Example of how a note graded and encapsulated U.S. note will look like in the new PCGS Banknote holder.

PCGS Banknote will begin accepting submissions of U.S. paper currency for grading and holdering.

PCGS Banknote, which will begin accepting submissions of U.S. paper money for authentication, grading and encapsulation starting Jan. 2, has released new details about the services it will offer.

Professional Coin Grading Service has provided PCGS Gold Shield brand grading of U.S. and world paper money at its international Asia and Europe offices for the past four years. It now will offer those services in the United States and overseas under the new name, PCGS Banknote, with what it says are technologically advanced note holders for greater security.

PCGS Banknote will be accepting submissions of all denominations and types of U.S. paper money from Colonial-era and Continental Currency to modern-era notes.

PCGS Banknote services include grading, re-grading, crossover, and re-holdering. Additional services will comprise first day of issue and first print designations and well as use of oversized holders.

Qualifying notes will be evaluated on a 70-point grading scale with 27 possible grade designations ranging from Good (G04) to MS70 PPQ (Premium Paper Quality).

“PCGS Banknote also will use ‘Details’ designations to accurately describe the condition of certain notes that exhibit damage or problems exceeding what is expected for any particular grade, such as heavy staining, significant trimming, or repairs,” explains Bruce Thornton, PCGS director of bank note grading.

“We are expanding our expert services to again assist collectors and dealers in the United States with paper money experts at our Southern California headquarters,” Thornton said. “All notes certified and holdered by the PCGS Banknote service have a lifetime guaranty of authenticity and grade.”

PCGS has been developing PCGS Banknote the past year since the licensing agreement for the PCGS Currency brand ended in January 2019 and was not renewed.

PCGS President Brett Charville said, “We’ve been preparing for this launch for the past year, assembling additional paper money experts and expanding our existing operations and technology so that banknote submitters can receive the consistent, high-level of service and the top expertise PCGS has offered since opening for business in 1986.”

Hobbyists who already hold a PCGS Collectors Club membership for coins will not have to purchase a second exclusively for paper money, Charville said.

Membership and benefits in the PCGS Collectors Club are now extended to bank notes and those who submit them. PCGS Collectors Club members will be able to submit coins and bank notes without purchasing an additional membership. Collectors Club vouchers will also be eligible for use on PCGS Banknote submissions.

PCGS Banknote customers will be able to use PCGS Cert Verification, Population Reports, message boards, and educational materials, and the PCGS Set Registry will be expanding to include PCGS Banknote sets.

PCGS’s parent company, Collectors Universe Inc., operated PCGS Currency from 2005 until 2009 when it sold the bank note grading division to another company and licensed the trademark and brand name for 10 years until January 2019.

Leading up to the launch, PCGS Banknote will provide details of the services offered at www.PCGS.com/banknote.

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