Every NGC coin listed on this site carries three things on its label: a grade, usually a designation or two, and a certification number. This guide covers who NGC is, what those designations mean, which of them describe quality and which only describe timing, and how to verify any NGC coin against the company's own records in about ten seconds.
Who NGC is
Numismatic Guaranty Company was founded in 1987 in Parsippany, New Jersey by John Albanese. The same man had been among the founders of PCGS the year before, and would go on to create CAC in 2007 — three of the four services in this guide series trace back to him. NGC moved to Sarasota, Florida in 2002 and opened a 60,000 square foot secure facility there in 2006. It is a subsidiary of Certified Collectibles Group.
NGC is the official grading service of the American Numismatic Association and the Professional Numismatists Guild, along with the Macau Numismatic Society, the National Silver Dollar Roundtable, and Coin Dealers Helping Coin Dealers. By its own count it has certified more than 70 million coins from virtually every past and present country.
That last figure explains why so much of this catalog sits in NGC holders. NGC is the stronger of the two majors in world coins, and Perth Mint, Casa de Moneda de Mexico and China Mint material is submitted there heavily.
The designations that describe quality
- Ultra Cameo (UCAM) — the top contrast designation on a proof: heavily frosted devices against deeply mirrored fields. This is NGC's equivalent of PCGS's Deep Cameo.
- Cameo (CAM) — the step below Ultra Cameo. Real contrast, but not to the same degree.
- Prooflike (PL) and Deep Prooflike (DPL) — applied to business strikes that carry mirrored fields without being proofs.
- Star (*) — NGC's mark for exceptional eye appeal within the assigned grade. It is not a half grade. It means the coin stands out among others at that number, usually for toning or strike.
A designation like Ultra Cameo is a statement about how the coin looks. The next group is not.
The designations that describe timing
Early Releases and First Releases mean the coin reached NGC or an NGC-approved depository within the first 30 days of the issue's release. First Day of Issue is narrower still.
None of these say anything about the coin's condition. An Early Releases MS 70 and a plain MS 70 are the same grade. What the designation does is carve out a smaller population, and where collectors chase that population, the scarcity can carry a premium. That is a market fact rather than a condition fact, and it is worth knowing which one you are paying for.
Presentation labels work the same way — signed labels, flag labels, anniversary labels. They change what the holder looks like, not what the coin is.
NGCX: the ten-point scale
NGC also grades on NGCX, a ten-point scale where 10 corresponds to a traditional 70, 9.9 to a 69, and so on. It is the same grading standard expressed in the numbering collectors know from other collectibles markets. If you see NGCX MS 10 on a holder, read it as a 70.
PMG, for paper
NGC's sister company Paper Money Guaranty certifies banknotes on a scale that also tops out at 70, with EPQ — Exceptional Paper Quality — marking notes whose paper surfaces are original and unimproved. The Cuban and Iranian notes in this catalog sit in PMG holders.
The NGC Guarantee
NGC backs its work with the NGC Guarantee, which provides a remedy in the event an NGC-certified coin is later determined to be not genuine or to have been overgraded. The guarantee attaches to the coin while it remains sealed in the holder — which is the single best reason never to crack a slab on a coin you may want to resell.
How to check an NGC coin yourself
You should never have to take a seller's word for a grade. NGC publishes both of these free:
- NGC Certification Lookup — enter the certification number from the label and confirm the coin, the grade and the designations.
- NGC Census — how many examples of that issue NGC has certified at each grade, and how many finer.
The census is the number that matters most on modern issues. Mintage tells you how many were struck; the census tells you how many exist in the condition you are actually buying. Those two figures diverge sharply — a coin with a 300,000 mintage might have a few hundred certified at MS 70.
Every NGC listing on this site states its certification number for exactly this reason.
NGC coins at assay house
Browse the NGC graded coins currently in stock, or narrow to MS 70 graded coins across all services.
- The other services: PCGS · CACG · ANACS
- Start here: Coin Grading Explained