NGC Guarantee now covers copper coins

[DWLange]

This became effective today. Here's the story:

 

http://www.collectors-society.com/news/viewarticle.asp?IDArticle=107

[gmarguli]

How will we know when the coins were slabbed?

 

Does the guarantee cover just grade or also color designation?

[LincolnCentMan]

SCORE!!! Way to go NGC!

 

David

[DWLange]

The language of the news article has been revised to clarify which coins are covered by the guarantee. These are ones encapsulated in the current generation NGC holder, which is immediately identifiable by the words NUMISMATIC GUARANTY CORPORATION at the bottom of the label.

[Beijim]

This is a welcome and positive announcement that further reinforces NGC's practice of standing behind its products and services - thank you.

 

If I may, I'd like to make one suggestion. I appreciate that resources are constrained at times, perhaps especially in the current economic climate, but it would be wonderful were NGC to undertake to provide online grade verification.

 

In the context of the copper guarantee, the facility could allow owners to determine not only that the coin is what the label claims (i.e. authentically graded by NGC) but also the date(s) of initial certification and any subsequent reholdering(s). In other words, grade verification plus reasonable history (even if limited to date of last encapsulation) would allow owners to learn when their grade guarantees expire and send the coins in for reholdering.

 

Here I assume (perhaps incorrectly) that reholdering resets the guarantee clock.

 

In a broader context, such an online capability would not only improve convenience for NGC graded coin owners but would offload whatever overhead NGC's human staff currently incurs when servicing telephone inquiries for this information.

 

Beijim

[rshalgi]

As there is no date on the slab, if I purchase an NGC slabbed coin say 5 years from now, how will I know how long it's still going to be under warranty?

 

10 years from now, when the first coins start to loose their warranty status, how will I tell which coins are still under warranty and which coins aren't?

[DWLange]

In answer to the questions posed here, we've revised the language of our guarantee and the article about it. Please reread it here:

 

http://www.ngccoin.com/news/viewarticle.asp?IDArticle=107

 

[rshalgi]

This means that purchasing an NGC coin is like purchasing a time bomb with an unknown timer.

 

Even for "current generation" slabs there is no way to tell how long the guarantee is going to remain in effect, since the guarantee extends 10 years from the date of slabbing and the date of slabbing is unknown.

 

 

[Beijim]

This means that purchasing an NGC coin is like purchasing a time bomb with an unknown timer.

 

This is hardly an apt simile.

 

The coin will not self destruct at the expiration of the guarantee. I believe a simple call to the nice folks at NGC will allow you to determine the date to which the guarantee extends. If NGC implements online access to this information, determining the expiration date will be even easier.

 

[rshalgi]

Yeah, sure. IF they implement online access to this information, and IF they would give it to you over the phone, and IF you can do all this while at a coin show looking at a coin, THEN purchasing their slabs won't be like purchasing a time bomb with an unknown timer....

 

... it would be like purchasing a time bomb with a known timer.

 

9 years from now, who will purchase your 1-year-left-to-go coin?

[Beijim]

Point well taken about determining the guarantee expiration info in real time, on site at a coin show. I guess my only response would be to buy the coin and not the holder, in the sense that you can evaluate the coin's condition firsthand and use that experience as your purchasing guide. It's no worse than if the coin were raw.

 

Regarding the 9 years from now question, I could be mistaken but believe that the guarantee resets if you submit the coin for regrading. That is, reholdering doesn't reset the guarantee, but regrading might. At worst, you crack it out and resubmit, effectively forcing a complete reevaluation.

 

Perhaps one of our friends at NGC can clarify this aspect of the guarantee.

 

Overall, I think we're splitting hairs over nothing. The fact is that no guarantee existed prior to this week. Why not appreciate what it is, rather than complain about everything it is not?

 

[rshalgi]

I'm not splitting hairs. My point is - there was no guarantee beforehand, and there is no guarantee now. All there is is marketing talk and vapor. I wish you luck that you'll never purchase a coin and find out later that you need to invoke this "guarantee" to recover your loss.

 

[John Maben]

rshalgi,

 

Welcome newcomer! I have to disagree strongly with most of your comments, in fact, they seem a bit absurd. 10 years is 10 years, and remember this applies only to coins that previously had no guarantee. There will be a mechanism in place to determine the expiration.

 

John