PCGS Set Registry 40th Anniversary Rules Forthcoming and Competition Integrity
Charles_Morgan
Posts: 37 ✭✭✭
Hi everybody,
For those I haven’t met yet, I’m Charles Morgan. I joined the team in November 2025 as the Manager of Numismatic Research and Programs. While you may have noticed the recent surge in narrative updates on PCGS CoinFacts, I’ve also been working behind the scenes on the evolution of the PCGS Set Registry.
Since 2001, the Registry has done more than just track inventory; it changed how we collect and compete. Our participants are the most sophisticated in the hobby, and your sets continue to inspire us. As we move through 2026, PCGS remains committed to growing and improving the program, and I am dedicated to keeping you "in the loop."
Celebrating Our 25th Anniversary
Soon, we will announce the rules for our 2026 competition. This is a milestone year—the 25th anniversary of the Registry and PCGS’s 40th year in business. This program will be a special one-year event unlike anything we’ve done before, designed to honor both the history of the hobby and the achievements of our current members.
Addressing Registry Integrity: "PCGS Only"
We have followed the recent community discussions regarding high-profile collections containing coins that may no longer be in PCGS holders. We understand how "cracked out coins" impact the leaderboards and the morale of the community.
As we move forward, we are reaffirming the core principle of the program: The PCGS Set Registry is for PCGS-graded coins currently in PCGS holders. To that end, sets containing coins that have been removed from PCGS holders will not qualify for awards in the 2026 competition, but will remain on the active leaderboards for the time being.
While we recognize that large-scale updates to the system take time, we are working diligently to ensure the integrity of our data and population reports remain the gold standard for the industry.
Thank you for your passion and your patience as we refine the Registry for the years ahead.
Charles
Manager of Numismatic Research and Programs | PCGS
Comments
Charles, thanks for your post regarding the integrity/rules. Many in the community look forward to the deletion of DLH registry sets. You say they will remain for now, which makes sense. No one is expecting PCGS to work this weekend to weed through the mess. That said, is there any broad time line we could look forward to as the initial goal? We really appreciate your attention to this matter and know it is a lot to take on.
Not really looking for much these days but if I were, it might be a toner.
Charles, I realize having just come on board with the Registry, you have some problems that need addressed which is going to take some time. 1st, as keyman64 alluded to, cracked out coins in another TPG holder, I'll say it's not just DLH, there are others. I am also a Registry member who sits close to, but behind DLH sets.
The 2nd issue and one that is more important to me, is the problem of buying coins from various sources only to find they are still registered in someone else's set. NOT RELEASED. PCGS Registry rules state if a coin is sold, it should be removed from ones Registry set. Failure to do so after receiving the removal request can cause PCGS to remove the offending parties entire set from the Registry. To the best of my knowledge, this has never happened. How do I know ? Most of my sets are top 10 sets and I'm purchasing high grade coins for those sets. I look up my new purchase cert # in other top sets and frequently find who's set it's still listed in. And their sets are still in the Registry. Why have rules if they're not followed ?
On receiving a newly purchased coin only to find it still resides in another set, the new owner has to submit a removal request, then wait three business days, then send a Obv. and Rev. dated picture to PCGS, then wait for it to be released. I understand the reason for this process and don't really have a problem with occasionally doing this but it happens all the time. Just today I received 5 new purchases in the mail. Two of the five still reside in another members Registry set.
Depending on when the new purchase is received in the calendar week, the coin in possession of the new owner may not be able to be added for over a week. I personally have had to go through this process OVER 70 TIMES in the last 5 or 6 years.
It's not just me, look at the Registry forum. You'll see others complaining about the same problem.
O.K. I'm done, I'll jump down off my soapbox now. Thanks for listening.
Charles - Thank you, as this issue of coins being crossed from PCGS holders to CACG holders is, as you recognize, a serious integrity issue for the PCGS Set Registry.
As such, what is your rationale for keeping PCGS sets that PCGS knows that coins have been crossed out of PCGS holders to that of another TPG, from being eligible for awards, but NOT retiring that set??? If you KNOW a coin or more is no longer eligible for a set, why allow that set to remain in the “current” Registry? By knowing that, and not taking action for the current set, PCGS is just as guilty regarding a lack of integrity as the coin owner! No? Doesn’t PCGS Set Registry ethically require the owner of a coin that has been sold or crossed out of a PCGS holder to remove that coin from their Registry? And if PCGS knows of that, shouldn’t PCGS live up to their own standards, even if the owner chooses not to?
Thank you.
Steve
My collecting “Pride & Joy” is my PCGS Registry Dansco 7070 Set:
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/design-type-sets/complete-dansco-7070-modified-type-set-1796-date/publishedset/213996
Welcome Charles - I'm hoping this thread represents a new era of transparency and progress within the Set Registry. You have some big shoes to fill, shoes that nobody else has been willing to step into for the past few years. Many of us within the Registry user base have felt ignored, abandoned, and genuinely unwanted, and, recognizing that there have still been a few within the Registry system who have tried to make it work, PCGS has repeatedly left them swinging in the breeze. There's (valid) talk above about how to handle all the Registry members who have cracked out their coins in favor of CAC or other competitive TPGs. That's fine. Can we please not lose sight of WHY those users have felt the need to leave? As Registry members, the only way we can make our voices heard, is through our wallets. And PCGS has repeatedly demonstrated that they really don't care (When I was finally able to reach a human to downgrade me from Platinum to Silver membership, it was just "OK, we'll make it so it doesn't auto-renew, and you can re-join as silver" -- whereas most respectable companies would have at least added something along the lines of "Oh, we're sorry to see you go" -- even after being specifically told that the decision was based purely on the lacking support of the Set Registry. This Registry is the ONLY reason I joined PCGS, and I've dumped thousands of dollars of grading fees, directly aimed at building and expanding Registry Sets. PCGS doesn't care. You mention this year's awards being unlike anything done before. At this point "anything" at all, would be an improvement - for 2025 they couldn't even be bothered to send out pieces of paper. In the past five(?) years, they've gone from really nice plaques, to really nice plaques that we had to pay for ourselves, to goofy hat-pins (that admittedly some people seemed to like), to pieces of paper, and finally to "Clap clap clap -- what, do you want a cookie?"
You're entering the scene at a time when the bar has been dropped so low that it's easy to meet or exceed whatever it is you're replacing. Please understand, the fact that that bar has gotten so low, is the primary reason so many Registry members have been jumping ship. It's been taking on water for far too long. I fear that many of the problems are still several layers of bureaucracy above your head, but hopefully you can be in a better position to make our voices, and values, heard, farther up that ladder, because recently it's been far too clear, they're not listening.
I wish you the best of luck and success -- if you win, we win. I just hope "The powers that be" give you the ability and authority to make it happen.
Great post @oldsmagnet
"She comes out of the sun in a silk dress,
running like a water color in the rain...."
CACG Rewards a Silver Eagle for top sets! That's one reason why people are leaving and focusing their participation over there.
Not really looking for much these days but if I were, it might be a toner.
I appreciate the comments and welcome the feedback. It is helpful as we move forward with meaningful improvements and updates to the program.
Manager of Numismatic Research and Programs | PCGS
Thank you Charles. I think it’s great having you as our advocate to improve the PCGS Set Registry!
I think you can perhaps avoid reinventing the wheel if you can reach out and question two former heads of the PCGS Set Registry - BJ Searls and Cosetta Robbins. When each was in charge, EVERYTHING ran smoothly, like clockwork! Describe several of the current issues, and get their thoughts. I love @PCGS_Hy and he’s great, but my sense is the number of personnel allocated to running the Set Registry has been reduced. PLEASE get the bean counters to loosen the purse strings and get Hy some help!!!
Thank you! We’re all rooting for you to succeed!
Steve
My collecting “Pride & Joy” is my PCGS Registry Dansco 7070 Set:
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/design-type-sets/complete-dansco-7070-modified-type-set-1796-date/publishedset/213996
I feel that your patching of the holes in the Pcgs's sinking boat will meet with success if you keep the members well informed.
A bi-weekly update of what your plans are and an incorporation date/time, will alieve some fustrations we have garnered here over the years.
It has been a very long time of ever increasing dissatisfaction with the Set Registry, primarialy the feeling of just plain being ignored.
You said:
"To that end, sets containing coins that have been removed from PCGS holders will not qualify for awards in the 2026 competition, but will remain on the active leaderboards for the time being."
I feel that you should make removing these sets a priority.
I wish you tremendous success as if you succeed, so do we.
Wayne
Kennedys are my quest...
Hi Charles. I wish you well.
1 - The many issues with the Registry Sets are a microcosm of the downward slide of PCGS in general. Some people believe you save a business by cutting expenses. The business world is littered with failed companies that took that approach. It would be better for PCGS to charge more and be known for excellent customer service, prompt addressing of problems, and treating members as highly valued and difficult to replace.
2 - I have recently been harping on a problem that has been going on for over a year. That problem is that true many view pictures are not displaying on inventory or sets. Is PCGS planning on giving out awards to sets that cannot be viewed?? How ridiculous would that be? How about custom sets? How will members be able to vote on custom sets when they cannot be properly viewed???
3 - I agreed that PCGS sets should only contain PCGS graded items.
4 - Members are a source of revenue for PCGS. Fewer members less revenue. I hope you are able to talk some sense into those above you that PCGS must improve the overall experience for members. This mean awards that are befitting a collectors accomplishment. True View photos that display. Problems that are promptly addressed.
We all are wising you success
Randy
Randy, I would like to strongly support your comment about the Trueview images not displaying.
Charles, there are several existing threads about this Trueview problem, which is ongoing for more than six months, and it seems clear that PCGS is not allocating sufficient (any?) resources to fix it. We've been told there's no eta on a fix. You must, surely, already be aware of this problem? It's simply scandalous that PCGS members have paid to have these images added to their submissions yet PCGS appears not to care that many of the images won't load for viewing in member's sets.
Please report issues of TrueView images not displaying. This is an issue that we are actively working on and resolving. If you are impacted by this issue let Hy know.
Manager of Numismatic Research and Programs | PCGS
Thanks for responding, Charles. It's good to hear that work is ongoing but this issue appears to be a 'global' problem affecting many, if not all, members as indicated on the set registry message board: https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1116839/half-of-my-inventory-images-have-disappeared
This is not a case of a small minority of members having a problem, which they then need to self-identify.
I sent a few emails over the second half of 2025, concerning the disappearance of TrueView images from coins in my set registry. Last November, Hy replied to one of them indicating there's an open ticket with the IT team on the Trueview image disappearance issue but that there's no ETA on a fix. I know other collectors have been in touch with Hy.
I also raised this last November with my PCGS authorised agent, Roxburys Numismatics, who received a similar reply. We have heard nothing further other than what's been posted on this message board in several threads.
I have 353 coins in my inventory. Many but not all have had TVs done, and all that had TVs used to have them displayed in the list. I mentioned in another thread there are random coins that no longer have the TVs showing, but definitely did in the past.
I dont do any registry sets or competitions, I just like to see what is in my entire inventory.
Edit - roughly 1/3 of the coins that should have TVs do not, over 100 of them.
@Charles_Morgan and @PCGS_Hy - I've sent an email to PCGSSetRegistry@Collectors.com with a list of my sets where the Trueview images are not all loading. Thank you for continuing to address this issue and I look forward to seeing all my coins again!
@Charles_Morgan and @PCGS_Hy - I've resent the email as requested.
Received. Thank you. We will look into it.
Manager of Numismatic Research and Programs | PCGS
Speaking of competition integrity -- make this make sense
OK, Kudos are in order for our new hero, @Charles_Morgan. In short order, he succeeded in getting D.L. Hansen to retire his two #1 current Dansco 7070 Registry Sets (one with Gold, the other without Gold). Presumably other sets have been, or will be, retired soon. Thank you VERY much!
For many years, I had been #3 Current on each of the two PCGS Dansco 7070 Registry Sets (one set with Gold, the other set without Gold). I was never able to compete financially with the two numismatic giants ahead of me - “Black Cat” at #2, and D.L. Hansen at #1.
Last year Black Cat retired his two #2 sets, so I moved up to #2 Current. Just yesterday, D.L. Hansen retired his two #1 sets, so I now “backed into” #1 Current on each of the two PCGS Dansco 7070 Registry Sets.
Steve
My collecting “Pride & Joy” is my PCGS Registry Dansco 7070 Set:
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/design-type-sets/complete-dansco-7070-modified-type-set-1796-date/publishedset/213996
@PCGS_Hy - As requested I've just re-sent my reply to your email of March 3rd.
I understand you're having email issues so, as a contingency, a copy of our email exchange is below. I'm copying in @Charles_Morgan
From: Martin Walsh walmarcat@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 3 Mar 2026 at 12:02
Subject: Re: PCGS Set Registry - TrueViews
To: PCGS Set Registry pcgssetregistry@collectors.com
Hello Hy,
The main issue is that the Trueview images don’t all load when a set is opened for viewing in the registry by me or anyone else . All my coins in the sets I’ve sent you have Trueview images except for two coins that have slab images so if you open any of these sets I’ve sent you, the problem should be very clear.
Martin
On Tue, 3 Mar 2026 at 11:46 am, PCGS Set Registry pcgssetregistry@collectors.com wrote:
Hello Martin,
Thank you for reaching out and providing a specific list of sets that are affected by the TrueView issue.
Our team was able to fix one aspect of it affecting the thumbnails in the inventory. Can you confirm whether that part of the issue was affecting you and whether that was fixed for you at all?
Looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Best,
Hy
Customer Care Representative
PCGS Customer Care
@PCGS_Hy (copying in @Charles_Morgan)
Hello Hy, thanks for your further email, today.
In answer to your questions, the TrueView images in my digital albums and two Showcase sets are currently displaying correctly. However, more than 10 of the 290 + coins with TV images in my inventory are currently not displaying those images as thumbnails.
As I have previously identified, the coins in seven of my sets are not displaying images when these sets are opened for viewing.
Martin (Canberra)
@PCGS_Hy (copying in @Charles_Morgan)
Hello Hy, to answer your further request of today, can you give me a working email address that I can send the screenshots to?
Also please note, the cert no's that don't display correct thumbnails in my inventory are NOT the same as the cert no's that aren't displaying images in the set view of the seven sets I've previously identified..
Martin (Canberra)
Credit where credit is due - whatever calculation failure was giving a complete top-pop set a ranking of 64 has been corrected - fairly quickly too. Thank you. They've now got me at the top of the list, which in fairness, SeaGod hit his 71 before I did - I've submitted a report for that as well, I suspect that'll clear up quickly enough. I don't want to steal his well-earned spotlight :-)
Charles, Just wanted to report that all my True View images are loading just fine! Whatever has been corrected is greatly appreciated.
Good to hear. Happy collecting!
Manager of Numismatic Research and Programs | PCGS
Welcome Charles! ANYTHING you can do will be welcomed with opened arms. I'm just a little guy and have been here for 25 years now. In the past couple of years the registry has become unmanageable for PCGS, at least that's how it appears to the members and those like me-ex-members. I don't have deep pockets like many here on the boards. It has taken me 25 years to obtain the top spot in my specialty set. I've had a couple wonderful mentors help me out tremendously in obtaining knowledge, grading skills, coins, contacts and most importantly friendship.
I submitted 5 coins for grading via the Express route in late in 2024 and finally got them back this past October 2025. I had to make so many phone calls, messages via the boards, e-mails, phone calls, etc. and was stonewalled for a very long time. It appeared the order was lost. It appears that I might have set a new record for longest time for an express order. But several other collectors contacted me explaining their woes in taking a long time awaiting orders to either get back or acknowledge that their order was still being processed. As an express order had an estimate of 3 according to the population guide. ed for completion was 15 business days, mine took over 100 business days! The ONLY that I was made whole is by an extremely advanced dealer/collector stepped in. If it wasn't for him, I'd probably still be waiting.
I also notified someone at the registry about coins I bought from an auction but it was in a new holder with a new serial number. Gave them all the information both old and new, the true view photos and serial numbers so they could see the coins had ALL the colors, marks, etc. yet they insisted that they couldn't tell if it were the same coin or not. The toning for both certification numbers were a perfect match, all the nicks/marks, scratches, etc. were also a perfect match, but they kept both active in the registry/price guide areas. This is one item keeping the populations inaccurate.
Another area of contention is like some have already addressed, is having the coin's certification number in the old owner's set/possession. For instance, I bought a coin with a population of 3. As soon as I get the coin I look the coin up in the pop guide and see the same exact coin has a pop of 3, yet the photos show that two of the coins are the same exact coin. So I do the usual and send PCGS a copy of the front/back of the coin in the holder with a dated newspaper or something similar. They notify me that there are 2 DIFFERENT coins and it's NOT the same coin. They KEEP all 3 coins active, yet the TRUE population is 2. This puts the population 50% higher plus this affects the price very significantly. So they have to contact the past owner and tell me a week later they can't do anything because they can't contact the past owner. So I ask what we can do to remove the duplicated coin. They tell me that the ORIGINAL owner has to contact them and give PCGS the authority to delete the old coin. Or, they tell me I have to contact the auction house and they can contact the past owner to have it removed. The auction company told me they can't do that because they don't know whom the original owner was that submitted it for grading! How can they do that, only PCGS knows whom was the original submitter was, they should know how to contact the original owner. Or, I purchase a coin from the auction house and they tell me the consigner is the spouse of the past owner. They don't know anything about coins, they were told by their lawyer, or the lawyer contacts the auction house to have it removed. AGAIN, PCGS is the only one whom knows whom the past owner was. How can anyone else know the original submitter was, or how to delete the coin from the past owners possession. This has happened on several occasions and that's just ME! Ray Daniel
Hello Charles,
It appears some collectors sets are now showing Tru-Views. Unfortunately I am not one of them.
My “Crazy 8’s” Mexican Portraits Series 8 Reales Basic Set, Circulation Strikes still has a problem. I still have 8 coins that have a Tru-View, that show up in my digital album but does not show up as part of my set (pre-view page).
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Paul Roberts
Successful buys/sales on BST board from NotSure, Nankraut, Yorkshireman, Astrorat, Ikeigwin(2x), Bob13, Outhaul, coinbuf, dpvilla, jayPem, Sean1990, TwoKopeiki, bidask, Downtown1974, drddm, nederveit2, ajann
Trying to update my showcases earlier today, plagued with frequent error 500 and error 504 messages (I think it was 504, didn't grab a screenshot) -- both of them mentioned server time-out problems. And probably every digital album I loaded up had at least one blank circle that, when clicked, showed the coin's images, and then appeared normally when I clicked F5 to refresh the album page.
Hello @Charles_Morgan and @PCGS_Hy
There has not yet been any improvement in my six sets affected by the Trueview-image-not-loading issue. Also, some of the Trueview images are now not loading in my two largest sets.
Martin
Good morning all,
We are experiencing some website stability issues and our IT team is working on mitigating this issue. You might see some intermittent issues as they work on this.
As for the TrueView issue, there was a fix implemented early last month, but it was not the complete fix we were looking for. We are working on a follow-up fix.
Thank you all for your reports.
Best,
PCGS_Hy
PCGS Set Registry Coordinator
Need assistance? Contact us at PCGS.com
We'll add this to our list of affected accounts. We are trying to isolate the issue.
Manager of Numismatic Research and Programs | PCGS
What's the deadline date for set registry users to update their sets before awards are selected?
We are in the process of finalizing everything.
Manager of Numismatic Research and Programs | PCGS