How to Submit Coins to PCGS and NGC for Grading

To submit coins to PCGS or NGC, you need a membership with the grader (or an authorized dealer to submit for you), an online submission form that lists each coin, its service tier, and its declared value, and an insured, trackable shipment to the grader. When the coins come back, record each coin's new cert number, grade, and grading cost so your inventory and your cost basis are right.

The steps are the same for most dealers. The details that change, such as fees, service tiers, and turnaround times, are on each grader's website. Check them before every submission, because they change.

Who can submit coins to PCGS and NGC

Neither PCGS nor NGC takes coins from anyone who walks in with a box. You need one of these:

• A PCGS Collectors Club membership for PCGS, or an NGC Collectors Society membership for NGC. Each has paid levels, and the level affects which services you can use. Check the current membership levels on pcgs.com and ngccoin.com.
• Authorized dealer status. PCGS and NGC each run a program for dealers who submit often. It gives direct submission and other options.
• An authorized dealer who submits for you. Many smaller shops start this way. The dealer adds a fee, and your coins go in under their account.

Step 1: Choose the coins

Not every coin is worth grading. A coin is a good candidate when its value in a holder, at the grade you expect, is well above its raw value plus the full cost to grade it.

Work out the full cost per coin:

• The grading fee for the tier.
• Any handling or per-order fee.
• Shipping both ways and insurance, split across the coins in the order.

Leave out coins that are cleaned, damaged, or altered unless you want a details grade. PCGS and NGC both put problem coins in holders that name the problem instead of giving a numeric grade, and those coins sell at a discount.

Step 2: Pick the service tier

Each grader sells tiers by speed and by the highest value a coin in the tier may have. Common names include Economy, Regular or Standard, and Express, with faster and costlier options for high-value coins. The names, fees, and value limits change, so read the current fee schedule before you fill in the form.

Two rules hold across tiers:

• The declared value must fit the tier. A coin worth more than the tier's limit must go in a higher tier.
• Faster costs more. If you are not in a hurry, a slower tier keeps the cost per coin down.

Step 3: Set the declared value

The declared value is what you say each coin is worth in the grade you expect. It matters for two reasons:

1. It decides which tiers the coin can go in.
2. It sets how much the coin is covered for if it is lost or damaged.

Declare a fair value. Declaring low to fit a cheaper tier can leave a coin under-covered and, if the grader finds the value is too low, can move the coin to a higher tier at a higher fee.

Step 4: Fill in the submission form

Both graders take submissions through an online form. For each coin you enter:

• A line number. Keep the same order in the box.
• The coin's description: date, mint mark, denomination, and variety if you want it attributed.
• The declared value.
• For a coin already in a holder, its current cert number, and for a crossover, the minimum grade you will accept.

Print the form and keep a copy. Write down the grader's order or invoice number when you get it. It is the number you will use to follow the order.

Step 5: Pack and ship

• Put each raw coin in a soft flip that does not contain PVC, or as the grader's packing instructions say.
• Pack the coins in line order, so the grader can match them to the form.
• Do not clean coins before you send them. Cleaning lowers the grade or earns a details grade.
• Ship by an insured, trackable service that the grader accepts. Many dealers use USPS Registered Mail for high-value packages. Read the grader's current shipping instructions, which also say how to address the package.

Record the tracking number, the date sent, and what you paid for shipping and insurance.

Step 6: Track the submission

Once the package arrives, the grader posts the order status in your online account: received, being graded, graded, and shipped. Neither PCGS nor NGC offers a public API for order status, so most dealers check the account and keep their own record.

A useful tracking record for each submission has:

Field	Example
Your submission number	GS-0007
Grader and tier	PCGS, Regular
Grader's order number	5541207
Date sent and tracking number	Oct 6, 2026, Registered Mail
Coins, by line	1: 1893-S Morgan, raw, declared $4,000
Shipping and insurance	$62
Return tracking number	added when the coins ship back

Mark the coins as "at grading" in your inventory so nobody tries to sell a coin that is in a box at the grader.

Step 7: Record the return

When the order comes back, each coin gets:

• A new cert number.
• A grade on the 1–70 Sheldon scale, such as MS64 for a mint state coin or VF20 for a circulated one, with any designation, such as PL or DMPL for prooflike Morgans, or a details grade for a problem coin.
• The grading fee charged for that line.

Update each coin in your inventory, then add the grading cost to the coin's cost:

• The coin's own grading fee.
• Its share of shipping both ways and insurance. Split those evenly across the coins that came back.

For example, an order of four coins with $45 grading fees and $62 of shipping and insurance adds $45 + $15.50 = $60.50 to each coin's cost. If you leave this out, the profit on each graded coin looks $60.50 better than it is.

Most graders let you download or print the order's results. A sheet with line numbers, cert numbers, grades, and fees saves typing when the order is large.

Crossovers, regrades, and CAC

• Crossover. You send a coin in one grader's holder to the other grader with a minimum grade. If the coin reaches it, it comes back in the new holder with a new cert number. If not, it comes back in its old holder.
• Regrade. You send a coin back to the same grader to be graded again. It may come back higher, lower, or the same.
• CAC. CAC reviews coins already graded by PCGS and NGC and puts a sticker on coins it finds solid for their grade. The cert number and grade on the holder do not change. CAC also runs its own grading service, CACG.

For all three, record the cert you sent and the cert you got back, so your inventory keeps the coin's history.

Common mistakes

• Not keeping line order. Coins that do not match the form slow the order down.
• Declaring too low. It can leave the coin under-covered and can move it to a higher tier.
• Selling a coin that is at the grader. Mark coins at grading so they come off your sale lists.
• Forgetting the return tracking number. You need it if the return package goes missing.
• Leaving grading costs out of cost. Your profit on graded coins will be overstated.

How CoinManagerPro tracks grading submissions

CoinManagerPro keeps each submission to PCGS, NGC, or CAC as one record. You pick the coins from your inventory, and each gets a line number and a declared value. A coin that is sold or already on another open submission cannot be added. When you mark the submission sent with its tracking number and shipping costs, the coins show as at grading.

When the coins come back, import the grader's results sheet as CSV or Excel. CoinManagerPro matches rows by line number, then by the cert you sent, and gives each coin its new cert, grade, and fee. The fee and an even share of shipping and insurance go into the coin's cost. Rows it cannot match wait for you to match by hand. See grading submissions and the grading help page. New certs can be checked with cert lookup.