I just won a coin from a recent CNG auction that was NGC photo-certified - when receiving the shipment, I expected to receive the laminated photo as well but I actually only received the coin. Should I have expected to receive the photo, or do most auction houses not hang on to those? Planning on contacting CNG on Monday either way, but just curious if it's standard for a coin labelled "NGC photo certification" to ship with the physical certificate or not.
Have won a couple of these from Heritage, and in both cases the laminated NGC certificate was included with the delivery.
Was the coin slabbed? I believe NGC only issues a laminated certificate if a coin is too fragile to be slabbed. For example, NGC won’t slab ancient silver coins with “crystallized” surfaces. The certificate was meant to be a substitute for slabs.
If the listing said the coin had a photo certificate I would certainly expect to receive it with the coin. I suspect it was just a shipping error. These certificates are not common.
I have no experience with this type of purchase. But, if it were mentioned as a selling point in the listing, then I'd certainly expect the certificate to be part of the package that I received. I'm guessing that there was some type of oversight by CNG. This is good to know. I'd just assumed that photo certificates were an option for people that wanted their coins certified while not being slabbed. There were a few times that I'd thought about purchasing a photo certificate with the intention of sending it back to NGC for the full treatment. Now that I know the reasoning behind it being photo certified in the first place, I won't fall into that trap!
I am not convinced that this is 100% the case. Fragile coins may come into play for the certificates... But both of my coins with certificates are large tetradrachms with good metal... Not fragile at all. One would have to directly check with NGC for a definitive answer.
Yeah, similar deal in my case - this was an aureus in perfectly good condition, no crystallization or cracks or anything. Maybe it's something the submitter can request? If so, I might be inclined to actually submit some ancients to NGC - I just hate having them slabbed. The certificates are the best of both worlds IMO, having a raw coin while also having some authentication (and grading).
I also purchased an aureus from the CNG sale which had a photo certificate listed but did not receive it. I imagine CNG would send a copy of it if you request it, although you can also look it up online and save/print a copy yourself if wanted. The lot descriptions include the certificate number: https://www.ngccoin.com/certlookup/6556107-002/NGCAncients/ Just go to https://www.ngccoin.com/certlookup/ , paste in the certificate number (in the format [numbers-three numbers] and select "NGC Ancients" from the dropdown. Hope this helps!
Thanks! I ended up emailing them and they mailed me the original laminated certificate, though I'm still not sure why they didn't automatically include it with the purchase.
