The PCGS Grading Standard was first used by the numismatic community; both the collectors who buy the coin and the dealers who sell them, in 1986. At that time, the PCGS Grading Standard was the consensus opinion of the grading experts at PCGS, along with comments and suggestions from the dealer-experts who provided PCGS with input on PCGS grading.

In 1988, PCGS constructed a grading set. The PCGS Grading Set consisted of a small group of example coins in various grades from the major coins series, including $20 Saint Gaudens and Morgan and Peace dollars. The grading set was used as a reference by PCGS graders and was also displayed at major coin shows.

In 1997, the PCGS Grading Standard was formalized in book form with the publishing of the “Official Guide to Coin Grading and Counterfeit Detection.” This PCGS grading guide book won the “Book of the Year” award from both the Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG) and the Numismatic Literary Guild. The PCGS grading guide included pictures of coins in the PCGS grading set, coins that are still in the PCGS Grading Set.

Consensus expert grading opinions, grading sets of major coin series, and published grading standards in the form of a detailed grading guide book are all good ideas. But it’s now time to take an even bigger and better step. PCGS is now greatly expanding its grading set. The PCGS Grading Set now has close to 1000 coins and the value of the coins is a little over $300,000. When the grading set expansion is complete…it should take six to twelve months…the PCGS Grading Set will have thousands of coins and our budget is $1 million dollars! The PCGS Grading Set will literally be a Million Dollar Grading Set, it will be incredibly comprehensive, and…it will be permanent.

And, beginning in September, the PCGS Grading Set will be on display for you to see in two different ways:

PCGS Grading Set at the Long Beach Show – September 27 – 29, 2007

The entire PCGS Grading Set will be on display at the Long Beach Coin Show, September 26th through the 29th. The PCGS Grading Set will be available for viewing in its entirety the Thursday and Friday of the show, 10:00am to 7:00pm, and Saturday from 10:00am to 4:00pm. The PCGS Grading Set will include:

• Four examples of all grades AG03 to MS61 for most major series.
• Five to ten examples of grades MS63 to MS67 for most major series.
• Multiple examples of natural toning and artificial toning.
• Examples of coins with toning identified with varying degrees of positive and negative eye appeal.
• The PCGS collection of counterfeit coins including a 1927-D $20 St. Gaudens, a 1797 half dollar, colonials, patterns, and commemoratives.

The PCGS Grading Set will be displayed at the Long Beach Coin Show in a large conference room with grading lights and viewing stations, similar to lot viewing at an auction.

PCGS Photograde Online™

The second way the PCGS Grading Set will be available for your viewing is online at the pcgs.com website. PCGS, in joint venture with Bowers and Merena Auctions, the publishers of the landmark grading book Photograde,™ is creating PCGS Photograde Online.™

PCGS Photograde Online™ will feature high definition photos of the obverse and reverse of every coin in the PCGS Grading Set. And there will also be detailed descriptions of each grade. PCGS Photograde Online™ will literally be an online grading tutorial. Access to this incredibly comprehensive online photographic guide to grading United States Coins will be free as a service to the numismatic community, compliments of PCGS and Bowers and Merena Auctions.

Look for PCGS Photograde Online™ on pcgs.com soon.