PCGS was established in 1986 by a small group of the nation’s leading rare coin experts. The intention of PCGS would be to create a climate in which consumers could participate in the coin market with greater confidence. As PCGS came up with a standard in grading coins and they would keep a record of coins graded.

PCGS pioneered the sonically-sealed, high security capsule as a method of reinforcing its Guarantee of Grade & Authenticity of each PCGS coin.

In addition, the unique certification number permanently sealed inside each coin capsule may be utilized by the coin’s owner as a reliable means of identification of the coin against PCGS database.

Once the grading process is complete, the coin (with a certification tag indicating its individual identification number, denomination and grade), is sonically sealed inside a tamper-evident coin capsule. A unique certification number is then assigned from the PCGS computer inventory system. This important process enables PCGS to methodically track all coins graded by PCGS.

With this in mind we now know that PCGS as the ability to give us the Population numbers and grades of all coins found at the World Trade Center vault and they will have computer file on the coins. So now it should not be to long before we have this information.

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PCGS price guide on these coins are not in existence at this time, a PCGS price guide would first be made after PCGS release population numbers on these coins something that has not happen as of this writing. We do hope that an official PCGS price guide is in the works.

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The coins that were recovered out of the COMEX vaults in the sub-basement of World Trade Center were certified by PCGS and a chain of custody was followed from the time the coins left the vaults at World Trade Center until they arrived at PCGS for authentication. PCGS has never publicly released or have any population reports generated for these historical coins and it is our understanding that they have absolutely no interest in ever doing so anytime in the near future. Collectors are left to wonder, why would a reputable coin grading service such as PCGS take all of the extra measures to ensure that the coins never leave the sight of security officials so that they could properly authenticate the coins if they never had any intentions of keeping accurate records of how many coins were actually recovered?

We believe that PCGS, the number one coin grading service, owes it to the American Numismatist as well as the victims of September 11, 2001 the courtesy of a population report so that we can at least have some kind of reference as to what the prices for some of these historical pieces should be according to their rarity. These coins are so unique and mean so much to so many collectors worldwide that not only is it time for some kind of accountability, it is time to properly give these coins the respectful place and recognition that they deserve and have now earned in numismatic history. These PCGS certified coins will forever serve as reminders of the events of September 11, 2001 so that we may never forget our Brothers and Sisters that were lost on that fateful day.

Whether collectors refer to them as “Historic Coins” or “Blood Coins” it is now of no consequence as they have now earned their rightful place in world history. The coins are what they are, important pieces of world history no matter who profited from their sale or whether or not PCGS thought it were right! It is true that quite a few dealers and or collectors made or are making money through the sale of these coins but how else can they be passed down from generation to generation? As gifts? Come on people, let’s be real.

If an individual collector and PCGS authorized dealer Mitchell Spivac known as www.wondercoin.com on eBay can account for 100 New York State Quarters that raised over $40,000 dollars for the Uniformed Firefighters Association (UFA) Widows’ and Children’s Fund. How come PCGS and or the “Originators” of these the World trade Center Recovered coins cannot account for every coin certified given the fact that an official statement given by PCGS on November 14, 2002 says;

“This was one of the toughest and touchiest decisions we ever made. In the months following Sept 11, we were approached on numerous occasions to do coin-related projects. We rejected all the projects except one PCGS project from one source. After considerable thought, we decided to do the one PCGS project because we knew the people handling the deal very well, they assured us that everything would be handled in the best possible way, and they assured us a hefty donation would be made to the victims. It is our understanding that there are 4 direct retailers of these coins, that the two largest have committed to donating between 6% and 12% of the gross sales price to the fireman/victims funds, and that the largest retailer has raised close to $400,000 for the funds. It was certainly not our intention to participate in anything that is disrespectful to our country or the victims of our National tragedy. I hope this is explains what we did and why we did it. Like I said, it was a touchy decision.”

If more than $400,000 thousand dollars for the Fireman’s/Victims September 11 fund was raised through the sale of these coins? Why not keep records of how many coins were actually certified? If for nothing else, they should do it out of respect for the victims of September 11, 2001.

The collector base for these historical pieces has grown considerably since their early release back in 2001-2002 and we further believe that it leaves the individual collector of this hobby at a great disadvantage not knowing the true population of each individual coin. We sure hope that PCGS wakes up soon and releases accurate population numbers for each WTC coin authenticated. We believe that it is the right thing to do considering that their reputation and integrity is currently on the line. Why hide the population numbers for the World Trade Center Recovered coins? It is also our opinion that PCGS should be honored that they were given the chance to be the only authorized grading service to authenticate and sonically seal these historic coins no matter what anyone else thinks.   

With that in mind the population numbers that are found on this website are to the best of our research. If anyone visiting this website has any pertinent information on the subject, please let us know so that we can update our information.

The total population number we do know comes from the

Ground Zero Sets that are numbered series

The different Sets are put together like this. 

With this information we know that at least 13,206 coins in the number series from Ground Zero was recovered. If I am missing any number series please let me know. I do not have any information on the 1 of 1100 series yet but it will come and I will update.

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• 11 September 2001, one of the worst days in American history next to the attack of Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941.

• 11 September 2001, the New York State Quarter 9-11 Firefighters coins are made with the special flag inserts. The New York State Quarter 9-11 Firefighters coin project was started at the PCGS Collectors Universe Forum by PCGS authorized dealer Mitchell Spivac and members of the Collectors Universe Forum forum. 100 numbered coins were finally completed with the help of PCGS. The US Flag insert used with the coin was designed by Senior Vice President of PCGS Miles Standish. 100% of the proceeds are donated to the Uniformed Firefighters Association (UFA) Widows and Children’s Fund. The auction of the 100 coins (numbered 1 thought 100) raised well over $42,000 thousand dollars. 9-11 quarter full story

• 1 November 2001 the workers at Ground Zero in New York reach the Iron Mountain Vault.

• 1 November – 1 December 2001 Coins are sent to Collectors Universe for certification. Collectors Universe does not grade coins so the coins are only certified and sonically sealed as “Gem Uncirculated” The initial sale of these coins is advertised by only a few authorized dealers which state that a portion of the proceeds from the sale of these coins would be donated to the relief fund set up for the victims of September 11, 2001.

• 1 December 2001, PCGS gets into the picture and starts grading coins from ground zero. The coins being holdered by PCGS receive the respective grade and then are sonically sealed with a bar coded certification number. On some of the coins, the bar code is hidden behind the PCGS hologram.

• January 2002-June 2002, PCGS continues grading the different coin recovered as ordered by the “Originators” Coins encapsulated were gold, platinum, silver, copper etc. etc. Some coins were paired up in special sets with limited edition markings such as the 1 of 1000, 1 of 1140 etc. etc. Coins from approximately 10 different countries were recovered and authenticated, some with very low populations as stated on the certified holder.

• January 2001- 2004, collectors start to include World Trade Center Recovered coin into their registry sets although they are not recognized as WTC pieces when the certification number is looked up in the PCGS data base.

• January 2002 – Present, the controversy surrounding the WTC recovered coins has the numismatic community split up. Some collectors love the coins and consider them invaluable pieces of “American history” while others hate them with a passion and refer to them as “death coins”.  In the meantime, the WTC coins continue to increase in value as other similar non WTC PCGS certified coins of the same year trade for considerable less.

One last we would like to mention is that these coins are not for everyone! We respect everyone else’s opinions, point of views and we hope that you do the same for everyone else too? If you are of the opinion that these coins should not be sold for a profit because of where they came from, that is your opinion and we respect it. However, to us, they are priceless and we will proudly display them for all to see no matter who buys or sells them.

“We Will Never Forget”

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Post by ManxMan 

PCGS Answer: On the WTC Coins. November 14, 2002

This was one of the toughest and touchiest decisions we ever made.
In the months following Sept 11, we were approached on numerous occasions to do coin-related projects. We rejected all the projects except one PCGS project from one source. After considerable thought, we decided to do the one PCGS project because we knew the people handling the deal very well, they assured us that everything would be handled in the best possible way, and they assured us a hefty donation would be made to the victims. It is our understanding that there are 4 direct retailers of these coins, that the two largest have committed to donating between 6% and 12% of the gross sales price to the fireman/victims funds, and that the largest retailer has raised close to $400,000 for the funds. It was certainly not our intention to participate in anything that is disrespectful to our country or the victims of our National tragedy. I hope this is explains what we did and why we did it. Like I said, it was a touchy decision.

No related posts.