British tabloid The Sun has recently taken to republishing eBay sale results as articles with clickbait headlines - "Rare Lincoln Penny Sells for $thousands - do you have one?" It's not a bad way to get attention online, and probably something actual numismatic organizations should consider doing, only with better facts and links to appropriate related websites, as a way to reach out to potential collectors.

Anyway, one of these articles caught my eye this week because of the holders the coins were in: "Global Certification Services". I don't believe we've discussed this company before - is anyone familiar with them? A search on the Newman Portal turned up hits on Coin World circa 2002 and in both CW and The Numismatist circa 2006-2007. From the snippet text these seem to be paid ads. Len Augsburger of NNP supplied an image of an ad from the Coin World issue of 8/12/2002.

The holders include some informative text and images. The eBay lot discussed was a group of 13 circulated Carson City dollars in GCS holders. There are no grades listed. -Editor

Can anyone tell us more about this outfit? Who were the owners? -Editor

It's questionable how newsworthy this is. It's a dodgy listing that appears to have been relisted by the same seller. "I AM NOT A COIN COLLECTOR AND NO NOTHING ABOUT GRADES SO YOU WILL HAVE TO LOOK CLOSELY AT THE PHOTOS" -Editor