If you have ever purchased PCGS holdered coins or submitted coins to PCGS for grading and authentification, then you mostly likely have seen coins labeled as “Genuine”, without a grade or explanation.

In the image, on your left, I used an arrow to point out what number code PCGS used to identify this coin as Genuine. Below is a list of PCGS’s numbers and what they mean. PCGS determined that this particular coin had damage or code “98″ (The damage was on the reverse, image of reverse not shown).

Sometimes, PCGS will print an explanation on their labels like “Bent” , “Machine Damage”, “Surface Tooled”, etc. but this is often not the case. So, I hope these codes help you identify what is wrong with a coin, and eliminates some confusion when buying or getting a Genuine labled coins back from PCGS