This is a review of the grading standards of a new grading company, GEC, which has recently surfaced in eBay auctions.

The purpose of this review is to give the perspective of one man, myself, in the hopes of contributing to the knowledge, and therefore safety, of the eBay marketplace.

According to the GEC website's home page: "GEC Grading grades and authenticates US and some foreign coins according to their own standards."

Grading, as many say, is subjective and therefore nearly any grade can, theoretically, be applied to any coin.

For this reason the ANA (American Numismatic Association) instituted standards for coin both amatuer and professional coin grades to follow.

PCGS, NGC, and ANACS (along with PCI and ICG who are less known but fairly accurate) all follow the strict guidelines imposed by the ANA.

GEC, as stated on it's own website, does not follow ANA guidelines, instead opting for a unknown "subjective" standard which "should not be used to determine value of a coin." This is from the GEC website!

They go on to state "We do not subscribe to any form or standard in coin grading; our grades are designed by us and are not to be confused to mean the same as any other grading company." So basically the grade means nothing in legal terms.

If you look on eBay you will not find a single GEC graded numismatic silver dollar graded below MS67 on eBay after nearly 20 minutes searching so that should tell you something.

SGS, SEGS, CCGS, HCGS, ACG, INCG, NTC and NNC all are usually, in my opinion, "overgraded" by several points on the Sheldon scale (1-70 with 70 being absolutely perfect).

So exercise caution when buying coins from any grading company that is not using ANA guidelines.

PLEASE vote for this guide (the sellers of these overgraded coins always vote against these guides) so help get the word out by voting for this guide.

I do this as a service to the eBay community. I have no affiliation with any grading company though I myself submit my coins to ANA (the oldest in the US and the most VAM varities) and PCGS (the most marketable).

Good bidding on eBay. For a wide selection of investment grade numismatic coins see my eBay store.

Update (Nov. 2007) - NAC Grading: