mean this was part of a big submission or does it have to do with set registry and that being put on the slab?

Thanks

 

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It's telling you the buffalo nickel is series 19 which is an internal code for PCGS and I assume it's the 63rd coin in the series if you start with 1913 and start counting dates and mint marks?

 

it means that under that single sbmision the person has submitted multipal coins like if you sent 2 rolls of ase's to be graded indivitually

 

Kryptonitecomics is correct. What kaosleeroy108 is describing is the certification number on an NGC slab; that information does not show on the PCGS slab.

 

I knew I was but just in case.....I was hoping someone else would come along and assure me I wasn't crazy lol

 

Alright that makes sense but do people submitting have to pay extra or specify they want that? Because I have other PCGS slabs that do not have those markings.

 

I haven't seen those marking on a slab in years so I believe you are looking at an old slab and PCGS no longer lists that info. When they did there was no additional costs it was just standard operating procedures for PCGS and they went away from that early on.

 

Makes sense, it has a blue insert though, but they have had those for almost a decade now right?

 

There are a lot of different versions floating around and yes the blue one has been around for a while...I check the PCGS slabs I own and didn't see the info you referenced but I remember seeing it so I am assuming it's an older slab?

 

Maybe it is though the hologram on the back is a small rounded square which looks like a newer design than the rectangles on the others. Hopefully I can at least get a scan of it and post is.

 

I just bought a PCGS Silver State quarter from 2005 that has this info listed,

Series:39PR
Coin: 86A

So if it was stopped, it wasnt that long ago.

 

Check out this thread for important information on the history, style, and format of the different PCGS Slabs.

http://forums.collectors.com/messageview.cfm?catid=26&threadid=222533

It is quite informative.

BTW, I have coins which were submitted on 6/30/2005 which have the Series and Coin designation on the slab.



Reference the submission here: http://www.pcgs.com/Membership/order.html?OrderNo=10334802

 

Here too: SampleSlabs.com

 

I would agree with the information on the first number being an internal code such as 39 for state quarters, as the sampleslab.com site has several different state quarters with a "39", but I agree with kaosleeroy108 that the second number is the sequential number for coins in a specific submission, and not a code number for coin/mm/etc. PCGS already has a coin code for that, has to be on each submission, and it is quite different. So "13" would be the 13th coin on the submission sheet.

Jim

 

Shane at Kryptonite is correct (as is Stewart). Conder is a frequent contributor on here and knows the history of slabs at PCGS and plenty of other TPGs. Hopefully he will weigh in here on this thread eventually.

Jim: I am pretty sure this is correct. For instance, the coin in the OP, 37-S Buffalo is the 63rd coin in the Buffalo series if you don't include the varieties.

 

Ok, I hunted down the PCGS Coin Numbering Sytem. Their number used on the submission sheet for the 37-S Buffalo is 3983, so the 39 part does identify the Series as first 2 digits of the number. If the coin number was 83, it would make good sense as it is their number, but to have a different number 63 is hard to understand. The 3963 ID belongs to the 1928 Buffalo. Oh well, maybe that is why they removed it.

Jim

 

They may have removed the code so they could modify the code as varieties were added without causing confusion. Just speculating.

 

It would be interesting if someone has a collection of PCGS numbering books. I don't think they would change the base numbers. When they add a variety, they also put an additional number such as "9" before it, and put the coin in the appropriate place in sequence to date and mint mark.

The 37 D 3 leg was given a regular number 3982 ( prob due to popularity). But the 36-D is given 3978 and the 36-D 3 1/2 Leg is given 93978

 

That's kind of how it works, but it's not precise.

You are right in that the base numbers never change; once a coin has a number, it stays there. However, when the numbers were first assigned, they only went up to 10000, and they ran out of room a long time ago.

The numbers were first assigned essentially by looking at Red Book varieties; for the most part, when a coin had a variety listed in the Red Book when the numbering system started, it received its own four digit number.

Certain designations, presumably the ones that were being assigned at the time, also received four digit numbers. For instance, the following all have separate numbers: All copper coins in Red, Red/Brown and Brown; Mercury dimes with full bands; Prooflike Morgan dollars; Full Head Standing Liberty quarters (I think that's all). Proof coins also had completely different four digit numbers than their circulation strike counterparts.

A certain amount of room was left over for new varieties, as well; there are generally several unassigned four digit numbers at the end of each, and in some cases, varieties have already been assigned to the end of the series. For example, these PCGS numbers correspond to the following Morgan dollars:

• 7292: 1904-O (7293 is the same coin prooflike; the pattern extends throughout the series)
• 7294: 1904-S
• 7296: 1921 Morgan
• 7298: 1921-D
• 7300: 1921-S
• 7302: 1901 Doubled Die
• 7304: 1902-O Micro O (!)
• 7306: 1903-S MIcro S
• 7308: 1888-O Doubled Die
• 7310: (Generic Proof Morgan; they ran out of room for new varieties here)

As more designations were added, new numbers were assigned. There was no more room for four digit numbers, so in general the new numbers were assigned by prepending an 8 or 9 to the basic four digit number. This is how PCGS numbers were assigned to Full Step Jeffersons, Full Torch Roosevelts, Deep Mirror Prooflike Morgans, and Cameo and Deep Cameo proofs. For instance, a 1882-CC dollar has the number 7134 for a normal coin, 7135 if it's prooflike, and 97135 if it's Deep Mirror Prooflike.

PCGS numbers for colonials and Territorial/Fractional gold generally follow the same rules except that Colonials generally have numbers less than 1000, and the others have numbers of 1xxxx.

Patterns have numbers in the form 1xxxx, 6xxxx, and 7xxxx. The last four digits are generally in order of the Judd number, but I don't think there's a whole lot of rhyme or reason to the first digit.

Inevitably, newer coins have caused the original PCGS numbering system to run out of room in places. For most, if not all, coins of the 21st century, the numbering system tends to be based on wherever they could find room. In addition, as entire series are cataloged by variety (most notably Bust Halves), new numbers are found for them as well.

And this doesn't even cover world coins.

 

There is no obvious correspondence like that between the PCGS number and the series. Lincoln Cents alone range from 2423 (1909 VDB brown) to 3196 (2006 Red), with pretty much everything taken up in between. 2007 and above are in a completely different sequence.