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In 2007, John Albanese partnered with twenty-two leading members of the numismatic community to create the Certified Acceptance Corporation. CAC accepted coins grading by other companies and certified top quality examples with a green or gold sticker. These stickers have become universally recognized as the highest standard attainable for certified coins.
Fifteen years later, John Albanese assembled over 150 leading members of the numismatic community with a purpose to reclaim accuracy and consistency in grading. After all, why merely sticker a previously certified coin when the same stringent standards can be applied within the context of a grading service? Thus, CAC Grading was born!
Boasting a team of world-class graders including Ron Drzewucki and John Butler, among others, CAC is committed to applying an unparalleled level of expertise to every submitted coin. Moreover, Albanese presides over the finalization process of every coin himself to ensure accuracy and consistency throughout the entire grading process.
We strive to provide the best service possible. The turnaround times listed above are estimates but are not guaranteed. Certain submissions will, by their nature, take longer to complete. These turnaround estimates do not apply to our Stickering service.
Our world-class team of graders authenticates coins submitted to CAC and assigns them a grade based on their lasting condition. CAC utilizes the Sheldon Scale, a numerical scale from 1-70. If you wish to submit your coins for authentication, grading, and encapsulation, this service is for you.
A damaged CAC holder can always be reholdered for a nominal fee. For good measure, one of our graders will verify the coin to ensure it is genuine before it is returned to you.
If you believe we have mis-graded a coin, it may be resubmitted, still in its CAC holder, for a second review.
This service is reserved for coin(s) that are currently encapsulated by Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) or Numismatic Guarantee Corporation (NGC). Our grading team will review the coin, and if our grade meets or exceeds your minimum grade, we will “cross” it into a CAC holder. Entering a minimum grade—which can be higher, lower or the same as the current grade—allows you to ensure we don’t remove the coin from its current holder unless it meets your minimum acceptable grade.
This process is essentially the same as a regular crossover except that the coin(s) submitted have already met CAC approval and bear a CAC sticker. All coins stickered during the "Legacy" period from November 2007 to June 5, 2023, will earn a "Legacy" designation whether or not they earn a "plus" when graded (CAC does not acknowledge the "plus" grade when stickering coins). Gold-stickered coins will also be eligible for "Legacy" designations with no ceiling on the grade.
MS64 and MS64+ coins bearing a green sticker are guaranteed to cross at MS64. MS64 and MS64+ coins with a gold sticker are guaranteed to cross at a minimum of 65. If you have a CAC stickered coin and want to know if it is eligible for a "Legacy" designation, please visit our coin lookup page and enter the certification number on the holder.
CAC attributes varieties recognized by the Red Book at no added cost. For other varieties attributed on the holder (FS Number, VAM, Overton, Cohen, etc.), there is an additional fee. However, if the submitter correctly identifies the variety on the submission form, the additional fee is discounted by 50%. We respect our submitters’ knowledge and want to reward you/them appropriately. We also intend for our variety attribution program to be consistent and directed with the collector in mind. For a list of the varieties that we currently accept, click here.
The Mint does a good job of minimizing mistakes in producing coinage. However, a small percentage of defective coins find their way into circulation despite being unfit for commercial use. For years, collectors have been interested in these “error” coins. CAC Grading offers a specialized Mint Error service to certify these coins for an add-on fee of $15 per coin. A mint-made error can come in many forms such as clipped planchets, off-center strikes, brockages, die caps, and many more. Because of the daunting list, we do not have a reference for customers to see what we encapsulate. Feel free to contact us with any questions regarding our Mint Error program!
Image Secure features high-resolution photos of the coins we encapsulate. We believe this service protects the coin's security while providing a lasting digital image that can be accessed by the submitting member and the public. Submissions to our Standard tier and higher (up through Ultra Rarity) will receive Image Secure photos as part of the service. Economy tier submissions and submissions on the Modern tiers do not include Image Secure photos, but the submitter may add this service to their submission for an additional fee.
We offer the First Delivery designation for specific Modern coins that are received by us or a depository that has been approved by us within 30 days of the first shipment of a new coin issue. The CAC label will have a description of the coin that includes the words "First Delivery". For more information on this and our other Modern designations, click here.
