How much does the imaging service by NGC and/or PCGS cost?

[James_OldeTowne]

... and do they still offer the service?

 

Thanks.

[JCM-Houston]

It's still listed on the NGC sheet for $3 per coin I believe, I just sent 5 in and requested the service so hopefully they are still doing it.

[DirtyGoldMan]

$10 for True View, and while they do not advertise it, PCGS still offers the service.

[Houston Investor]

NGC does a great job for the imaging service - I think it is worth the $3 they charge. I had recently had some graded and imaged - the gold coin was a direct purchase from the USM I believed would make 70 (and it did), the other two are ones I picked off (TTR and Legend auctions), cracked out, conserved, and then got upgraded 1 point. When NGC ships your coins back - they send you an email with the grading results and images - it is exciting when coins upgrade. I believe they have all subsequently sold.

[Dwaine]

Those last two almost look like scans instead of photos.

[Houston Investor]

Dwaine, the last two in the post above had incredible satiny luster with a lot of blast and super eye appeal. They looked better in hand than the images as I recall. It is sometimes more difficult to capture silver coins than gold coins in the photographic realm. Overall, I believe the NGC imaging service is superior to the one offered by PCGS.

 

Here are some proofs NGC imaged, I had submitted with the same batch. They were some I cherry picked from a roll of proofs I have. I purchased the roll from another dealer at the show who offered them to me at a great price (slightly above melt). I have about half a dozen others which I may slab as well. The rest which are in the PF 63 - 64 range I may bulk up and offer in an ebay auction starting the bidding at melt which as gone up some since the purchase (6 mo ago).

[BULLY]

I've seen NGC's $3 internet imaging service be good, bad, and indifferent. If you check the photos that I do have in my Registry Sets, this can demonstrate some examples of it. Particularly BAD examples are the SBAs photos they did, and some Ikes -- nice coins, but just HORRIBLE HORRIBLE images.

 

NGC also went through a period when their imaging looked almost "fake." Some of my Silver Eagle images have those -- mint state silver eagles to be specific, whereas the proof silver eagle images look not dissimilar from the images you see in this forum.

 

I must say though, that if the Franklin Half is an indication of what their images are looking like these days? They haven't improved, it truly looks like a scanner, and not an exceptional one.

 

On the other hand, if their more current images are like that of the Gold American Eagle shown in the forum, then they may have fine-tuned their images a bit.

 

[Conder101]

Have you ever seen the photocertificates they did for the Eliasberg Foreign Gold Coins collection? I have not seen one yet where the coin wasn't out of focus. (That is going to be another NGC "holder" that is going to be recognized as a rarity some day.)

[Doogy]

while i really like NGC, their grading, slabs and customer service, their photos i've had done in the past look like a third grader did it. Out of focus, pixalated (sp?) and grainy; now it appears from the photos in this thread, and others i've seen, they are using a flatbed scanner. Most scanners are horrific and make a coin look lifeless and dull. Not worth the 3 bucks IMO, unless it is bullion coins and you need photos for an insurance policy and are too lazy to scan them yourself.

 

 

[Tradedollarnut]

I would never send a toned coin for PhotoProof - their imaging technique 'burns' through the toning leaving the details sharp, but an unrecognizable coin.

[MunkyMan95]

NGC uses a scanner, that's why the only charge $3. Click, click, done. No digital camera necessary, and they can scan multiple slabs at a single time.

 

I sent a coin in for crossover with the request that it be imaged, and the results were underwhelming to say the least.