NGC PHOTO PROOFS

One of the aspects of numismatics that I find particularly enjoyable is reading vintage books and periodicals and, through the information contained in them, trying to formulate an understanding of the hobby's landscape at different points in time. This research does not always yield major breakthroughs in the way I look at the hobby, but from time to time I learn about something that still impacts the hobby that I didn't know anything about.

A recent discovery (for me, anyway) was the existence of a service at Numismatic Guaranty Corporation called NGC Photo Proof. The product debuted in 1995. The ad I saw appeared in the August 1995 Numismatist.

If you've never heard of NGC Photo Proof, you aren't alone. I had never heard of the service before seeing the full-page ad, and an eBay search for NGC Photo Proof turned up nothing for sale and nothing completed within the last 90 days. Apparently, collectors who pay for the service do not see them as objects with secondary market potential. Even a Google search turned up only a few matches, most tied directly to the current version of NGC's website, which means that NGC Photo Proofs are a thing someone can still order through the service.

I reached out to my friend, the always helpful David W. Lange (who appears a few years younger in the 1995 ad), and asked him about the service. David told me that he joined NGC in 1994 to write NGC Photo Proof narratives. Then, only the most popular USA coin series had background texts prepared, and several of those histories were written by dealer Robert Koppelman of Ft. Lauderdale. Others were written by the late Coinage Magazine editor, Ed Reiter.

The three Photo Proofs that David sent me to review were produced in 2007. One describes a High Relief 1907 Saint-Gaudens double eagle (NGC PF69), the second an 1866 five-cent piece (NGC PF-67), and the third an 1884 With Motto half dollar (NGC MS67). A small image of each coin appears amidst an art collage of high-eye appeal classic U.S. coins.

To read the complete article, see:
NGC Photo Proofs – Something I've Never Seen Before (https://coinweek.com/coins/certified-coins-news/ngc-photo-proofs-something-ive-never-seen-before/)

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