2)Coin Graders - ICG (coin authentication by the worlds most knowledgeable collector in the space, MinerJones), NGC , PCGS & ?? (ANACS no longer, good riddance anyhow) but how about legit graders in Europe and Asia (it’s increasingly difficult to ship these items overseas, so this is becoming all the more important). Also, pricing lists as well as what coins/bars they will slab, which have been rejected, which require a whale to do business (yes that’s been a big part of this all) etc. ( I can help with this all a little more).
5) Coin Mints - who will work with us, costs, etc.
I can add some info for these two topics.
5) Coin Mints.
For the first run of BYOB coins, we used NWTM (NorthWest Territorial Mint). They have since gone out of business. I know many early coins were minted there such as Lealana and Cryptolators
After that we started using Osborne mint and the results turned out well.
I have also heard of some other makers using Regency Mint for their products
2) Grading Services.
ANACS - Does not grade cryptos, but when they did they only offered the standard size slab. (They did offer a larger slab, but these were specifically for the 5oz "America The Beautiful" silver Quarter coins)
NGC - Not sure. I have not used them personally.
ICG - Offers 1 size slab, standard sizing for most coins. Pretty sure their maximum size for a coin to be slabbed is 43mm x 4mm
PCGS - They will grade most of our items now. There are a few things that they will not grade such as Casascius Bowl coins and Finite By Design bars.
Here is what I had posted on a thread I made about this:
PCGS YES
-1Hodlclub bars (1oz ingot, 5oz ingot, Moonphases bars)
-Alpencoin bars
-Caribbean Treasures copper bars
-Casascius bars
-Kialara (both large and small form factors)
-Microsoul bars
PCGS NO
-1Hodlclub F*ck Fiat 1/2oz silver/gilt coins
-Casascius Bitcoin Bowl coins
-Finite By Design bars (BTC, ETH, DASH)
-SqurrielBits 60mm (most of them as there are only 3x with no profanity)Currently here are the PGCS fees:
$40 Regular service. Has been taking about 6 months currently
$70 Express service. Has been taking about 1.5-2 months currently
$150 WalkThrough service. Usually takes about 1 bussiness week.
There are other tiers of service, but I have not used them
Banknotes/Polymerbits,etc have a separate grading form and fees.
The average to grade a note even with a lower tier level is about $40-$50, but does not take as long as the coin/bar grading. I have had good experience where most are returned within a 2-3 month period without any expedited service fee.
Looking at the fee chart, we may need to move to the "Rarities" tier pretty soon
Hope this helps you make an informed decision on what items to grade.
PCGS charges a $10 handling fee and then a return shipping fee based on the amount of items and their value. Can range from $23 to $100 or more.
Also, there would be a shipping to PCGS fee from the person who submits them, unless dropped off at a coin show where PCGS has a table/booth
And they do not allow walk in service at their facility out in California
**They will not grade any coins/bars with profanity on them, so hence why the 1Hodlclub "Fuck Fiat" coin and most of the Squirrelbits coins will not be graded by them**
**There are only a few 60mm Squirrelbit coins with no profanity. One has been sent in recently and we will know soon if they can grade the**
**And... we need to get one of the Dogecoin bars by BTS sent in to complete the bar list. Don't think I am missing any makers/bars. **