Questions and answers

We are an authorised NGC dealer in the UK. We send your coins, medals and tokens to NGC (Numismatic Guaranty Company) to be graded, and to NCS for conservation when you want it. We look after the paperwork and the journey to and from NGC, and send your coins back to you when they are done.

We do not grade coins ourselves: every grade is NGC's own opinion.

• Register for a free account.
• Choose Submit coins and notes, and add each coin with the value you declare for it. You see its tier and price as you go.
• Choose your options and how you want your coins back, check the total, and send your submission.
• Post your coins to us, or bring them in person, and tell us they are on the way.

No, an account is free. You need one to send coins for grading, and it also gives you a free online collection manager, whether or not you ever send us anything.

Once you are signed in, the quickest way is Messages in your account: your question stays with the order or coin it is about.

You can also email us at numistacker@thenumistacker.com.

We are on social media too: Numistacker on Instagram, Numistacker on X, The Numistacker Facebook group and Numistacker on YouTube.

Grading is an independent expert opinion of a coin's authenticity and condition. NGC checks that the coin is genuine, gives it a grade, and seals it in a protective holder with a label and a unique certificate number. Anyone can look the certificate number up on NGC's website.

It depends on the coin and on what you want from it. Grading gives you:

• confirmation that the coin is genuine
• an independent grade that buyers recognise
• protection in a sealed holder
• a coin that is usually easier to sell

For a common coin of low value, grading may cost more than it adds, unless the coin completes a set or matters to your collection. The decision is always yours.

Most coins, medals and tokens can. NGC may decline an item it cannot authenticate or does not accept, and we will tell you if one of yours cannot be submitted.

Each coin goes to a tier that depends on its type, date, metal and value. You see the tier and price of each coin when you add it to a submission after registering.

Yes. Tell us about the coin in Messages in your account and we will give you our honest view, including whether it might come back with a Details grade: NGC's grade for a genuine coin with a problem such as cleaning or damage. We may ask you for photos. It is only our opinion: the grade is always NGC's.

Yes. Banknotes go to PMG (Paper Money Guaranty), NGC's sister company for paper money. Start a PMG note submission from your account and add each note with its Pick number and serial number.

Pack each coin in its own flip or capsule, print the order sheet from your account and put it in the parcel. Send it by a tracked and insured service, such as Royal Mail Special Delivery or a courier, to the address on the order sheet. Then add the tracking number to your order, so we know to expect it.

Your coins are at your risk until they reach us. Never clean or polish a coin before you send it.

Yes. If you cannot list your coins one by one yet, choose to send a parcel now. Tell us about each parcel and its total declared value, then post it. When it arrives we open it and list each coin for you, and you can see that list in your account.

Yes, to our office by appointment, or to a coin show we are attending. Tell us on your order when you are coming. You get a receipt for what you handed over, and you can download it from your order at any time.

We email you to say they have arrived, then check each coin against your list. If a coin is not as listed, for example a different date or a value that needs a different tier, we correct the listing and record why, and you can see the change in your account. If a correction raises your price by more than the limit in our terms, we ask you to approve it before the coin goes to NGC.

We show any planned closure in your account in advance, and when you send a submission we warn you if your parcel is likely to arrive while we are closed. It never stops you sending: we look after your parcel as soon as we are back.

Until your coins reach us, you can cancel the order yourself in your account. Once we have them, ask us and we will send them back to you at any time until they are packed for NGC. Return postage may be charged, and sometimes a fee for work already done.

Once your coins have gone to NGC the order cannot be cancelled: they come back to you when grading is complete.

Prices depend on the tier, the value you declare and the options you choose. Register for a free account to see our full pricing. When you build a submission, each coin is priced as you add it, and postage, packaging and VAT are shown before you commit.

Each coin goes to the tier that suits it and whose value limit covers the value you declare. We never move a coin to a lower tier without telling you.

Our standard service shares NGC submission forms between customers, so you pay only for your own coins. With XTRA your coins go on forms of their own, with no other customer's coins on them. XTRA costs more, and some options, such as NGC's photo services, need it.

We invoice your grading once your coins have reached NGC, and the invoice is due within 7 days. Your coins come back to you once every invoice for them has been paid.

You may receive a further invoice or a credit note later, for example for conservation, a change of tier by NGC, or a crossover that did not cross.

• By card, online, from the invoice in your account.
• By bank transfer, quoting the invoice number as the reference. Our bank details are on the invoice.
• By PayPal. We accept it but do not encourage it: PayPal payments take us longer to match to your invoice, so you may still receive a reminder after you have paid. If that happens, please ignore it.

VAT follows where your coins are delivered. If they come back to an address in the UK, or you collect them, UK VAT applies. If they go to an address outside the UK, our services are outside the scope of UK VAT.

For each coin you choose whether to insure it. An insured coin is covered for loss or damage up to its declared value while it is with us and while it is at NGC. The cost depends on the declared value and is shown separately on your invoice.

If you do not insure a coin, it is at your own risk, except where we are responsible. Our terms explain the cover in full.

Your honest estimate of what the coin is worth. The declared value decides its tier and, if you insure it, the most it is covered for. If NGC values a coin above its tier's limit, it may move it to a higher tier, and the difference is charged.

Toning, tarnish, haze and spotting are natural processes, particularly on silver and copper. They can appear while a coin is away for grading, even if it looked clear when you sent it. They are not damage, and we cannot accept liability for them.

As a guide, NGC take around 30 working days from receiving your coins to sending them back to the UK. Allow up to 10 working days more at the start and at the end, for us to check and send your coins and to return them to you. These are typical times, not promises: NGC's workload changes through the year.

Every UK tier takes the same time. Names such as Express are tier names, not faster services.

Yes. Your order in your account shows where it is and what happens next. We also email you at the main steps: when your coins arrive, when they go to NGC and when your results are in.

NGC sometimes moves a coin to a higher tier, usually because it values the coin above its tier's limit. If that happens we email you, and charge the difference between the two tier prices plus a small handling charge.

Conservation is professional treatment by NCS (Numismatic Conservation Services), NGC's sister company, to remove harmful residues from a coin's surface where that can be done safely. You can ask for it when you submit, or NGC may recommend it for a coin NCS could improve.

If NGC recommends it, we email you, and you choose conserve or no thanks in your account before the deadline shown, which is short. If we do not hear from you, we take it as a no. NCS charges a review fee for each coin it considers, whether or not it is conserved, and a further fee if it is. Conservation adds time, and banknotes are not conserved.

Yes. A crossover sends a coin in a PCGS holder to NGC, to be graded into an NGC holder. You give its PCGS grade and certificate number and choose the lowest grade you will accept. If NGC would grade it lower, the coin stays in its PCGS holder.

A crossover has no fee of its own, but NGC's grading fee is charged whether or not the coin crosses.

NGC sometimes grade in Munich as well as in the USA, and you can ask for it when you submit. A Munich submission is always XTRA, on forms of its own, and we confirm the price with you directly. Conservation cannot be done in Munich. If NGC cannot grade your coins there, we send them to the USA and tell you.

We email you when your results are in. Sign in and open My grading results to see the grade of each coin, submission by submission. Coins you add to your collection keep their grade, description and photos there.

You choose when you submit:

• DHL insured courier, our standard method and the one we recommend
• Royal Mail Special Delivery, which has a cover limit, so choose DHL for coins of higher value
• collection from us, by arrangement
• international delivery, for an address outside the UK: the postage depends on the parcel's weight and destination, so we invoice it when your parcel is sent
• hold, to keep your coins until your other orders are back and send everything together

You can change the method at any time before your coins are sent, and we email you the tracking details when they are.

A grade is NGC's opinion, and we cannot change it. If you disagree, we can send the coin back to NGC for review, which NGC charges at its standard fee for the tier.

If NGC made a mistake, such as a wrong date or denomination on the label or a damaged holder, NGC puts it right at no cost to you and we return the coin free of charge.

A private online record of your coins and notes, free with your account, whether or not you send anything for grading. Keep a searchable catalogue of everything you own, graded or not, with your own photos and notes, what you paid and what you sold for.

Yes. Add any coin or note by its NGC or PMG certificate number, whoever submitted it, and its grade, description and photos arrive with it. Coins you send through us can join your collection when they come home.

Yes, with showcases. Label the coins you want to show, gather them into a showcase, and choose who can see it: only you, anyone you give the link to, or everyone. Visitors never see your values, your notes or your real name.

Pre-orders let you reserve new coins before they arrive, usually to be graded by NGC through us. You may pay a deposit when you place a pre-order, by card or bank transfer, and you pay the balance when the release closes, by bank transfer or PayPal (not by card). If a release is oversubscribed, coins are shared out in the order the pre-orders were placed.

Yes. We consign coins and notes to auction houses for you. Start from Auction in your account, or from a coin in your collection. Each consignment has its own agreement, setting out the auction house's terms and charges, which you accept before anything is sent.