The original author was not knocking CAC ...

The author of the original journal was not knocking or voicing displeasure with CAC, they are simply asking if we really need CAC. They are asking questions that we should all be thinking about and asking for ourselves.

Your response makes me feel a need to defend this young person?s original intent. In reading the 2007 Registry Award article this person is a young numismatist and I commend him/her for taking the time to think about changes in our hobby and challenging us to do the same.

A portion of your argument states that if we originally had PCGS why do we need additional companies like NGC or ICG. These additional companies do exactly what PCGS does. They are direct competition and give the submitter a choice of which company to use.

CAC is not direct competition. To my knowledge they do not grade or encapsulate coins. CAC is an additional fee, for already graded coins, to be judged again. To determine if they are premium quality for the given grade. Then they put a little sticker on the already certified coin?s holder.

You harken back to days of old as a reason that we need an independent judge to judge the independent graders. In today?s world with the use of the internet, digital cameras, digital scanners, email etc. We can see coins, in most cases, before they are purchased. If a coin is in a PCGS holder, and we get to see it are you stating that someone will not buy the coin unless it has a CAC sticker on the PCGS slab else it won?t sell at the stated price level? If a coin is in a PCGS or NGC holder are you saying that we cannot trust those companies grading expertise that, if we did not get to see the coin first, we would not buy it even with a return option as exists with most dealers? Do we need CAC to judge a premium quality coin for us to help you pay more that the stated price level, wouldn?t you want more than that level if the coin is judged to be a premium grade? NGC currently puts a STAR designation on coins that are judged to be premium quality. Do we distrust NGC?s judgment so much that we need to pay an additional fee to another company to have them tell us if it is premium quality? If coins in slabs have a CAC sticker on them does that mean we no longer need to look at any of the coins we buy for ourselves?

Before long we will have CAC and 3 or 4 more companies just like them just like the multitude of grading services that exist today. We will then be arguing about who is the best and discounting for certain companies stickers etc. I can see it now. Then we will need a new company to come along so that we have an auditor watching the judge who is watching the grader. Where does it end?

Please don?t take my response the wrong way. I believe the intent of the original author was for us to question what is happening to and in our hobby. It seems to me that we need to pay others to think and judge on our behalf only to complain that things are under graded. Everyone needs to spend more time getting educated, thinking and grading for themselves and buying the coins that please their own senses. We?ll all be a lot happier and will more than likely save a few dollars on grading fees and premium quality stickers.