CCG Celebrates the Holidays with a Host of Cheerful Collectibles

Happy holidays from the Certified Collectibles Group® (CCG®)! In celebration of the season of cheer, we’d like to share a sleigh full of collectibles that remind us of the spirit of Christmas. All of these collectibles have been certified by one of CCG’s affiliates: Numismatic Guaranty Company™ (NGC®), Paper Money Guaranty® (PMG®), Certified Guaranty Company® (CGC®), CGC Trading Cards®, CGC Video Games®, Certified Sports Guaranty® (CSG®), Authenticated Stamp Guaranty® (ASG®) or Collectibles Authentication Guaranty® (CAG®). Please enjoy!

NGC

Coin: Australia 2022P Jingle Bell Silver $2 Commemorative graded NGC MS 70 Antiqued

The holidays aren’t complete without the sound of bells and carols in the air, and this 2022 $2 Silver Commemorative delivers. The commemorative coin features an antiqued surface treatment, with the obverse adorned with a beautiful Christmas wreath decorated with candy canes, berries and ornaments. The best part, however, is encased in the coin’s hollow center, where a 24-carat-gold-plated bell tinkles merrily, reminiscent of Santa’s sleigh.

Each year, the Perth Mint in Australia releases a Christmas-themed $2 commemorative coin to celebrate the holidays. Only 2,500 of these coins are minted each year. The coins come encased in a black velvet box with a glass topper, beautifully packaged in a Christmas-themed box and bow.

If you’d like to explore additional commemorative coins and more, check out the NGC Census by clicking here.

PMG

Note: Maine, Bucksport 1854 $50 Proof graded PMG 65 Gem Uncirculated EPQ

Santa Claus notes are always sought-after by collectors for their rarity and nostalgia. This particular Bucksport 1854 $50 Proof note is an excellent example. The front of the Proof features Santa and his team of reindeer in the center. The bottom left corner features three dogs, and the right corner features a Native American brandishing a bow.

If you look closely at this note, you’ll see that Santa looks a lot more “elvish” in this depiction. This vignette, called the Santa Type III, is just one of the many designs that Santa has adopted throughout the years. Some early Santa Claus designs feature him as a fit and skinny man, while others trade his signature red coat for green. The Santa we know and love today was popularized through Clement Clarke Moore’s A Visit from St. Nicholas, otherwise known as Twas the Night Before Christmas, which describes Mr. Claus having “a broad face and a little round belly.”

Jim Bisognani covered this interesting note in a recent edition of the Weekly Market Report. Click here to read the article.

If you’d like to explore more early US banknotes, world notes or other interesting paper money, check out the PMG Population Report by clicking here.

CGC Comics

Comic: Four Color #178, December 1947 “Christmas on Bear Mountain” graded CGC 9.2

In this cheery Christmas comic, Donald Duck and his nephews are invited to spend Christmas at Uncle Scrooge’s mansion on Bear Mountain — a snowy peak with little to no surrounding townspeople. What could possibly go wrong? Well, the bear on the cover should give you a hint…

This vintage Disney comic was the world’s first introduction to Scrooge McDuck, Donald’s rich — and often grumpy — uncle. According to Scrooge creator Carl Barks, Scrooge was never meant to be a recurring character, but after the initial release of the comic, Barks began to develop him more and more until he became a popular staple in the Donald Duck series.

Collectors will find hundreds of Disney comics in the CGC Census, which can be found by clicking here.

CGC Trading Cards

Card: Christmas Feast, Harry Potter TCG (2002) Diagon Alley – 3/80 graded CGC 9.5

Gathering with family and friends is a key part of the holiday season. But what do you do when you’re at boarding school? You spend the holiday with your friends and teachers!

In Harry Potter, the titular character spends the Christmas holiday at Hogwarts, enjoying roasted turkey, flaming Christmas pudding and Wizard Crackers instead of the usual Christmas ham. This card depicts Harry’s first Christmas at the school for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Professors Minerva McGonagall, Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape sit in attendance at the High Table, while Harry and his friends trade food and laughter at the student table below.

The Harry Potter Trading Card Game was created by Wizards of the Coast in 2001 to coincide with the theatrical release of the first film: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. The TCG was positively received, with players and collectors praising it for its immersive gameplay. Although it was once the second best-selling toy in the United States, the card game is now out of print.

CGC Trading Cards has graded hundreds of Harry Potter cards, along with millions of other cards from popular trading card games, including Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh! and more. To learn more about CGC Trading Cards, click here.

CGC Video Games

Video Game: Syberia Collection for the Sony PlayStation 3 (2015) Sealed graded CGC 9.8 A++

Oh, the weather outside is frightful… especially in this puzzle adventure title.

Syberia Collection is a two-in-one game including Microid’s Syberia and Syberia II. In Syberia, players lead lawyer Kate Walker through a point-and-click adventure to find the brother of a recently deceased homeowner, encountering fantastical creatures and mysteries along the way. Syberia II begins directly after the events of Syberia, with Walker searching for a cure for an illness that afflicts a certain companion from the previous game.

A major theme across both games is the search for live woolly mammoths, which were known to live in extremely cold climates such as Siberia. Thus, the game is filled with climates that resemble Siberia, including heavy snowfall and towering ice structures. Though many wish for a white Christmas, we hope it doesn’t snow that heavily this year!

CGC Video Games began accepting submissions in October 2022. Since then, the company has graded hundreds of games across dozens of consoles, including Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Sega, Atari and more. To learn more about CGC Video Games, click here.

CSG

Card: 2007 Topps Santa Claus Autographed graded CSG 9

Each year, Santa Claus makes a list of all the children in the world, sorting them based on whether they’ve been naughty and nice. Though, according to Topps, that’s not the only thing this Jolly Elf uses his quill for. Apparently, Santa also signs special holiday Topps cards!

This 2007 Topps Santa Claus holiday card features Santa Claus, dressed in his signature red coat, hat and white gloves, scanning his Naughty and Nice list with his quill poised to write. The card’s reverse congratulates the collector for receiving “a card featuring an autograph by Santa Claus,” and goes on to give a special message about why Santa signed the cards.

There are a total of 16 Santa-themed cards in Topps’ 2007 Holiday Baseball set. Topps continues to put Santa-themed cards in their holiday sets to this day, with the special Santa cards usually serving as the set’s hit.

CSG has graded over 450,000 other baseball cards ranging from past to present. To learn more about CSG, click here.

CAG

Collectible: Air and Space Museum Photograph – Michael Collins Inscribed, 1970s, “Santa and His Helpers, Wishing a Merry Christmas to Neil Armstrong” certified by CAG

Many families still practice the tradition of sending holiday greetings, whether by sending each other Christmas cards or calling up (or texting) family members and friends. Some greetings are more humorous than others, as demonstrated by this interesting photograph from the Armstrong Family Collection.

In this photo from the 1970s, astronaut Michael Collins poses with a group of guides from the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Collins sent a copy of this photo to Apollo 11 crewmate Armstrong as a Christmas card — complete with a note and the addition of a Santa hat and white beard! Collins adds in the handwritten note to the top of the photo, “What Ever Happened to Apollo 11, Anyway?” and at the bottom, “Merry Xmas, and all that stuff – Mike etc.”

The Apollo 11 mission in 1969 was the first spaceflight to successfully land humankind on the moon. It effectively declared the US as the winner in the Space Race against the Soviet Union. While Armstrong took humanity's first steps on the moon, Collins piloted Command Module Columbia in lunar orbit; the historic spacecraft, seen in this photo, was donated to the National Air and Space Museum after the mission.

CAG has certified hundreds of artifacts from the Apollo 11 flight, including ones flown on the lunar module, as well as Armstrong family correspondence and more. To learn more, visit the Armstrong Family Collection gallery by clicking here.

ASG

Stamp: France 1947 10fr+6fr Cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris graded ASG VF 80 Mint POG

The holidays are all about giving to those you love, including family, friends and the community. The locals in Paris, France embrace this each year by hosting a traditional Christmas market in a plaza near the stunning Cathedral of Notre Dame, a timeless structure dedicated to the Virgin Mary and one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture.

This ASG-certified stamp proudly displays the Cathedral of Notre Dame, one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture. Bishop Maurice de Sully ordered the cathedral’s construction in 1163 as a dedication to the Virgin Mary. It was completed in 1260 and has henceforth been a place of worship and a popular tourist destination. The cathedral is currently being reconstructed following a devastating fire in 2019.

ASG has graded thousands of collectible stamps from around the world. To learn more about ASG, click here.

On behalf of everyone at the Certified Collectibles Group, have a happy holiday!