gold CAC sticker

So if a slabbed PCGS coin has a gold CAC sticker, what does that really mean and how rare are gold CAC stickers?

 

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There's no official definition other than the coin is undergraded, but it is generally accepted that the minimum for a gold would be a coin that would green sticker at the next grade up.

They're extremely rare as less than 1% of CAC stickered coins are gold and a very significant percentage of the golds are for like common date common grade low to mid MS Mercs and things like that where they just aren't worth resubmitting

 

Just another gimmick basically if a coin looks much nicer than most they put it on and let the money flow i like to buy the coin.

 

It means they’re are in the 1% of the coins, (quality wise) of that date, and grade. According to CAC of course. They are fairly rare, but not extremely. Yes, they are sought after, and collectors etc. etc. will pay a nice premium, over book value for one. Hope that helps.

 

It means that (in the opinion of John Albanase) the coin is under-graded and deserves a higher assessment.......

 

As for rarity...........are we collecting 'stickers' now?

 

Wasn't it inevitable?

 

If they're common date/common grade low-to-mid MS Mercs and things like that, why would one even seek CAC cert for the coin?

 

Hoping for the gold sticker instead of resubmitting it, especially if it’s an old holder that they didn’t want to lose

 

Answering your second question first, less than 1% of all coins granted a green CAC certification earn the gold CAC certification. IIRC, the number is something like 0.53%.

A green CAC means that the coin is either an A or B quality for the TPG-assigned grade. There are four tiers of coin quality in each grade: A, B, C and D. C is below average for the grade and D is average minus for the grade or even over-graded. So a B coin is average+ for the assigned grade and an A coin is the cream of the crop for that assigned grade. These are the meanings as published and written about by CAC and many respected people in the trade and collecting community.

A gold CAC certification means that the coin is under-graded for the assigned TPG grade. In other words, if the TPG gave the coin a MS-62 grade but CAC believes it is actually a MS-63, then it would merit a gold sticker. Now, I do not know if CAC makes the distinction between a MS-63 A, B or C coin. For example, if the MS-62 coin is really a MS-63 but just an average C coin for MS-63, does it get the gold bean? Don't know. I would love to hear some knowledgeable feedback on this question. Below is my 1859 half dime, graded PCGS PR-62 but with a gold CAC bean. So, for a PR-63 grade, would it be an A, B, C, or D coin?

The arguments made against CAC that it is just one man's opinion are somewhat spurious. First of all, John Albanese is not just any person, he is the founder of PCGS and NGC and is a noted grader. Secondly, he doesn't work alone, he has several people that work with him on this but there is no question he is the final arbiter of what CAC gives out. Thirdly, as far as I can tell, he does not have any conflict of interest when it comes to grading any individual coin.

This contrasts sharply with every person who has a coin to sell. What CAC does is no different in concept than what a dealer does when he puts a handwritten sticker on a slab that says "PQ", meaning "Premium Quality".* That dealer has an inherent and irredeemable conflict of interest when he judges his coin for sale as better than the average. Now, I'm not saying that all dealers' judgements are wrong or that all dealers succumb to their conflict of interest. All I am saying is that all other things being equal, I would trust the judgement of the entity with no conflict over the one with a conflict.

Make your own judgements about the value of TPGs and CAC. But there is no disputing the fact that slabbed coins on average bring better prices and move faster than unslabbed coins. There is also no dispute of any significance that, on average, CAC coins bring premiums and Gold CAC coins bring premiums over Green CAC coins. Can you find exceptions? Sure, and some series perform better than others. But the market has spoken.

Now, don't take anything I've said above as an unreserved endorsement of TPGs or CAC. Both, IMHO, have made mistakes and I am a firm believer in look at the coin first and then look at the assigned grade.

* When I first started attending coin shows and was a very neophyte collector, I approached a dealer's multi-table display of slabbed coins that covered almost every 19th and 20th century US series and all in high MS and PR grades. I noticed that he had several coins propped up into prominence and each had a sticker with "PQ" hand written on it. I asked him what "PQ" meant and seeing I was an ignorant rube he replied "It stands for 'Prom Queen'. You know, a coin that really stands out from the norm." The next time I was at a show and saw this, I mentioned to the dealer that his coin was a nice Prom Queen. He laughed and said it stands for "Premium Quality". One of my untold lessons in life to go along with the left-handed monkey wrench and the bucket of steam.

 

Yeah that's a good explanation. There's apparently nostalgia in the old slabs. That's one reason. Some probably just don't know any better. A lot of stuff gets sent in to be graded that shouldn't be too.

 

I'm waiting for someone to start a service of stickering the stickers.

 

A lot of people really like them, some people only collect in them too. I can get the advantage for copper showing something RD is stable, but other than that I much prefer the far more secure new holders

Pretty much everything that goes to them people have a good reason for it. It takes some effort to join them to be able to submit, you can't just go on their website and send a submission the next day like the TPGs. For many years it was basically dirt cheap to submit to them and there are a lot of people who send everything as a learning experience. They've raised their prices a couple times recently to try and discourage those super cheap coins they never had any intention of doing, but they also only charge collectors for things that sticker so it's not the most expensive learning tool ever.

 

I am maintaining a file of photos of coins, over graded in the holder, with CAC stickers on them. The file grows by the week. Lately I have been surprised by the number of gold coins that are getting into it.

 

I remove the CAC stickers on my coins. just not my thing.

 

A lot of the gold CACs I've seen are on PCGS OGHs and rattlers. They graded a bit more conservatively back in the day.

 

All you’re doing if hurting yourself doing that

 

Not so much conservative grading, more of a non-perfected but working on it market grading scheme just getting underway....back in the day.

 

Every coin with a CAC Sticker I've bought (only four) has looked no better and often worse then ones without them. no denying they increase price (value is debatable) and since i am a buyer mostly i avoid them. as an entry level collector I think it's better for me to learn to grade the coin myself even if it's already graded.

Also I have found that by keeping a trusted list of dealers/sellers who have and keep a good reputation anytime they have a nice coin with an added premium I know they would only do so because the coin is a stand out example. if it was an unspectacular coin they would mark it slightly below market to move it.

It's obvious why a gold sticker is a unicorn if it was under graded and the next grade up increases the value substantially they are going to send it back in to the TPG for reconsideration to get that higher grade.

They have a market for certain and people eat up this whole 2x graded thing they got going on. but for me most of the time one graders opinion is enough.

They should have made the gold sticker the main one and green one for under graded coins in my opinion.