David Hall Reminisces About the Early Days of PCGS...Today(11/26) Mr. Hall responds to this thread!!

Goldbully

Very interesting Q&A with Mr. David Hall about the early days of PCGS,

PCGS Link

a039

I knew that was Jaime Hernandez! Odel'e homeboy!

commoncents05

Pop up some popcorn! It's a good watch.

-Paul

TAClough

<< <i>I knew that was Jaime Hernandez! Odel'e homeboy! >>



I wonder if he ever thought about writing "non fiction"?

He might be a nice guy, but I question his creditablity.

HighRelief

Great interview

Two thumbs up

drddm

Interesting interview.

Thanks David for sharing some of your stories from the early days at PCGS.

WoodenJefferson

WTG Tradedollarnut...your name popped up along with some of the greats!

Frankcoins

Nice interview, but next time, remember to look at the camera

Coinosaurus

Great interview, I hope they do more. They need to ask about that 1963 LM cent

Meltdown

<< <i>Very interesting Q&A with Mr. David Hall about the early days of PCGS,

PCGS Link >>

Sunnywood

Kudos to TDN and his seated and trade dollars !!! Not bad to be mentioned along with Naftzger's large cents and Jack Lee's silver dollars as the greatest specialist collections ever seen at PCGS !!!

HTubbs

Very interesting watch...

Boom

Look at the camera. Stop scratching & figeting around!

Oh, and David, Brown definitely IS NOT your color!

All in all - good interview.

Thanx for sharing with us.

coindeuce

I'm always fascinated by HRH's body language. It speaks volumes.

Longacre

Great interview, content-wise. I agree with what others said-- the delivery could be a little bit better.

thisnamztaken

Very enjoyable, notwithstanding the looking-down-at-the-table syndrome.

RWB

Is he out of focus or is that just a "weak strike?"

zeebob

Neat interview. I like the part where he talks about holding in his hand 3 wreath cents min grade 66 and two gem chain cents. Cool!

DJCoinz

<< <i>Kudos to TDN and his seated and trade dollars !!! Not bad to be mentioned along with Naftzger's large cents and Jack Lee's silver dollars as the greatest specialist collections ever seen at PCGS !!! >>

I second that!

DJCoinz

Wish he'd finished that story about the coin doctor...lol.

Goldbully

For the Thanksgiving crowd......must view video

PCGS Link

bushmaster8

I was struck by the conspicuous absence of the mention of John Albanese who was also a founder if my memory is correct...

Longacre

<< <i>I was struck by the conspicuous absence of the mention of John Albanese who was also a founder if my memory is correct... >>




I noticed that, too. I am not sure if it was intentional or not.

saintguru

Another interesting story.

At the time that the founders were contemplating their idea David called Steve Duckor and asked if he and the others could meet Steve at his bank, look at his coins and speak to him about something "new". Steve agreed.

They presented him with the idea of the concept and he thought it was a great idea..and the baby was born.

Three years ago Steve was cleaning out a bunch of boxes of old coin stuff and he found a tape. He had taped the entire conversation in the vault with them!! He sent David the tape which is now a highly cherished posession. That's very cool.

Goldbully

<< <i>Another interesting story.

At the time that the founders were contemplating their idea David called Steve Duckor and asked if he and the others could meet Steve at his bank, look at his coins and speak to him about something "new". Steve agreed.

They presented him with the idea of the concept and he thought it was a great idea..and the baby was born.

Three years ago Steve was cleaning out a bunch of boxes of old coin stuff and he found a tape. He had taped the entire conversation in the vault with them!! He sent David the tape which is now a highly cherished posession. That's very cool. >>



Great story, Sainty!!!

Doogy

<< <i>

<< <i>I was struck by the conspicuous absence of the mention of John Albanese who was also a founder if my memory is correct... >>




I noticed that, too. I am not sure if it was intentional or not. >>



of course it was intentional. He doesn't like the fact the one of their own founders is fighting their obvious gradeflation tactics.

homerunhall

The original founders/owners of PCGS are as follows (with their percentage of ownership)

David Hall/Van Simmons 50%
Bruce Amspacher 10%
Gordon Wrubel 10%
John Dannreuther 10%
Steve Cyrkin 10%
Silvano DiGenova 10%

Those are the founders of PCGS.

I know, because I was there.

hrh

homerunhall

One more thing...Meltdown's picture of the DHNIG sealed holder is very appropriate as it was in many ways the predecessor to PCGS, along with what Van and I did with the guaranteed buy back offered in conjunction with our Rare Coin Market Report pricing publication, a listing of our buy and sell prices for several thousand actively traded US coins.

It was all a lucky guess!!!!!!!!!!!! Hope you all liked the results :-)

dh

Tyler1924S

Watched it last night and really enjoyed it. It should be on You Tube with the others (in two parts). Jaime sounded like he was inside a box in the next zip code. He could have been closer to the mic. Interesting story at the end about the AT halves.

Bochiman

So, I don't purport to know all the history of PCGS but it is interesting that some do.....and it doesn't appear that JA was part of the founder fathers for PCGS (HRH gave the names and percentage numbers that add up to 100% and JA wasn't mentioned at all).

Doesn't look like he was being slighted like some seem to have assumed

Goldbully

<< <i>The original founders/owners of PCGS are as follows (with their percentage of ownership)

David Hall/Van Simmons 50%
Bruce Amspacher 10%
Gordon Wrubel 10%
John Dannreuther 10%
Steve Cyrkin 10%
Silvano DiGenova 10%

Those are the founders of PCGS.

I know, because I was there.

hrh >>



I love it!!!! Thanks for sharing, HRH.

sinin1

thanks for input HRH,


it would be great if CU brought back the Q&A forum,

or at least open up the archives so people could see the old questions and answers


the same questions seem to pop up over and over



even though they were thoroughly answered in the past

TAClough

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>I was struck by the conspicuous absence of the mention of John Albanese who was also a founder if my memory is correct... >>




I noticed that, too. I am not sure if it was intentional or not. >>



of course it was intentional. He doesn't like the fact the one of their own founders is fighting their obvious gradeflation tactics. >>



Hay Doogy - no more smart ass comments? You wrote it like you knew it was a fact

Anymore thoughts?

Doogy

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>I was struck by the conspicuous absence of the mention of John Albanese who was also a founder if my memory is correct... >>




I noticed that, too. I am not sure if it was intentional or not. >>



of course it was intentional. He doesn't like the fact the one of their own founders is fighting their obvious gradeflation tactics. >>



Hay Doogy - no more smart ass comments? You wrote it like you knew it was a fact

Anymore thoughts? >>



here you go smart ass.............

here is a blurb on a high powered PCGS dealer website, Blanchard:


John Albanese, Numismatic Expert
John Albanese is an integral consulting associate of the Blanchard and Company, Inc. organization, and has nearly 30 years of experience in numismatics. John has the unique distinction of being the only person who was a founder of America’s two leading independent coin grading services.

He was one of the original founders of Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) in 1986. After leaving PCGS, he founded Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC). As President of NGC, John also functioned as a full-time coin grader and personally graded over 1,000,000 coins until his departure in 1991.

To this day, he is considered one of America’s leading professional numismatists and one of the world’s noted authorities on coin grading and the rare coin market.

click here

here is an article printed in 2002, naming Albanese as a founder of PCGS:

click here

Another article from another company

click here

TAClough

So everything you read on the internet is gospel, I see

Hall was there so he doesn't know what he is talking about

Thanks for the information. Has Albanese ever claimed to being one of the Founders of PCGS?

Doogy

<< <i>So everything you read on the internet is gospel, I see

Hall was there so he doesn't know what he is talking about

Thanks for the information. Has Albanese ever claimed to being one of the Founders of PCGS? >>




YUP! here it is, near the end of the page...........

click here

here is the quote from his own website:

The primary founder of the CAC, John Albanese, is the lead finalizer. He was a founder of the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) in 1986. After leaving PCGS, Albanese and Mark Salzberg founded the Numismatic Guaranty Corp. (NGC) in 1987. In the late 1990s, Albanese sold his NGC stock.

Goldbully

What's the deal with John Albanese???

Is this really true about the founding fathers of PCGS??

I hate to stir the pot, but what is the truth??? Why would Mr. Hall leave J.A. out of the equation???

Please chime in, oh veterans of slabs for coins!!!

Bayard1908

<< <i>One more thing...Meltdown's picture of the DHNIG sealed holder is very appropriate as it was in many ways the predecessor to PCGS, along with what Van and I did with the guaranteed buy back offered in conjunction with our Rare Coin Market Report pricing publication, a listing of our buy and sell prices for several thousand actively traded US coins. >>



When I was a young teenager in about 1980, I bought 2 coins from you, and they were sealed in exactly that type of flip. When the market crashed a couple years later, nobody would give my anything near what I had paid for the coins. For some reason I then sent a letter asking if you'd be interested in repurchasing them. You gave me a small profit on one coin and close to break even on the other. I've never forgotten it.

jmski52

What a nice chat about coins! Pretty cool. I don't think that I'll ever even get to see an MS Wreath Cent or Chain Cent, let alone own one. It's clear that David Hall loves great coins, and this video has raised my opinion of coin dealers in general a few notches. Thanks very much for sharing.

oreville

I would like to ask for a written version of the interview so that I can read it.

My computer is soooo slow.

Thanks!!!

Amigo

I have a hypothesis on the discrepancy on JA being a founding member.

I don't use my given Legal name when doing shows, nor in buying ads I run. I don't because of Security issues.
Is it possible JA is an alias ?

Bayard1908

<< <i>What's the deal with John Albanese???

Is this really true about the founding fathers of PCGS??

I hate to stir the pot, but what is the truth??? Why would Mr. Hall leave J.A. out of the equation???

Please chime in, oh veterans of slabs for coins!!! >>



David Hall's book, page 404, says, "Seven of the world's top grading experts: John Albanese, Bruce Amspacher, Steve Cyrkin, John Dannreuther, Silvano DiGenova, David Hall, and Gordon Wrubel formed the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS)."

Coin Finder

"founding" and "owning" Are two different concepts........

Founding could mean as much as having and idea or supporting an exisiting idea. Owning means you put money up and bought in.

Sounds like John did no "owning" and very little founding....

bushmaster8

Wait a minute!

So on one hand, HRH says:



<< <i>The original founders/owners of PCGS are as follows (with their percentage of ownership)

David Hall/Van Simmons 50%
Bruce Amspacher 10%
Gordon Wrubel 10%
John Dannreuther 10%
Steve Cyrkin 10%
Silvano DiGenova 10%

Those are the founders of PCGS.

I know, because I was there.

hrh >>



...and on the other hand, HRH says in a direct quote from a book he authored (Mercenaries Guide To The Rare Coin Market):



<< <i> "Seven of the world's top grading experts: John Albanese, Bruce Amspacher, Steve Cyrkin, John Dannreuther, Silvano DiGenova, David Hall, and Gordon Wrubel formed the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS)." >>



How very strange indeed!

So Albanese was a founder but not an owner??

Why would Bruce Amspacher, Steve Cyrkin, John Dannreuther, Silvano DiGenova, David Hall, and Gordon Wrubel let Albanese play with them if John did not have any of his own marbles? Altruism??

Or maybe JA was such a good player that he need not bring any of his own marbles?

If it wasn't Thanksgiving Day, I would give John a call and ask him myself!

Goldbully

<< <i>Wait a minute!

So on one hand, HRH says:



<< <i>The original founders/owners of PCGS are as follows (with their percentage of ownership)

David Hall/Van Simmons 50%
Bruce Amspacher 10%
Gordon Wrubel 10%
John Dannreuther 10%
Steve Cyrkin 10%
Silvano DiGenova 10%

Those are the founders of PCGS.

I know, because I was there.

hrh >>



...and on the other hand, HRH says in a direct quote from a book he authored (Mercenaries Guide To The Rare Coin Market):



<< <i> "Seven of the world's top grading experts: John Albanese, Bruce Amspacher, Steve Cyrkin, John Dannreuther, Silvano DiGenova, David Hall, and Gordon Wrubel formed the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS)." >>



How very strange indeed!

So Albanese was a founder but not an owner??

Why would Bruce Amspacher, Steve Cyrkin, John Dannreuther, Silvano DiGenova, David Hall, and Gordon Wrubel let Albanese play with them if John did not have any of his own marbles? Altruism??

Or maybe JA was such a good player that he need not bring any of his own marbles?

If it wasn't Thanksgiving Day, I would give John a call and ask him myself! >>




Call him tomorrow.....it's just Black Friday!!!!

saintguru

John was asked to join the founders of PCGS and stayed for a relatively short time. Upon his departure he founded NGC.

Goldbully

<< <i>John was asked to join the founders of PCGS and stayed for a relatively short time. Upon his departure he founded NGC. >>



I can't believe HRH left this man out of the TPG equation after all that has been presented by saintguru and bushmaster!

saintguru

<< <i>

<< <i>John was asked to join the founders of PCGS and stayed for a relatively short time. Upon his departure he founded NGC. >>



I can't believe HRH left this man out of the TPG equation after all that has been presented by saintguru and bushmaster! >>




I can.

ColonialCoinUnion

<< <i>Three years ago Steve was cleaning out a bunch of boxes of old coin stuff and he found a tape. He had taped the entire conversation in the vault with them!! He sent David the tape which is now a highly cherished posession. That's very cool. >>



I'm actually taping myself reading this thread.

saintguru

You should send it to your wife.

ColonialCoinUnion

<< <i>You should send it to your wife. >>



Who do you think is operating the camera?