Interesting old ACG slab.

Russ · April 12, 2006 11:48AM

You don't see many of these around:

Russ, NCNE

coinbuf · April 12, 2006 11:51AM

Is this a first gen?

Chris

seanq · April 12, 2006 12:01PM

Somewhere around here I have an Accugrade photoslab, also with the Greenwich address. Do those predate the one pictured above?

Sean Reynolds

BlindedByEgo · April 12, 2006 12:03PM

Is it good for the grade?

Russ · April 12, 2006 12:07PM

<< <i>Somewhere around here I have an Accugrade photoslab, also with the Greenwich address. Do those predate the one pictured above? >>

I'm not certain, but I believe the photoslabs do predate this one.

<< <i>Is it good for the grade? >>

Always tough to judge from an image, but it does look to be accurately graded.

Russ, NCNE

ccex · April 12, 2006 2:06PM

I've seen lots of slabs like the one posted above at the table of an Ohio dealer named Bruce / CCC. However, when I asked him, he did not have an earlier ACG photoslab in stock, but I actually own one.

When ACG started slabbing coins in 1984, they used their own grading standard with separate codes for strike, surface preservation, and prooflike appearance. The surface preservation grade was similar to the familiar 70-point Sheldon scale, but the grader took liberties, sometimes ammending his opinions with a disclaimer saying that the coin was a "commercial grade", as in in the case of my coin. The first dealer I showed this to (a friend) immediately said "cleaned XF". Accugrade said fully struck but dull or cleaned MS-63 commercial grade, or in shorthand A3-63c. I'd call it a cleaned AU-50, but the holder is kind of neat.

I don't know how far into the '80s they used this homemade grading sytem and photoslabs, but I do know that as recently as 2003 ACG tried to argue that their grading was their own standard which was different than those of all the other TPGs who reduced a coin's grade down to a single number on the 1 to 70 scale everyone else happened to use.

Edited to include new pictures of the same coin and slab.

NumisOxide · April 12, 2006 2:16PM

Neat slabs guys.

seanq · April 12, 2006 2:23PM

I have my photoslab in front of me, the holder itself is the same as the coin ccex posted, but it has a blue insert like the coin Russ posted, with a front and back photo on a black background.

I think someone attributed my holder from Conder101's work as an Accugrade-3, which I guess would make ccex's coin either a 1 or a 2.

Sean Reynolds

Barry · April 12, 2006 8:39PM

When ACG started slabbing coins in 1984, they used their own grading standard

Some things never change (in my opinion™)...

PerryHall · April 12, 2006 9:04PM

When ACG first started grading, did they do a fairly good job?

RYK · April 12, 2006 9:57PM

Below might be the only existing Dahlonega coin in an Accugrade holder. I saw it last weekend, and it was horribly overgraded.

tjkillian · April 12, 2006 9:57PM

<< <i>When ACG first started grading, did they do a fairly good job? >>

I had one of those early photograde ACG slab in which I had an 1861 eagle. ACG said it was MS-60 with clearly wear on it. I cracked it, submitted it to PCGS and they graded it properly, IMHO, as AU-53.

Tom

mrearlygold · April 12, 2006 10:36PM

These certainly fit in with the statement that grading is an "art" and not a science. Anyone ever see the PNG ( yes you read that right) "certs" from that era?

seanq · April 13, 2006 12:18AM

I found the pictures of my ACG Photoslab, it is shown with an old PCCI holder that interestingly used the exact same injection molded outer shell with different inserts. The frame itself is unbranded, the 'ACCUGRADE' name is molded into the insert.

Sean Reynolds

eyoung429 · April 13, 2006 12:54AM

Hey Sean, that cent has 4 clips.....or maybe it's the lighting but look in the obv pic at 10-11....wouldn't that be counted as well? just curious.

Conder101 · April 13, 2006 1:13AM

Russ's slab is an ACG 12 which was the first small sized slab produced at the Connecticut office. (At the time they also had branch offices in Des Moines IA and in California. They had two, possibly three locations in California, Long Beach and San Francisco plus one that didn't specify the city, but I don't know if they operated at the same time or if it was one office that moved twice.) It would have been slabbed between 1986 and either late 87 or early 1988.

SOME of the photoslabs predate the small sized ones. ACG revived the photoslab briefly in 1999 and 2000. See the pictures posted by RYK. That slab is an ACG 15 and is was the first of three photoslab varieties from 1999-2000. It is a very scarce slab. Unfortunately with a scarce coin as well.

I seriously doubt Bruce has many slabs like Russ's. I've been through his stock many times and he doesn't have thos early slabs. He does have some small ACG slabs but they are all more recent slabs.

ccex's slab is one that I have no record of. By the style of the holder it would have come between ACG 3 and ACG 4. The small labels match ACG 3 and the large back label is that used for ACG 4

ccex, if you could provide me with clear pictures of both sides I would appreciate it. Try not to crop the edges off the slabs please. If you can't, I can use the ones shown here but I would prefer uncropped ones. (I'd also be in the market for the slab as well.)

Seanq's photoslab is an ACG 5 from 1985-86. ACG licensed the shell usage to PCI and later to INS.

Yes mrearlygold I have seen the PNG certificates. They come in two varieties. This is the first from before 1984. Size is 8 1/2 X 14

Then in 1984 they switched to a smaller 8 1/2 X 5 1/2. I don't know when they discontinued them. Hey Julian do you know?

seanq · April 13, 2006 1:14AM

<< <i>Hey Sean, that cent has 4 clips.....or maybe it's the lighting but look in the obv pic at 10-11....wouldn't that be counted as well? just curious. >>

That's the Blakesley effect from the largest clip. Essentially the rim will often not fully form opposite a clip because of the lack of counterpressure during the upsetting process.

Sean Reynolds

majorbigtime · April 13, 2006 11:39AM

Accugrade is an oxymoron IMO

FatMan · April 13, 2006 11:47AM

Slab is interesting. Coin is boring.

mrearlygold · April 14, 2006 3:17AM

Yes mrearlygold I have seen the PNG certificates. They come in two varieties. This is the first from before 1984. Size is 8 1/2 X 14

Then in 1984 they switched to a smaller 8 1/2 X 5 1/2. I don't know when they discontinued them. Hey Julian do you know?

>>

Wow Conder101, I wondered if anyone remembered those. They were used to defraud a lot of people in Rare Coin Galleries of America scam.

Conder101 · April 14, 2006 2:52PM

By the way, if anyone has one of the first PNG certificates I'm in the market. All I have at the moment is a photocopy. (I have the second one.)

ccex · April 15, 2006 2:40PM

"ccex, if you could provide me with clear pictures of both sides I would appreciate it. Try not to crop the edges off the slabs please. If you can't, I can use the ones shown here but I would prefer uncropped ones. "

Larger, less cropped, 600 dpi scans of my strange ACG Photoslab are now included above.

Interesting old ACG slab.

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