1922 Peace Silver Dollar NCI Photo Slab Lustrous Choice BU From Old Collection

1922 Peace Dollar – Housed in a 1980s Vintage Numismatic Certification Institute

Lustrous Choice BU Example in a vintage green and black NCI Photo Slab Certificate # **EEE-8246-140**, graded on September 26, 1988 and Registered to The Bearer.

As was custom during this era, split grading was done, one grade for the obverse and another for the reverse and in the case of this coin the grade was one notch shy of the Gem BU level.

It is not hard to authenticate this as being the same coin by looking at the toning marks. Starting with the neck of Ms Liberty, almost in the middle is a small toning spot visible on the image and located exactly where the image shows on the coin. In between the L and I of LIBERTY is a toning spot that is on the image and in the exact same location and shape and size on the coin. Another giveaway is the toning pattern on the obverse of the coin itself. While the color doesnt shine through on the old black and white images, the pattern of the toning does match and can be seen on the coin  The reverse shows  simialr toning patterns on the lettering on the rim United States of America and E Pluribus Unum – the patterns of the toning on the image matches the coin exactly. There are other matching diagnostics but those two are the biggest giveaways. Like a finger print or a snow flake, the patterns of toning or contact marks or other imperfections on any coin will always be unique. 

This era, within the first two years of the birth of PCGS and just a little over a year after NGC was launched saw dozens of pop up grading services spring up and photo certs were still quite popular. ANACS had been using Photo Slabs from as far back as 1972 and they used them right up until 1986 when the inception of encapsulated plastic slabs were born

Lustrous coin, accurately and conservatively graded in my opinion and an artificat of whose collectibility lies as much in the photo slab as it does the coin

This coin comes from an old collection that was acquired at a recent auction. Lots of fresh material that has been off the market for decades will be slowly trickling in

NCI – Numismatci Certification Institute – I originaly thought Heritage Auctions acquired NCI as NCI address is the same as the present day Heritage Auctions. The actual story is below:

 The NCI and Heritage Connection

• The Founders: NCI was founded in Dallas, Texas in 1984 by Jim Halperin, the co-founder and co-chairman of Heritage Auctions (then known as Heritage Capital Corp./Heritage Rare Coin Galleries).
• The Corporate Structure: NCI operated as an affiliate or subsidiary under the Heritage umbrella rather than an independent company that was bought out. It even operated out of the exact same building as Heritage in Dallas.
• The Pioneer Status: NCI was the first major privately owned collectibles grading service, preceding modern third-party graders like PCGS and NGC. It initially issued paper photo-certificates before transitioning to clear plastic “slabs” in the mid-to-late 1980s.