CAC Coins Bring Premiums in April 2018 Auctions

Certified Acceptance Corporation, or “CAC,” has been active for more than a decade, labeling top-quality coins in certified slabs from Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) and Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) with bean-shaped stickers. Green CAC stickers indicate a coin that represents the best of the awarded grade while gold stickers suggest a coin that should grade at least one point higher if resubmitted to PCGS or NGC.

Unsurprisingly, CAC coins generally trade for substantial premiums over the typical prices for coins of similar grade level. In April 2018 many major transactions involved CAC coins that sold for significant premiums, and below we’ve included a look at 10 of these coins and what they have traded for.

#1 – A CAC-approved 1902 MS67 Barber quarter took $18,562.62 on April 8 in a GreatCollections sale. This is some $10,000 more than what the non-CAC Gene Gardner specimen of the 1902 Barber quarter took a couple years ago, when it sold for $7,637.50.

#2 – A CAC 1912 $20 Saint-Gaudens graded MS65 went for $39,150 when it was sold by GreatCollections on April 8. This is much more than two other non-CAC specimens brought, including an example that was sold by Heritage Auctions on April 24 for $18,000 and another MS65 piece that closed at $21,150 in January 2017.

#3 – Heritage Auctions sold a CAC-approved MS65 1837 No Stars, Small Date Liberty Seated half dime for $3,000 at the Central States Convention on April 25. That sum is much higher than the $1,800 that a similarly graded, non-CAC specimen took in January 2018 during another Heritage event.

#4 – A CAC-approved MS66 1854 Liberty Seated half dollar realized $31,200 at the Heritage Central States auction in April, besting the $13,512.50 that a non-CAC specimen took in August 2016.

#5 – A CAC-labeled MS63 1901 Morgan silver dollar went for a whopping $16,800 on April 26 at the Heritage Central States auction. When a non-CAC MS63 1901 Morgan dollar was sold by GreatCollections in March 2018, that coin realized only $12,947.25

#6 – In an interesting scenario, two MS67 1924 Peace dollars were sold within seconds of each other by Heritage in April; the CAC-approved specimen went for $9,600. The non-CAC coin? Just $6,900!

#7 – A CAC-approved MS65 1915 Saint-Gaudens $20 sold for $33,600 when Heritage offered it in April. Yet, a similar specimen without a CAC sticker went for only $12,600. In fact, several other recent Heritage transactions of this same issue in MS65 without CAC stickers all occurred within the range of $14,100 to $17,625.

#8 – An MS63 1854 Liberty Seated silver dollar “beaned” by CAC sold for $21,600 when it crossed the block at the Central States Heritage sale. Yet, at another Heritage event in January 2017, a similar coin sans CAC sticker hammered at just $14,687.50.

#9 – A CAC-stickered MS67 1936-D Washington quarter sold for $3,326.62 in an April 29 GreatCollections sale. Yet, just a couple months earlier in February at the Long Beach show, Heritage sold a non-CAC MS67 1936-D Washington quarter that realized only $2,600.

#10 – An MS67 1959-D Washington quarter with CAC sticker sold for $1,800 when it was sold by GreatCollections on April 29. Yet, a non-CAC MS67 Washington quarter managed less than half that, or $881.25, when it was sold by Heritage in August 2016.