At CAC, we take great pride in the services we have available for our members. As many of you know, we have offered the Stickering service since 2007 and just began offering Grading services in 2023. While these services are slightly different in terms of the output (pictures below), they are designed to provide you, the collector, the same thing – the ultimate confidence and highest level of assurance in the quality of your graded coin.
Stickering #
Stickering reviews coins graded by NGC and PCGS. If the coin meets our accurate standards, the coin receives a green sticker signifying that the coin is solid for the grade, or in rare cases, a gold sticker which signifies the coin exceeds the grade by at least one numeric point. The market has spoken, and CAC stickered coins consistently sell for more than non-stickered coins at public auction and amongst dealers.
You can learn more about our Stickering service here.
Grading #
Grading, on the other hand, is a more holistic set of services where we review coins in all forms for grading and authentication. Whether your coin is in a flip, other third-party grading service holder, or in US Mint Packaging, CAC Grading encapsulates coins based on the same well known. As with our Stickering service, the result is a coin that you can have complete confidence in.
However, sending your coin to Grading rather than Stickering has a number of benefits:
- Lower price – CAC’s pricing for Grading services are lower than for Stickering services. What’s more? If you have an uncertified coin, submitting for Stickering also requires that you send your coin to another grading service first which adds further cost.
- Saves Time – As noted above, if you have an uncertified coin to submit, not only do you have to pay two fees (one for grading by another service and another for Stickering), but you are also waiting for both services to be completed.
- Additional services – If you submit your coin for Grading with CAC, you will also be provided with coin images. At the very least, any coin submitted will receive an image of the obverse and reverse of the coin in the holder. Coins valued over $500 also receive high resolution images of the obverse and reverse of the coin as a part of our Image Secure offering.
To learn more about our Grading services, including the types of submissions available, here.
All this said, whether you choose Stickering or Grading, you will receive the same unparalleled level of service we have offered since we first opened in 2007.
If both services are similar, why can Grading Club members only submit for Grading? #
Unfortunately, the CAC Stickering office is running at full capacity and unable to accept new members. We pride ourselves on quick turnaround times and friendly customer service, and we would not be able to do that if we added more members. The CAC Grading office in Virginia Beach, however, has a much larger staff and facility and can accommodate new members without sacrificing our accurate grading standards or turnaround times.
Grading Club members who want to obtain the same level of assurance provided by the CAC sticker can utilize the Crossover service from our Grading office; this is the more cost-effective way of receiving the CAC stamp of approval on a PCGS or NGC coin. It will be returned, if it meets our standard, in a CACG holder with our green emblem visible. And just like if submitted for Stickering, it will be returned as it was submitted if it doesn’t meet our standard.
The crossover service type is on our Grading Submission forms and allows you to cross over a coin in a PCGS or NGC holder, with or without a CAC sticker, into a CACG holder. CACG holders cannot be stickered as the built-in “green bean” emblem negates the need for a sticker.
Here are a few other benefits of utilizing our Grading services rather than Stickering (these are also in the Grading section above, but they bear repeating).
- Lower price – CAC’s pricing for Grading services are lower than for Stickering services. What’s more? If you have an uncertified coin, submitting for Stickering also requires that you send your coin to another grading service first which adds further cost.
- Saves Time – As noted above, if you have an uncertified coin to submit, not only do you have to pay two fees (one for grading by another service and another for Stickering), but you are also waiting for both services to be completed.
- Additional services – If you submit your coin for Grading with CAC, you will also be provided with coin images. At the very least, any coin submitted will receive an image of the obverse and reverse of the coin in the holder. Coins valued over $500 also receive high resolution images of the obverse and reverse of the coin as a part of our Image Secure offering.
Please contact our Customer Care team at help@cacgrading.com or 757-800-1750 if you have additional questions.