The American Numismatic Association Certification Service, better known as ANACS, is a
coin grading
Coin grading is the process of determining the grade or condition of a coin, one of the key factors in determining its collectible value. A coin's grade is generally determined by six criteria: strike, preservation, luster, color, attractiveness ...
company founded in 1972.
History
Originally founded in June 1972 as the
American Numismatic Association
The American Numismatic Association (ANA) is an organization founded in 1891 by George Francis Heath. Located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, it was formed to advance the knowledge of numismatics (the study of coins) along educational, historic ...
's authentication service, ANACS expanded into
third-party
Third party may refer to:
Business
* Third-party source, a supplier company not owned by the buyer or seller
* Third-party beneficiary, a person who could sue on a contract, despite not being an active party
* Third-party insurance, such as a veh ...
coin grading in March 1979. ANACS was founded in response to the rise in counterfeit and altered coins in the
numismatic marketplace. During the coin collecting boom of the 1960s, counterfeiters would alter common-date coins, and either add or remove a mintmark in order to sell the coins as their more-valuable counterparts. (For example, an 'S' mint mark would be added to a 1909 VDB
Lincoln cent
The Lincoln cent (sometimes called the Lincoln penny) is a one-cent coin that has been struck by the United States Mint every year since 1909. The obverse and reverse, obverse, or heads, side was designed by Victor David Brenner, as was the origi ...
in order to increase the coin's value by making collectors think it was a genuine 1909-S VDB cent).
ANA sold ANACS to the publisher of ''
Coin World
''Coin World'' is an American numismatic magazine, with weekly and monthly issues. It is among the world’s most popular non-academic publications for coin collectors and is covering the entire numismatic field, including coins, paper money, me ...
'' in 1989, and it has since been resold.
References
External links
Coin grading
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