When did NGC begin requiring the grade when requesting verification?

Notice this evening that NGC now requires the grade of a coin when querying a certificate number for verification. No doubt to make counterfeiting holders coin and all more difficult. But it makes it impossible to browse a submission number to see what other coins were in it, a kind of fun practice I would use at times.

How long has it been this way? I'm thinking maybe within the last few weeks....,,

 

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Yea, I noticed that a few days ago. I meant to ask.
It's weird and it's an extra step.. But I don't understand why the grade is required?

 

I think they want to make sure the cert number matches the grade they gave it.

 

They're trying to reduce the ease of scraping the database. It makes is harder to check the rest of a submission, etc.

 

I just noticed it too. you would think the number would just automaticly come up. I bet theres a good story behind the change.

 

I'm sure there are reasons why this is a good idea, but one of the negatives is that if somebody can identify a fake by a particular seller, it was nice to (easily) see the full submission. Sometimes, it's just a regular collector or dealer that got duped by a purchase. But in a few instances, you can identify several convincing fakes sold by unscrupulous fraudsters. Once identified, these can then become study pieces to prevent other people from being fooled (especially when sold raw).

 

@princeofwaldo @paddyman98 @dwhiz @LJRambo111 @aubade21 @Burton Strauss III

This would be a good topic to post on "Ask NGC".

Chris

 

I was asking myself the same thing. I first noticed it on Thursday night, if anyone's wondering.

 

Man, I don't like this. If I find a nice coin I really like, I like to see what else was submitted with it.

 

I'm not sure why NGC decided to change the procedure for a Cert# look-up, but I do know that years ago, it was not unusual for them to change their rules based on feedback from the members of the forums. That is one of the reasons why I preferred NGC. They do listen!

Chris

 

Interesting. I just confirmed one of my NGC coins on the mobile app and it did not require the grade. Worked the same as usual.

 

The mobile app probably uses a different lookup (API) where the grade is optional (if you scan the barcode, it has the value). Or could be sending a security token that identifies the specific smartphone. They already limit the # of queries from a specific address within a period of time.

All of these are designed to make it more difficult or slower to scrape (retrieve all the data from) the database, while still making it available to 'legit' (however you want to define legit) users.

 

Now that NGC is refusing to allow PCGS certified coins, maybe this move is an effort to avoid a collector friendly effort to create an independent registry.

 

That's an interesting take. There could be at least some truth to that