PCGS PR: PCGS Unveils New Gold Shield Level of Service
Goldbully
Posts: 18,569 ✭✭✭✭✭
January 3, 2018
(Newport Beach, California) – Professional Coin Grading Service (www.PCGS.com) is rolling out PCGS Gold Shield™ Service, replacing PCGS Secure™ Service, effective January 1, 2018.
PCGS Gold Shield highlights questionable “keypoints” harvested from our vast proprietary imaging database.
PCGS Gold Shield retains the process and function of PCGS Secure in that it checks coins that come through PCGS Gold Shield against a vast proprietary imaging database. This is an invaluable aid for graders in quickly determining authenticity in the fight against increasingly sophisticated counterfeiters. The new system benefits from artificial intelligence and machine learning. With Gold Shield, PCGS remains two steps ahead of counterfeiters.
The look of the PCGS holder remains the same for Gold Shield as it did for Secure, with the reflective gold shield on the left-side, front of the coin label. While the customers won’t see the process changes, the name and description of the service is updated to reflect new technology and capability.
Don Willis, President of PCGS, a division of Collectors Universe, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLCT), recently announced the new system to all PCGS Authorized Dealers. He explains, “We have been testing and refining the system for over two years and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. It will become a crucial component of our fight against counterfeiting, which will help us preserve the integrity of the PCGS brand worldwide.”
John Nelson, PCGS’ Chief Technology Officer, explained it this way: “Our graders are the best in the business. They set the bar for finding counterfeits and consistently grading coins. Now, with coins going through PCGS Gold Shield, our system is even more intelligent, and faster than before. It speeds the grading and authentication process.”
Mark Stephenson, Vice President of PCGS, clarified the service level to PCGS Collector’s Club Members further, saying, “PCGS continues to include PCGS TrueView™ [under the new Gold Shield service]. All Express and higher submissions automatically include PCGS Gold Shield service, so no need to request it at Express or above.”
Stephenson continued, “With Gold Shield, PCGS continues to show the entire hobby the way forward, and reiterates our commitment to our position as the most trusted third-party grader. PCGS continually invests in pioneering and testing new technologies to promote the hobby of numismatics, to keep it safe for collectors, and ensure the highest quality service in the industry.”
PCGS has already begun implementing PCGS Gold Shield service. Transition officially takes effect January 1, 2018.
Since its founding in 1986, PCGS experts have certified over 37 million coins with a total market value of over $32 billion. For information about PCGS products and services, including how to submit your coins for authentication and grading, visit www.PCGS.com or call PCGS Customer Service at (800) 447-8848.
Edited to add: Just found another post on this service......sorry for the double post.
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/992486/the-new-gold-shield-service#latest
Comments
this interesting and will affect a submission I have in for "Mechanical Error" in a peculiar and unique way.
it arrived at PCGS as a "Secure" submission, clearly marked on the form and checked off by CS. part of my reasoning was to avoid the holiday/FUN logjam. when it posted as completed they had already mailed the order and had neglected to encapsulate via the Secure holder with TrueView images. it took a few weeks to get straightened out with CS, by which time the Las Vegas show, Christmas/New Year Holidays and FUN Show had placed a standstill on everything at the grading room.
to date it has still not posted. a quick rundown:
1). mailed in October as a Secure submission.
2). returned in December in Standard holders.
3). mailed again on December 27th for Secure.
4). not yet received.
5). to be encapsulated as ____________ whenever they begin.
my questions are this:
1). will they take the coins out of the Standard holders and place them in Secure, like a re-holder?
2). will they regrade the coins under the Secure service and possibly find a problem??
3). will they regrade them under the new service and possibly find a problem?
what a ridiculous problem to have due to an employee not paying attention to what they were doing back in November.
Interesting, I submitted 4 or 5 orders just before the new year. Would those come back with new gold shield or secure?
I have several orders in now that were submitted for last QS free secure special. One order is for reholder and variety attribution and it does show gold shield slab when I looked up the cert. numbers.
Mo' money
Is there a physical difference in the shield? ...or are the benefits of the two (Secure Plus and Gold Shield) the same? I noticed that my previous "Secure Plus" coins are now identified as "Gold Shield".
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Thanks for the answer.
Another step forward in the journey to computer grading....
Cheers, RickO
As DW explained at the FUN PCGS luncheon, the thrust of this "new" service is that the 8 year old hardware/software that scanned and archived Secure Plus coins is being replaced with new software that works with digitized pictures.
The new system analyzes photos like True Views (but really, any digital photo) to detect and record numerous traits. These (unspecified) characteristics can then be compared to the database to recognize a specific coin if it has been imaged previously.
Bottom line goals aren't a lot different from Secure Plus. But it's logical that software and ordinary digital images will be more effective, flexible, and undoubtedly cheaper in the long run.
To follow...counterfeit detection? Grading assistance? Lots of possibilities.
Lance.