PCGS is the service most United States collectors grew up with, and its population report is the reference most of the American market works from. This guide covers who PCGS is, what its designations mean, which describe quality and which only describe timing, and how to verify any PCGS coin for free.
Who PCGS is
Professional Coin Grading Service was established in 1985 by a small group of leading coin dealers, with the aim of fixing a problem that was holding the market back: two experts could look at the same coin and assign different grades, and a buyer at a distance had no way to adjudicate. Sealing a graded coin in a tamper-evident holder, with the grade guaranteed by a third party, made coins tradeable sight-unseen for the first time.
PCGS operates from Newport Beach, California and is a division of Collectors Universe. John Albanese, who later founded NGC and CAC, was among the original group.
PCGS is the market-share leader for classic United States coins. If you collect Morgan dollars, Peace dollars, Buffalo nickels or early commemoratives, the PCGS population figures are the ones the market prices against.
The designations that describe quality
- DCAM (Deep Cameo) — the top contrast designation on a proof: heavily frosted devices against deeply mirrored fields. PCGS's equivalent of NGC's Ultra Cameo.
- CAM (Cameo) — the step below deep contrast.
- PL and DMPL — Prooflike and Deep Mirror Prooflike, for business strikes with mirrored fields. On Morgan dollars in particular, a DMPL designation can be worth many times the plain price at the same numeric grade.
- Strike designations — FB (Full Bands), FS (Full Steps), FBL (Full Bell Lines), FH (Full Head). Each applies to one specific series and marks a fully struck detail that is usually weak.
- + (Plus) — a coin at the high end of its assigned grade, short of the next number up.
The designation that describes timing
First Strike means the coin was received by PCGS within the first 30 days after the mint's release date. It is not a statement about the coin's appearance, and it does not mean the coin was among the first struck — mints do not release coins in strike order.
A First Strike MS 69 and a plain MS 69 are the same grade. What First Strike does is define a smaller population, and that scarcity can carry a premium where collectors pursue it. Worth knowing which of the two you are paying for.
The same applies to presentation and signature labels. They are choices about the holder.
The PCGS Guarantee
PCGS backs every coin with its Guarantee of Grade and Authenticity — a cash-back policy that holds for as long as the coin remains sealed in its tamper-evident holder. Cracking the holder ends the guarantee, which is why a certified coin you may want to resell should stay exactly as it came.
How to check a PCGS coin yourself
PCGS publishes three free tools, and between them you can confirm almost everything about a coin before you buy:
- PCGS Cert Verification — enter the certification number from the label and confirm the coin, grade and designations.
- PCGS Population Report — how many examples PCGS has certified at each grade, and how many finer.
- PCGS CoinFacts — mintage, specifications, auction records and photographs for essentially every United States issue, organized by PCGS number.
Every coin in the PCGS catalog carries a PCGS number, a short numeric code identifying that exact issue, date, mint mark and strike type. It is the same number used on submission forms and in the population report, and it removes any ambiguity about which coin is being discussed.
On modern issues the population figure is the one that decides value. Mintage tells you how many were made; the population tells you how many have been certified in the condition you are buying.
PCGS coins at assay house
Browse the PCGS graded coins currently in stock, or narrow to MS 70 graded coins across all services.
- The other services: NGC · CACG · ANACS
- Start here: Coin Grading Explained