PCGS and the Paradise Camp Fire
braddick
Posts: 24,940 ✭✭✭✭✭
California's most devastating fire.
I know NGC assisted in restoring or conserving some of the damaged coins within a collection of a esteemed board member here.
https://www.ngccoin.com/news/article/7170/
As far as I knew, PCGS had no involvement.
This, from Google search:
Why PCGS does not have this pedigree
While PCGS is a competing coin-grading service, it has not authenticated any coins with the "Paradise Fire" or "Camp Fire" pedigree. This is likely because:
NGC handled the known submissions: The most publicized story of a Camp Fire coin collection was handled entirely by NGC, as detailed in their 2019 press release and video.
No PCGS promotion: There are no records or news stories of PCGS promoting or authenticating coins with a Camp Fire provenance, unlike NGC's extensive coverage of the Best collection.
I found it interesting to come upon these two coins, one listed right now on Great Collections and the other having sold on eBay:
In checking the inserts of these two coins I do see others have been slabbed by PCGS.
Does anyone have additional information as to PCGS's involvement with (now) grading and slabbing these?
peacockcoins
Comments
PCGS definitely helped @crazyhounddog who was seriously affected by the fire and gave him a special pedigree. NGC did as well.
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
Agree... it wasn't all that long ago either...
Successful BST transactions with: SilverEagles92; Ahrensdad; Smitty; GregHansen; Lablade; Mercury10c; copperflopper; whatsup; KISHU1; scrapman1077, crispy, canadanz, smallchange, robkool, Mission16, ranshdow, ibzman350, Fallguy, Collectorcoins, SurfinxHI, jwitten, Walkerguy21D, dsessom.
Absolutely cool.
PCGS did award crazyhounddog his own pedigree.
(No where on the insert is it referenced to the Camp Fire though.)
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1014885/crazyhounddog-pcgs-coin-update/p1
My curiousity is these new "pedigree" slabs.
How were these confirmed as being from this incident?
peacockcoins
Thread by @crazyhounddog on the PCGS reholdering of his collection:
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1016918/i-received-my-pcgs-collection-back-yesterday
A lot of them were in melted slabs.
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/comment/12169250/#Comment_12169250
Does this open the door for more requests and how do the companies decide what is a worthy request?
I've had coins with some type of residue that dips will not pull off and have tried heat, which as far as I know will never help conserve a coin.
I'm sure they paid for this service so I imagine they would do it for anyone.
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
Yet how does PCGS accept and agree the requested pedigree is accurate and appropriate?
peacockcoins
I would think that enough of the label or serial number would have had to survive to verify any pedigree.
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
So, you think the half dollar and the quarter I showed used to be in PCGS slabs? I hadn't considered that. I assumed they were raw coins that suffered during the fires and then were sent in raw as a small grouping to PCGS.
peacockcoins
Can't definitively speak to PCGS, but the NGC article in the OP specifically says that they conserved and re-holdered 48 NGC- graded coins "free of charge".
Wouldn't those coins have been permanently stained and damaged in the fires? When a holder melts into the coin or the coin is exposed to many contaminants, I can't imagine they can be helped much except in the minor damage cases.
I am NOT an expert on fires. However, I am GUESSING that it depends on the fire conditions, and how the coins were stored.
Regarding permanent damage, here is an excerpt from the NGC article in the OP.
Source: https://www.ngccoin.com/news/article/7170/