A YEARLY CONFIRMATION FOR COMPETITIVE REGISTRY SETS?

[Kaiser14]

There are a lot of top competitive sets still registered at NGC that are, in reality, no longer in existence and the coins are no longer owned by the registrants. Many sets still registered have long since been sold off at auction or otherwise. It's no secret in most cases as the major auction sites have the sales in their archives and the parallel PCGS Registry sets are designated as "retired." Consequently, active registry set owners find themselves lower on the totem pole than they actually are. Unlike PCGS, the NGC Registry has no "retired" category. Maybe NGC should consider it. Obviously, the registry set program is free and mainly for fun. Particpants have no obligation to update their sets or verify their continued ownership of coins in their sets . And, I appreciate that it's more difficult for NGC to monitor the transfer of ownership of coins than it is for PCGS since it accepts both NGC and PCGS graded coins. NGC should require set owners to verify that they still own the coins registered in their sets on a yearly basis. If there is no response within a month (after 3 or 4 e-mail alerts), the set should be deleted or moved into a "retired" category. Everyone involved in the competitive set program would appreciate it, I'm sure.

[Mohawk]

Kaiser 14,

I'm glad that someone has decided to address this and I couldn't agree with you more. These "zombie" sets need to be put to rest so that those of us who are active on here can truly rise to the best extent of our potential. But I see the complications that NGC could run into with the PCGS coins in the US section. I like your suggestion regarding that as well.....all in all, a very good idea.

[Kaiser14]

As a safety valve for participants who still own their sets, but do not follow their e-mails regularly, sets that are "retired" or deleted by NGC for failure to re-register yearly might be automatically reactivated at the request of the participant within a year of deletion. It's a safe bet that anyone who doesn't respond within a year no longer owns some or all of the coins registered and cares nothing about the set. There are many sets out there where the last recorded activity is 2003, 2004 or earlier (many obscured as well). There are many other sets in which the certificate numbers recorded in the NGC registry (usually PCGS certs) no longer exist, likely because of re-grades. Consequently, these sets are, as Mohawk aptly calls them, "zombie" sets of coins with non-existant certs (and, therefore, non-existant coins) wholly incapable of verification. NGC's failure to take its Registry seriously and protect its integrity disuades serious collectors from using it, and perhaps from using NGC's products as a whole. I like the NGC Registry because I try to buy the coin, not the label, and there are some monster NGC coins out there. I personally like NGC's approach to certain aspects of grading Mercury dimes (one of my sets). We get e-mails from NGC regularly anyway, so what's the big deal? To implement a yearly registration requirement is a few lines of code.