Holders, labels and what the small print on them means

A grading holder carries a lot more text than a number. Some of it is a judgement about the coin, some of it is a record of when it was submitted, and some of it is essentially a collecting preference. They are priced differently, so it is worth being able to tell them apart.

The grade and everything around it

The number is the grade, on a scale running from one to seventy. The prefix tells you how the coin was made: PF for a proof strike, MS for mint state, meaning a business or bullion strike that has never circulated. AU, XF and below describe increasing degrees of wear.

The label will also carry the issuing country, the date, the denomination, the design or series name and, where relevant, the mint. On a branch mint sovereign the mint is stated explicitly, which saves squinting at the ground line.

Ultra Cameo and Deep Cameo

These describe the contrast between a frosted raised design and a mirrored flat field. NGC uses Ultra Cameo, PCGS uses Deep Cameo, and they mean the same thing. There is an intermediate designation, Cameo, for a weaker but still present contrast.

On a well made modern proof the strong contrast is close to standard, because the dies are prepared to a consistent specification and retired before the frosting degrades. This is why PF70 Ultra Cameo appears on so many recent Royal Mint issues. On nineteenth century proofs, where die preparation and die life varied considerably, the designation is far more meaningful and far less common.

First Release and Early Release

These indicate that the coin was submitted to the grading service within a defined window after the issue date, typically thirty days. NGC uses First Release, PCGS uses First Strike, and there are related variants.

They say nothing about the coin. A First Release coin was not struck first, was not made better, and was not selected. It arrived at the grading service early. Opinion among collectors is genuinely divided on whether the designation should carry a premium at all, and it is one of the few label features where the market is not settled.

Signed and special labels

Some holders carry a signature, usually of a coin's designer or a figure connected to the issue, or a special edition label design tied to an anniversary or series.

• A signature is a collecting preference. It appeals strongly to some buyers and not at all to others.
• It is not a grading judgement and has no bearing on the condition of the coin.
• It narrows rather than widens the pool of interested buyers, which cuts both ways on resale.
• The signature is on the label, not the coin, so it is lost entirely if the coin is ever regraded.

What none of it changes

The coin inside the holder is the same coin regardless of what is printed around it. What the label changes is how easily and to whom that coin sells, which is worth understanding before paying a premium for a designation.

Every graded coin we list shows its certification number. Entering it on the NGC or PCGS verification page will return the same coin, the same grade and the same label text. We would rather you checked.