Littleton Coin Company is perhaps the best-known coin dealer in America. Their advertising can be found across a broad spectrum of magazines and media. They employ more than 350 people at their 85,000 sq. ft. facility. Compare that to your local coin shop! The truth, however, is that all those salaries, that expensive advertising, and the gigantic facility is all paid for by coin collectors! Littleton's prices aren't just high; they're stratospheric! But is Littleton worth it?

Since I was aware that Littleton's primary business model was the coins on approval system, I signed up for their service more than a year ago, so I could give them a fair, long term trial when I wrote my review of Littleton's services. (They actually kicked me off their approval program because Read more...

Collectors Universe (CU), the parent company of PCGS, issued a press release this evening stating that Ron Guth has resigned as PCGS President so that he can focus on developing the CoinFacts.com Web site. Until a new president is named, CU President David Hall and CU Chief Operating Officer Steve Mayer will assume Guth's duties. Guth will become President of CoinFacts.com effective Oct. 1, and will lead an initiative to bring the site up to date, as well as develop further Web enhancements for both CoinFacts and PCGS. The press release quotes Guth as saying, "I’m very excited about returning to my roots as a numismatic researcher and writer. My intention is to mine the impressive database of information and images that PCGS has built since 1986 and present it in ways to benefit the numismatic community. For the past three years, I've had the opportunity to lead a company filled with some of the most talented people in the industry and I am honored to have been a part of this great team."

CoinFacts.com was founded by Guth in 1999, and is a unit of PCGS. It is the Web site that supplies all of the linked encyclopedic information about coins for the PCGS Price Guide, such as how many coins have been encapsulated by PCGS in each grade, important recent sales of those coins, and other important facts about each type and date. I had noticed that the information hadn't been updated in years, and sort of wondered why whoever created such a wonderful compendium would allow to it stagnate. Well, now I know! Its founder was busy running PCGS!

Although Guth is a likable, charismatic fellow, Read more...