MAC, CAC, and other stickers 0

[East Coast Coin]

Are these legitimate? What does it all mean? I've seen CAC stickers but I'm seeing MAC and with those there's usually another one that's not an acronym but rather a word in all caps.

[Sandon]

      This topic would also have been better placed in the "Newbie Coin Collecting Questions" forum.  The Administrator will likely move it there next week.

     "CAC" stands for Certified Acceptance Corporation, which was founded in 2007 by John Albanese, a dealer who was involved in the founding of both PCGS and NGC in the 1980s and who is highly respected as a grader who applies strict standards.  NGC and PCGS graded coins are awarded green CAC stickers if they are found by Albanese and those trained by him to be solid for the assigned grade and gold stickers if they are found to be undergraded.  Originally, CAC would offer to buy CAC-stickered coins sight-unseen and acted as a "market maker" for these coins. Last year, however, CAC also became a grading service (CAC Grading or "CACG") that grades and encapsulates coins.  CAC still stickers coins in NGC and PCGS holders but, I understand, no longer buys or sells coins.

    A new stickering service, CMQ, began last year in affiliation with Stacks Bowers Galleries, a major numismatic auction house.  I understand that CMQ stickered certified coins have been approved by David Hall (a founder of PCGS) and Greg Roberts, who are also respected as graders.  

   Most of the other stickers don't, to my knowledge, have widespread market acceptance. An exception would be "Eagle Eye" stickers on Flying Eagle and Indian cents, indicating the approval of their grading by dealer Rick Snow, who is respected in that specialty. 

  In my opinion, the problem with these stickering services--and grading services themselves--is that they encourage collectors to accept the judgment of others about coins and not develop their own knowledge of grading, judgment, and personal taste. Ultimately, the decision as to whether to buy a particular coin should be based upon an informed purchaser's own evaluation of the coin, not what a grading or stickering service thinks of it.

   You might want to review the following topic about CAC and CACG:

   

[Coinbuf]

The MAC sticker has been around for many years now especially prevalent on ebay, however, that sticker service is a joke.   MAC stickers are the sticker equivalent to the self or basement slabber, it means nothing to knowledgeable collectors.   That doesn't mean that MAC does not have followers, I have no doubt that there are some buyers that look for MAC stickered coins.   Last I knew the MAC service is not a service provided to the general collecting population like CAC or the new CMQ are, it is an in-house sticker that one seller puts on his own inventory, it should be easy to see what a conflict of interest that would be.   Because the company that puts MAC stickers on slabs has been around so long you will see these MAC stickered coins from many sellers.

Another big problem with the MAC stickers is the marketing garbage they do.   If you have not seen some many of their stickers will say ridiculous things like 4FS or 90% FBL for full bell lines.   Clearly 4 full steps on a Jefferson nickel means nothing just as almost full bell lines on a Franklen half, but MAC markets these almost there designations as premium coins due to almost making the cut.   What they are doing is not illegal hence why they are still in business, and if you can buy a coin with one of their stickers at the same price as one without that is fine.   But most knowledgeable collectors know that the MAC sticker is worthless, sadly there are lots of uneducated buyers in the coin marketplace.

I have also been told that one of the principal owners of the firm behind the MAC sticker is the same fellow that owned and operated the now defunct ACG (Accugrade) grading service, Alan Hager.    I don't know if you are familiar with that individual or his grading company, but he was offering grading and slabbing services which started in 1984, two years before NGC or PCGS.   The problem with his grading service was the same as the MAC sticker, he was grading his own inventory and often gave inflated grades and/or straight grades to coins in his inventory with issues.   ACG ended up in court with several lawsuits which shut the company down.