Superior Coin Grading

With an unparalleled commitment to integrity, a proven multi-step process and the hobby's strongest guarantee, NGC is the world's largest and most trusted third-party coin grading service.

The Grading Process

NGC receives millions of coins each year from collectors and dealers who trust the consistency of NGC grading, the security of the NGC holder and the strength of the NGC Guarantee. Our process involves several steps, including receiving, grading, encapsulation and shipping.

Receiving

When a submission is received, it is opened by trained NGC staff under security cameras and immediately checked against the submission paperwork. The submission is then entered into NGC's proprietary tracking system with a unique submission number.

What's in a Number? Find Out with the NGC Grading Scale

NGC uses the internationally accepted Sheldon grading scale of 1 to 70, which was first used in the United States in the late 1940s. This scale was adopted by NGC when it began operations in 1987 and is considered to be the industry standard. Follow the link below for NGC's grading standards for each numeric grade as well as major strike types and designations.

See How You're Protected by the NGC Guarantee

Collectors have greater confidence in NGC-certified coins because the coins are backed by the NGC Guarantee, the strongest in the industry. The NGC Guarantee provides one of several remedies in the rare event that an NGC-certified coin is determined to be not genuine or overgraded.

Learn More About Our Service Offerings, from Ancients to NGCX

NGC has a wider range of numismatic expertise and innovative offerings than any other third-party coin grading service. In addition to authentication and grading, we offer many specialty services, including conservation, ancient coin grading, shipwreck certification, authentic hand-signed labels, special releases designations, NGCX (our revolutionary 10-point grading scale) and much more.

Join and Submit!

Who you trust with your collection is an important decision. NGC has proven expertise, longevity and strict procedures to ensure accuracy, consistency and impartiality. Become an NGC member today to get your coins graded and protected.