B&M NewP- Anyone ever hear of ANICS?

cmerlo1

I visited McBride's here in Austin yesterday and asked if anything new had come in. I was handed a box containing 20 of these certs in plastic bags, each with the coin that was certified. All were 1963-dated Franklin halves certified on 10/4/1990 and all were graded MS63/65. Being that I work for ANACS and I collect oddball slabs, I had to buy one. The holder is sealed, not sure how.

My favorite part is the disclaimer at the top: "Not accociated with ANACS or any other certification organization".

Anyone ever hear of this company?

Namvet69

I'm not pulling up anything on the Google for ANICS. Area code 404 is Atlanta Georgia. 888-4219 is an attorneys office. Anything on the back of the card?

cmerlo1

@Namvet69 said:
I'm not pulling up anything on the Google for ANICS. Area code 404 is Atlanta Georgia. 888-4219 is an attorneys office. Anything on the back of the card?

I should've photographed the back of the cert also! Here's a scan- definitely Georgia:

291fifth

Probably a fairly scarce slab that has the advantage of containing a very cheap coin. It is the type of thing that dedicated slab collectors will like. It is the first one of those i recall seeing.

coinbuf

Neat cert, I have not seen that one before myself.

Namvet69

Interesting that the top dog is a 65. Box is in the local post office. I think the rest is in the wind. Nice oddball pick up.

NumisOxide

I believe I've seen that cert before on ebay. Harder to find one though.

U1chicago

I have seen them before and owned a few. All those were also Franklins and had a similar photo cert card. Some had the plastic holder while others did not. They used to have a small premium (around $25-$45 was the going rate back in 2014/2015).

U1chicago

Here is a CoinTalk thread and some Conder commentary:

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/1980s-slabbed-coin.264498/

“It IS an older company. This what I had on the company in the book ANICS (American Numismatic Institute Certification Service) Active in 1987 to 1989 it used a photo-certificate based on that of ANACS with a background of yellow squares on the label. One variety seen ANICS 1 Similar to ANACS 5 but photos are smaller. To compensate for this, more of the label is folded over the front of the certificate. Background of yellow rectangles on label. Used from 1987 to 1989? (Copyright on the back is 1987 but every example seen so far have been dated 5/15/89.) The certificates are inconsistent though as to the size of the photographs. While the coin images are kept to the actual size of the coins, the area around the coins is not kept cropped to the same size so the amount of the label visible on the front varies. The certificate shown here shows the full name and address of the company on the front of the label. I have two others. One shows every thing seen here plus the bottom line of the back label, the other has everything except the phone number on the back of the label.”

UpGrayedd

I collect old slabs and photo certs as well, but I don't know much about ANICS other than Conder's info posted by @U1chicago. My one example is a 1947 MacArthur Philippines 50 Centavos, photo cert only. It is not in a slab. Currently, there is a 1968 Mexico Olympics 25 Peso on ebay, but it is a photo cert only as well.

@cmerlo1 is there anything on the back of the slab tying it to ANICS? If not, I wonder if the slab was actually produced by ANICS or if someone else did it after the fact.

1Bufffan

The back of the certificate really covers their butt, according to them nothing is guaranteed, and they are not responsible for anything that you do not agree with. Very Interesting piece to add to your collection. this seems to be just before the Grading Companies started to Slab in hard plastic.

coinkat

Never heard of them- very interesting and it something for the legal and numismatic communities. The art and not a science commentary associated with grading should hopefully resonate with collectors- 35- 40 years later... that is if it not resonate with collectors at the time.

Great item- congrats in finding something that really documents what is important and often misunderstood or sadly rarely understood.

cmerlo1

@UpGrayedd said:
I collect old slabs and photo certs as well, but I don't know much about ANICS other than Conder's info posted by @U1chicago. My one example is a 1947 MacArthur Philippines 50 Centavos, photo cert only. It is not in a slab. Currently, there is a 1968 Mexico Olympics 25 Peso on ebay, but it is a photo cert only as well.

@cmerlo1 is there anything on the back of the slab tying it to ANICS? If not, I wonder if the slab was actually produced by ANICS or if someone else did it after the fact.

There's absolutely nothing on the back. The 'slab' is one of those hard plastic holders available at the time, where the 2 halves snap together. I did try to open it but it is definitely sealed. The lot had examples in both red and blue.

jesbroken

There is a Morgan Dollar on ebay currently in an ANICS photo certificate. I do not collect such items but have not heard of this particular one either. The ebay auction is #334571388093 should anyone be interested. I have no connection to the auction or seller.
Jim

BStrauss3

There is a 2nd (later) version where they expressly state they are not related to ANACS,

ricko

That is the first of that type certification I have seen. The 'art not science' commentary is still true today - as it will be until such time as documented, accepted standards are established. Holder collectors should be interested in this one. Cheers, RickO

2windy2fish

@Lakesammman have you seen this holder before?

savoyspecial

@86Saab might think this is interesting "bootleg"

telephoto1

We've encountered a few over the years. They were obviously trying to piggyback on ANACS' photo certs back in the days when they were doing split obv/rev grading. Some of the coins weren't too bad but most were as you might expect. They've been gone for a couple decades.