I've had a $1 Silver Certificate in a CGA Currency Slab for a number of years. (CGA = Currency Grading and Authentication, Inc) I listed it on eBay and they cancelled the listing. Apparently to eBay it's an operation that certifies bogus items. Since eBay delisted my note, CGA must be worse than NNC is for coins. Last I saw some NNC slabbed coins are still on eBay. Anyway, is CGA to be avoided?
I’ve never heard of those companies. I only use PMG, Paper Money Guaranty. They are great, accurate and have fairly quick turn around times.
Just because eBay doesn’t like it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s bogus. eBay is so strict with their tiny pool of accepted graders.
Thanks for the response. Sort of what I suspected. BUT to make things easier on me I'll "release" the note from its slab and list it that way. Fighting eBay is worse than fighting the US Gov't.
I wish that Ebay was this proactive with ancient coins. There are piles of "coins" listed out of Eastern Europe and Northern Africa that were quite obviously "minted" last week!
- I agree. It is pretty ludicrous how the bay is so strict with their pool of "acceptable graders" & yet allow shady sellers to re-list items with clear shill bidding (to drum up attention), turn a blind eye to mislabelled items, reproductions, altered bogus numismatic fakes, manufactured holders, etc. They don't police their marketplace well enough (IMO) or we wouldn't see constant complaints on so many forums. PLUS: There are other certifiers out there & I think the competition for TPG should persist to keep a big company like PMG on their toes. I like that there is PCGS, Legacy & my favourite is BCS (Banknote Certification Services) from Canada. Unfortunately, BCS only certifies Canadian notes but he is strict/conservative & I think a lot of conservative collectors are very pleased that he's here providing an accessible service in the TPG industry. What happened with PCGS, Stacks-Bowers & Jason Bradford should not destroy or put competitors out of business.
CGA was one of the pioneers of paper money grading. It ran into some reputation problems. It was then sold to a new owner who has been trying to rehabilitate the brand. It is considered a second (or third) tier service. Ebay has strict guidelines to allow you to list a TPG note. The company has to have an online population report. At least one of its principals has to be a member of the Professional Numismatic Guild. There are more. CGA does not meet one or more of Ebay's requirements. It is probably unfair to refer to it as a basement self-slabber. There is no indication that CGA grades notes belonging to its owners or sells notes it grades. The notes graded by the new owners have a diamond next to the number. Anecdotal evidence indicates these are mostly good. Some have reported being able to get notes they bought cheap because of the CGA holder crossed to PMG or PCGS at the same grade. CGA notes won't get the same money as their PMG or PCGS counterparts. For the most part, buyers look at them as raw.
I know that eBay wouldn't allow slabs on their site if the grading company didn't have an online database that buyers could search. ANACS and ICG jumped through a bunch of hoops getting their databases up and running. Considering the history of CGA I suspect that is at least one of their problems.
There was a big scandal several years ago involving CGA, the previous owner got with a middle eastern investor, he opened up a bogus business ! and used CGA notes only, BIG RED FLAG ! according to the information I received is the investor went out and bought notes in a lower grade, gave them to the owner at CGA and like magic they came back in a higher grade ! big surprise !, talk about trust issues ! PERSONALLY I WOULDNT TOUCH A CGA GRADED NOT WITH A HUNDRED FOOT POLE THERE REPUTATION IS FOREVER TARNISHED !
