THE PCGS STORY ON THE PCGS SITE

gtstang

The Need for a Universal Standard
In 1985, a small group of the nation's leading rare coin experts recognized that for the rare coin industry to realize its potential, several serious problems needed to be addressed.

Market participants soon became aware that one of the fundamental factors in determining rare coin values is the physical condition, or grade, of the coin. They learned that a coin graded Mint State 65, for example, may have market value many times greater than the same coin graded Mint State 64, even though the difference in an MS65 coin and an MS64 coin may be virtually undetectable to the untrained eye. A coin sold by one dealer as an MS65 could be sold by another dealer as an MS64 (or less). In some cases a coin buyer could be victimized by product misrepresentation. In other cases, he was caught in the middle of a dilemma of wide-ranging definitions due to the absence of a true standard. In other words, they were simply caught in the middle of divergent definitions due to the absence of a universal standard.

It doesn't say anything about who started PCGS, only part of the reason why. Those names may get lost and disappear over the next 25 to 50 years as we lose the older generation of collectors that know who, what, where, and when things happened to start this great company.
Even though there seemed to be some negativity around the top folks "leaving" a number of years ago, I believe a much more detailed write-up of the PCGS early days would be a great honor for those that kept things going as well as the history for all the new collectors to understand what it took to make this company into what it has grown into.

jesbroken

One thing to consider in regards to "top folk leaving", most all successful companies today were created by industry specialists, everyone ages until the energy is gone and they fade away or pass away. In either instance, the companies go on as it was created, hopefully. Some continue with brilliance and some like the creators fade away. I think PCGS has done a great job in growing the hobby and protecting its members and nonmembers through a grading standard encapsulated for protection and a guarantee of genuiness. Unless a reason is shown to refute my belief, I feel that PCGS will continue unless no longer needed with the same respect it deserved in the past.
Jim

dsessom

@gtstang If you need to know the founders names, they are: David Hall, Silvano DiGenova, Bruce Amspacher, Gordon Wrubel, Van Simmons, John Danreuther, and Steve Cyrkin. I don't think our host minds putting that information here, as it is their history.

MFeld

Below are a couple of other accounts.
https://www.pcgs.com/news/the-story-of-the-origin-of-pcgs
https://www.pcgs.com/news/pcgs-35-years-on

gtstang

@dsessom said:
@gtstang If you need to know the founders names, they are: David Hall, Silvano DiGenova, Bruce Amspacher, Gordon Wrubel, Van Simmons, John Danreuther, and Steve Cyrkin. I don't think our host minds putting that information here, as it is their history.

I'm saying the history write-up of the PCGS history is rather weak and I believe much more effort could have been put into the article.
I enjoyed the days of @homerunhall being involved in the comradery of the forums.

dsessom

@gtstang said:

@dsessom said:
@gtstang If you need to know the founders names, they are: David Hall, Silvano DiGenova, Bruce Amspacher, Gordon Wrubel, Van Simmons, John Danreuther, and Steve Cyrkin. I don't think our host minds putting that information here, as it is their history.

I'm saying the history write-up of the PCGS history is rather weak and I believe much more effort could have been put into the article.
I enjoyed the days of @homerunhall being involved in the comradery of the forums.

Me too. Mr. Hall was very accessible, and would respond to any questions or concerns you had, personally.

edwardjulio

I was told by one of the founders that he wanted the service, when started, to be non-profit. Wonder what the hobby would be like today if this had occurred?

ricko

It is good to preserve history... of organizations and nations. Always one of my favorite subjects in school... and, I grew up in a historic area of the country. When I became interested in coins, as a young boy, it was with direct correlation to history. Cheers, RickO

Zoins

@MFeld said:
Below are a couple of other accounts.
https://www.pcgs.com/news/the-story-of-the-origin-of-pcgs
https://www.pcgs.com/news/pcgs-35-years-on

Would be great to see if there's any information to add to Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_Coin_Grading_Service

bidask

I remember trading with David Hall and Steve Ivy when they were proprietors in the coin business

bidask

John Albanese and L Sperber saved my ass one time before CAC was in existence

Albanese the best when it comes to doctored gold and their respective surfaces