PCGS 40: Around the World & Throughout Time

When PCGS began its operations in 1986, its focus was primarily authenticating, grading, and encapsulating United States coins of rare stock as well as "blue-chip" coins, like high-end Walking Liberty Half Dollars and Morgan Dollars. However, attention soon shifted abroad as interest among American collectors continued expanding beyond the numismatic borders of the United States.

PCGS began grading Canadian coins in 1987, coincidentally the same year that Canada transitioned from striking its larger-size Voyageur Dollar coins and introduced its culturally iconic, small-sized dollar coins known as "Loonies." In short order, Swiss coin grading entered the picture and by the early 1990s. PCGS was grading a menagerie of other coins from around the world.

PCGS Around The World

While PCGS has been providing a full range of grading services for world coins since its earliest days, the company expounded upon its commitment to world grading in the 2010s. It kicked off the decade by opening its office in Paris in 2010, a move that expanded on-site grading and a wealth of other services to collectors and dealers throughout Europe.

Two years later, in 2012, PCGS held its first on-site grading event in Hong Kong the same year PCGS opened its office in Shanghai, China. PCGS held its first Shanghai grading event in 2013, and among the coins it graded was the magnificent Longevity Silver Tael, a Chinese rarity with an exceptional pedigree.

Three of the most valuable world coins PCGS has graded all hail from China. They are the Republic Chang Tso-lin silver Specimen Pattern Dollar Year 16 (1927) graded PCGS SP63, which sold for $4,320,000 in a December 2025 Heritage Auctions event; the silver "Long Whisker Dragon" Dollar Pattern, Year 3 (1911) from the Tientsin Mint graded PCGS SP63+, a Stack's Bowers Galleries headliner that hammered for $3,000,000 in May 2022; and the "Mukden Tiger" Silver Dollar Pattern, Year 17 (1928), a PCGS-graded SP64 showstopper that also crossed the block at Stack's Bowers Galleries and garnered $2,280,000 in an April 2021 sale.

As Asia has seen especially pronounced growth in the numismatic hobby, it's little wonder that China is where PCGS selected to chart its newest grading horizon: ancients grading. In August 2025, PCGS unveiled grading for Qing Dynasty Chinese Cash coins exclusively for qualified pieces submitted at the PCGS office in Shanghai.

"Since PCGS began over 40 years ago, it has been a progression to achieve what has been accomplished today," says longtime PCGS Senior World Grader Jay Turner. "PCGS has opened multiple international offices, has graded millions of world coins, and has seen many record-setting auction results, yet it feels like we have only begun the journey. At PCGS we will continue leading the hobby into the future committed to accuracy, trust, and innovation."