My question is this. Will I need to be a memeber of Coin Gallery or some other organization if I want to submit it directly to NCS for grading? What other options are there? Take it to the local Coin Dealer? Is that not risky? Living here in Maine any advice is appreciated!
You have a couple of options, one as you mentioned would be to take it to a local dealer you can trust. Another woulld be to join the ANA, membership entitles you to send coins to NGC/NCS to have them graded, you just have to fill out the forms. Still another would be to pay the membership fee and join the NGC Collector's Society yourself and then send the coin in for grading. Any of them will accomplish the same thing. But - you have to realize that whatever you do it may turn that the coin is not genuine. If that is the case then you will be out whatever you spend including grading fees, membership fees, shipping, insurance etc. If you do do this, then when you send the coin send it Registered Mail, insure to the maximum limit ($25,000) and send it on its way. Then you just wait to hear.
Here is a link to NGC Authorized Dealers in Maine. You can drop the coin off with any one of them, and they'll take care of shipping, insurance, submission forms, etc. If you chose an authorized dealer, you won't have to pay any membership fees to NGC Collectors Society or the ANA. http://www.ngccoin.com/services/dealer_listing.asp?state=ME
