Regarding CAC

Regarding CAC, where can I find more information about coins they will *not* sticker? I.e being puttied, or tooled, etc. I've heard that these problem coins through message boards they will not sticker. But I can't find this information anywhere on their website....and the website gives mixed messages. I've heard that the sticker means its PQ, but on the website they mention "solid" for the grade (green sticker).

Thanks

 

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For starters, altered coins (e.g., tooled coins) and coins with altered surfaces (e.g., puttied coins) would not be slabbed by PCGS or NGC. And if a coin is not slabbed by PCGS or NGC CAC will not accept it for review.

And the CAC green sticker means CAC says the coin is solid for the grade or PQ.

 

Isn't there a color of CAC sticker that says the coin slabbed is accurate for the grade and another color that says it's PQ for the grade?

 

Yeah. Green=accurate Gold=PQ

 

Green sticker means good for the grade. Each grade is divided into A-B-C levels with C being the lowest. Here is FAQ number 5 from the CAC website.

5. I noticed that CAC uses the term “premium quality” to describe coins that receive a CAC sticker. How does CAC define premium quality?

For many years, coin dealers and advanced collectors have used the letters A, B, and C among themselves to further describe coins. C indicates low-end for the grade, B indicates solid for the grade, and A indicates high-end. CAC will only award stickers to coins in the A or B category. C coins, although accurately graded, will be returned without a CAC sticker




The gold sticker means the coin is very PQ and a candidate for an upgrade although they don't guarantee the upgrade because they are not the TPG.

 

Yes. The gold sticker, although rare, indicates that they believe it is high end for the grade and that the coin could possibly go a grade higher if re-submitted. Which usually causes the slabbed coin with the gold sticker to sell at the next grade higher price anyway.

The green sticker just means they agree with the grade assigned. If they don't agree with the grade assigned, they won't issue their sticker.

 

This is not quite correct. If the coin doesn't sticker, it is not a condemnation of the coin's grade, it simply means that the coin is on the lower end of the spectrum for the assigned grade. Have you guys ever seen a CAC red sticker. If you recall, before I purchased my Lafayette Dollar, I had the dealer submit it to the CAC. It did not get a green sticker. Instead, it got a red sticker with an explanation. Here is the photo. This proves that the CAC agrees with the grade but was unable to award the green sticker because the darkness of the toning puts it at the lower end of the MS65 scale.

 

Wow. I never knew they did that. Well, at least they gave an explanation, whether it's correct or not.

 

My guess is that they don't do it for every coin, rather it probably had more to do with the submitter (CRO) and the price tag of the coin.

 

This has turned into a great thread, and it makes me want to learn more about CAC and other people's opinions of it, since I do have a CAC coin!

Thanks for your responses everyone!

 

Kevin,

Did you know that the CAC sticker not only affirms that the coin is good for the grade but also affirms than any designation is also warranted. I posed this question to a CAC representative before bidding on this CAMEO war nickel proof.



Here is the Heritage photo that did not at all show the CAMEO. Without the CAC sticker, I would not have been able to bid on this coin sight unseen.



:smile

 

No, I didn't know that. That's interesting! If BECKOCA owns any $5 gold pieces (classic head design) that have the CAC sticker does this mean that paticular variety (if it has a CAC sticker) is verified as well?

 

What variety would that be?

 

I don't know of any specific variety off hand, perhaps a die variety of some sort?

 

I don't own any coins with a pretty little CAC sticker on them, yet...
They do, do free "stickering" at some coin shows, wherever they are, if they are there, I think they do up to 20 for free, but I could be wrong.
I have some coins that I do want to have a CAC sticker on them, but you cannot send them in personally, and my closest certified dealer is 60 miles away...
I have always liked CAC, because it shows you that your coin is either a PQ coin, a nice coin for the grade, and that they agree with the slab, or if it doesn't get the sticker, that the coin is over graded, or just doesn't meet CAC standards.
Back to your orignal question, I have no clue what coins don't get stickered, but I think if the coin is in a TPG holder and is a nice looking coin, and solid for the grade it should get the sticker, and if it is just an absolute under grade, or is really good looking coin, that gold sticker would fall into play.

 

I see the CAC sticker as a good thing. There are times that images just don't show everything. I feel better buying from an image if it has a sticker.
I bought this one because I knew it was as good as the image.

 

.........CAC is merely an opinion of someone else's opinion. if you are satisfied and the buyer is satisfied that's really all that counts, satisfaction between said parties. jmo.

 

From high end collector TomB in his recent post on the CU boards regarding his discussions with CAC and what they told him (the JA referenced is John Albanese, CAC founder):

".....the overall sticker rate is somewhat less than 40%, which I would interpret as very close to 40%. The Gold sticker rate is approximately one coin in twelve hundred submitted (0.083%). Essentially, the 40% sticker rate is made up entirely of green stickers. The volume of coins that CAC inspects also surprised me since it was higher than I might have guessed and this would mean to me that there is more market penetration or acceptance of CAC then some might hope. JA mentioned that the early dollars (FH, DB and Gobrecht) had the lowest sticker rate of any niche within the field and that most of the coins that failed to garner a sticker weren't even close to obtaining the sticker. Additionally, I asked JA if there was a single evaluation standard for all coins or if there was one standard for NGC graded coins and another for PCGS graded coins. The answer is that there is a single standard (the CAC standard) used to evaluate all coins regardless of certification company."

- - - - - - - - -

"One interpretation of why there is such a low rate for gold sticker coins might be that many pieces have been maxed out by resubmission. Also, the requirement for the gold sticker as explained to me is that the coin must be on the upper half of the next grade up from what the holder states. Therefore, a coin in an MS65 holder must grade at least MS66.6 in the eyes of CAC in order to obtain a gold sticker."

 

True but there have been cases where puttied coins have slipped into slabs and caught later. This is a case where CAC would not sticker a slabbed puttied coin.

 

Here is a coin I purchased from a major dealer which was later submitted to CAC. They refused to sticker the coin (PCGS MS 63) and the reason given was putty on the obverse which is visible in this photo but was not visible when the coin was purchased: