Here's the letter I dashed off to NGC upon opening my ATB set: When I was in the process of deciding on a third party grader for my 5 oz. America the Beautiful coins, I read an article on the NGC website about how NGC was giving labels to the 5 oz. coins that would be unique to the national park for which the coin was minted. Exciting to a collector like myself! Based in part on that article, I sent in 2 sets of ATB coins and was very disappointed when they came back with labels I had never seen before. I went back to see how it was that a careful reader like myself could miss the fact that my submission was ineligible for the cool new labels but that information is no longer available on the website. I believe that the original press release has actually been replaced by an ad for the less desirable label. I understand that the labels I did receive are also “special,” but they are not the labels that were advertized and are not nearly as appealing to this collector. I feel like I have just spent $500 on an NGC product that was not “as advertized” and am kicking myself for not printing out the page that I originally read. It was explained to me that you have no real interest in how or if bulk submitters obtain their coins within the guidelines that the US Mint established to ensure wide distribution of these coins, but must you also reward them with a special label of their own?
You can always try the internet wayback machine and see if they have the initial press release archived: http://waybackmachine.org/ There are other internet archives as well. It may work.
Here's a PS: I just read the new, backdated press release to the end and realize that I also shouldn't have paid for the higher, Modern Special tier like I was directed to do by a phone rep when I was preparing my order... !!!!
Earlier in 2010 when the initial AtB quarters (the small standard sized coins) were being slabbed there was some sort of legal issue with the naming rights being used on the holders and a change was quickly made to how they labeled the coins. I believe the new labels featuring this "America’s National Treasures" name may be a reflection of certain naming rights issues. I am trying to find a reference to the article that discussed this legal matter as it was published online by some of the coin pubs. I wasn't able to find an article related to this issue on NGC. I will post the link later when I can find it.
The US Mint got all ****y with folks using the "America the Beautiful™" moniker when slabbing or selling these coins so, NGC did change their label to keep the US Mint attorney's at bay. I have no idea what "Special Label's" the 5oz pieces were to receive.
Yes, that is the article that they "updated" to no longer advertise the labels that are park-specific. PS: We can't copy the pics from eBay auctions anymore but a quick search will show the difference. In fact this link shows the original NGC ad: completed eBay auction
