Gold shield service - do you rely on it?
TurtleCat
Posts: 4,617 ✭✭✭✭✭
I was thinking about the gold shield service and wondering if anyone has benefited/relied on its features beyond the TrueView.
First, the details: https://www.pcgs.com/goldshield
One of the selling points is that they take a high resolution image of the coin (presumably for TrueView) and that image can be used to identify a coin that was reported stolen, assuming they know about it. Does anyone know if this has resulted in coins being returned to owners from subsequent submissions? Also, wouldn't someone submitting a stolen coin without gold shield service circumvent this protection? (assuming they resubmit to PCGS) Or are all coins imaged but only if you pay for TV or GS do you see the result?
It would be interesting to know how they use these images to help fight against counterfeits as stated in the link. Does anyone have a generalized overview of how that might work? Just wanting to learn here.
I'm trying to understand how people see this service and whether they see the benefits or anticipate benefiting from gold shield or how we might all benefit (counterfeits) but may not see the connection. Or is it simply a nice add on because you get the TV and maybe some extra benefits like (now) the NFC chip.
Please keep this discussion respectful of our hosts.
Comments
I bought from a well known dealer that tried that switch-a-ruse and was able to call him on it because of TV.
Be suspicious if the advertised coin has an good dealer photo but no cert# listed.
(the cert# of the real coin was buried/coded in inventory number that the dear used and I was able to figure it out)
This used to be a nice little trick before TV.
BTW...2nd time this "mistake" has happened to me.
They swapped out for the correct coin and I got a + on recon.
Interesting how they didn't have the "swap-coin" listed for sale at the time I bought the one I wanted.
True view is a game changer.
My Saint Set
I haven't benefitted by using Gold Shield except for the TV's. It's nice to know I have these other protections though. For $5, I think it's very much worth it. I too am curious on how the process works. The only way I can see it working if coins are submitted raw is if they compare a new image to their data base image every time a coin comes in for grading. I'm not sure if this is practical from a time perspective though.
I also would like to know what PCGS does in the event that they identify a stolen coin.
Another thing that would interest me is the effect on insurance rates for my collection. Could an added level of protection lower said rates? Don't know, but it would be an interesting development.
No.
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Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
I use to use the service for the TrueView, but stopped because too many of the TV's were disappointing.
That’s an interesting idea. It would be worth asking. But they would probably want to know more of the details, too.
I don't use the service and I don't rely on it as a collector. To often TV's are not accurate to the in hand look, and I'm not sold on the chip at this point.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
I've seen that opinion often, but I've never had a coin that didn't look like the TrueView at some angle to the light. Any coin can be made to look like or not look like a TrueView depending on the viewing angle. I think too many people expect the TrueView to look like their coin when viewed dead straight on. It all has to do with the lighting but the coin is the coin.
Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.
I agree. I will say that they try to show the coin in its best light and are very good at doing it. How many would be happy if they only took straight on shots. What would be really nice is if they gave a straight on shot and a glamour shot. That is kinda what you get at heritage now with them including truviews.
Any coin can be made to look like or not look like a TrueView depending on the viewing angle.
Right we agree that TV's don't always look like the in hand view. I get that the person buying the TV wants the best most flattering shot, but as a buyer I want the most realistic photos so I can judge what a coin will look like in hand. As I said I cannot rely on the TV service for that.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
But the coins DO always look like the TrueView in hand. It's all depending on the viewing/lighting angle while it's in your hand.
Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.
True. Once you understand the basic design of the lighting/contrast TVs use you can come close to predicting an in-hand look. All the TV's I've seen are lower in contrast, more even lighting, with an emphasis on capturing any color/texture on the coin. All good things but it's not what you'd see under a lamp or outside specific circumstances. Other image choices end up with different issues.
Believe what you want and let the Kool-Aid rush over you, maybe you have 3000 watt lights that you use for in hand viewing but I do not.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
No, no kool-aid. Just reality. And no, no 3000 watt lights. Any light works. Maybe you need glasses.
Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.
I love TrueViews for Saints but have recently stumbled onto a problem with a proof walker.
The cert # links to this coin
This link may be easier to see
https://www.collectorscorner.com/Products/Item.aspx?id=48133102
My Saint Set
Maybe you need glasses.
Funny I was thinking just the same for you.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
I've struggled to understand the value of the Gold Shield beyond the True View as well. The shield tells a perspective buyer there is a True View available. If having that True View is important to you for any reason, great. I haven't figured out anything else the Gold Shield provides.
LIBERTY SEATED DIMES WITH MAJOR VARIETIES CIRCULATION STRIKES (1837-1891) digital album
Even true view fails sometime. Looks cloudy on her dress.
I do not.
Thanks for all the replies everyone. Perhaps this would be a good opportunity for PCGS to better clarify the benefits of gold shield? We are the target market, after all.
This auction house has atrocious images. I don't know how they generate the colors they sometimes do - I have had coins from them where I could not in any way reproduce their colors/images, where I can reproduce a TV with lighting arrangement. So the coin is probably closer to the TV than the auction house images.
Best, SH
Does the True Views have any value for untoned modern coins in MS70 or PF70?
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
No not really
I like TruViews, and I understand they are a 'beauty shot'....For coins, lighting does what makeup does for models and movie stars...
Cheers, RickO
I like and use GS for my regular subs.
One of my NFC slabs brings up an invalid cert error that I need to contact pcgs about.
Collector, occasional seller
I don't rely on them but do like TV and the look on the .holder
I try to have trueviews for all of my significant coins.
The Gold Shield service, formerly called Secure Plus, does not use True View images. The digital scans are from a specialized device that produces images much different in appearance. The crude pix generated aren't even close to representative. But they capture the digital detail that allows for identification.
A couple of years ago PCGS began including TV images as part of that service at no extra charge. Those images are pleasant and worthy of inclusion in registry sets and collector inventory. But they have nothing to do with digital fingerprinting and coin ID.
The Secure Plus / Gold Shield service was a great idea. But its value as a means for catching stolen coins is very limited. The thief, or unwitting new owner, would have to resubmit the coin using the same SP/GS service in order for the coin to be scanned and ID'd as previously submitted. If another, non-SP/GS service were used it would bypass the digital scan and not be caught.
I think/hope we're approaching the point where all submitted coins will be imaged and tracked. It will be a game changer. But it will work both ways. Many collectors and dealers rely on coins being judged apart from their past appraisals.
Lance.
I'm really surprised by the lack of enthusiasm for True Views on this thread.
Any time I see a OGH or a coin without TV, it's a big red dreck-flag.
My Saint Set
These videos were interesting. One way to easily see how slight lighting or coin angles can show or hide minor surface flaws, or other issues, and also a way to get a better feel for mint luster.
I use exclusively Gold Shield for my National Commemorative Medals Set and I like the TrueView's I have received on almost all of them. Some proofs are just tough to capture as it can be a mirror look, or in sometimes it can show die polish way more than the coin in hand without magnification, depending on the photo angle.
PCGS can use multiple photos and they can be combined to get better depth of field on high relief medals. You can even ask for a special photo appearance ahead of time which can be helpful.
I really liked this tutorial.
https://www.pcgs.com/news/a-coin-photographers-trick-of-the-trade
My US Mint Commemorative Medal Set
Focus stacking has been around a while now. I can definitely see it on high relief coins. The best results, though, are from focusing rails. With a rail you avoid little perspective shifts from refocusing and you can be more precise.
I haven’t bothered yet for any of my coin pics but maybe I’ll do it for fun soon just to see.