I think you are right on with that research. I thank you for doing it. I see lots of people on Ebay saying numbers about the coins not knowing the real numbers. Not that I know the numbers but with the sound research you have done I would say that its closer to being correct and some facts behind it.

Thanks for taking the time to share this information with the collectors here. I welcome you and I hope you can drop by with more research in the future

Best

jacob

Thanks for the welcome and kind words Jacob. I will continue to monitor the internet and find support for my argument.

I did send an email off to PCGS asking why these cert # lookups don’t indicate the coins certified as WTC recovery. It seems to me that if they (PCGS) took the trouble (and money) to slab these coins as WTC Ground Zero recovery, they have an obligation to “the market they helped to create” to provide all the information they can. I’m going to prod them with some emails and see what happens!

Ross

OK, here is the text of the email I sent off to PSGS:

“Please consider reading this note as it is a genuine appeal from a concerned and supportive PCGS product collector.

I recently purchased a PCGS slabbed WTC Ground Zero recovery coin (1/10 oz platinum St. of Liberty) in the secondary market. I tried looking up the cert# on your website and found the coin properly described in all particulars except without reference to being a WTC recovery coin. I already sent you an email about this particular coin, but having discovered the issue and after doing further research, I believe it deserves a broader discussion.

WTC coins sell at a premium above their normal type/grade prices. This is primarily as a result of the faith your customer base has in your integrity, having identified and slabbed these as genuine “witness relic” coins. Like shipwreck coins or similar antique items, much of the value is based on provenance. Whatever qualms you might have had originally regarding the decision to identify and slab these coins, having done so logically obligates you to support that decision with adequate tools for your customer base to easily identify and ascertain all the information necessary to properly value these coins and identify them as genuine. This is your business model for everything else you “slab”.

On your website one can look up certifications by number. After some time expended, what I found was the following.

1/10 oz platinum $10
Cert # range: 71444323 to 71444525
All Coins dated 2001
1 coin MS67, 10 coins MS68, 192 coins MS69
Total 203 coins
Presumably all slabbed as WTC Ground Zero Recovery
None designated as such

1/4 oz platinum $25:
Cert # range: 71444526 to 71444619
All coins dated 2001
All coins MS69
Total: 94 coins
Presumably all slabbed as WTC Ground Zero Recovery
None designated as such

You in effect “created the market” for these coins by certifying the chain of custody (and got paid a fee for your services). It therefore seems reasonable that you should also provide complete and accurate information to your customer/collector constituency with all of the definitive facts relating to them you can provide, as you do already with the regular coins you grade and certify as genuine. Specifically properly identifying notations on all WTC cert verifications along with detailed WTC population reports would both assist and protect the marketplace from unscrupulous individuals who exploit the lack of information available with hyped claims of rarity or counterfeit product.

Please consider the value in addressing this for your customers.”

Just a follow up… I got a preliminary response to my original question about my coin put to PCGS. Here it is:

“Thank you for contacting PCGS customer service.

The WTC coins will be recognized in our database if they contain a blue insert label. This particular coin was graded by our bulk department under a special label. It is still recognized as WTC Recovery coin, but will not appear in the database as a WTC coin.

Please let me know if I can further assist you.”

I responded by resending the text above with my research results and other points.

Sooo… what the hell is a “blue insert” label vs. a “special label”? They all look the same to me! Let’s see if I get a better response!

Okay. Another Follow up. I got a better response from PCGS this time:

“The data base does support the recognition of this product…. Only by the special label and if graded WTC recovery on the standard blue insert.”

What this means is that unless the coin indicates “WTC RECOVERY” on the label, it will not be supported by the database.

I will forward your concerns to management for review.”

I hope that isn’t just boilerplate customer service! My reply was as follows:

“From the photo I sent originally you can see that the coin in question is labeled as a WTC Recovery coin. If what you are saying is true, probably all the entries in your database from Cert # 71444323 to 71444619 (and possibly some others) which appear to have been a bulk submission of WTC recovery coins need to be updated to reflect this. I will await further comment from PCGS and very much appreciate the forwarding of my concerns to management.”

Let’s see if this goes any further.