Certified Sports Guaranty™ will launch in February 2021 to provide sports card collectors and dealers with expert, impartial and efficient certification services.
CSG is the latest company to be formed by the Certified Collectibles Group®, which includes the world’s largest grading services for coins, Numismatic Guaranty Corporation®, paper money, Paper Money Guaranty®, and comic books, magazines and concert posters, Certified Guaranty Company®. In July, CCG launched its fast-growing CGC Trading Cards division, which has quickly become a major grading service for Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering cards.
CCG is a large, global company with nearly 400 employees, a 60,000 square foot secure facility in Sarasota, Florida, and additional offices in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Munich and London. Its companies utilize world-class expertise, advanced technology, superior holders, operational excellence and a highly experienced management team to provide best-in-class services that add value and liquidity to collectibles. Since 1987, the CCG companies have certified more than 60 million collectibles with a combined fair market value of more than $30 billion.
CSG will revolutionize the sports card market by leveraging CCG’s proven playbook. As in the other markets served by the CCG companies, sports card collectors and dealers will benefit from CSG’s accuracy, consistency, independence and speed.
The CSG grading team is led by Andy Broome and Westin Reeves, who have more than 30 years of combined sports card grading experience. CSG’s graders are fully impartial and never know the identity of a submitter. They and CSG are prohibited from buying and selling collectibles commercially.
More than any other third-party sports card grading service, CSG will use advanced authentication and grading technology to make the certification process more precise and efficient. Artificial intelligence (AI) will automate many of the more time-consuming aspects of grading, such as attributing a card and measuring its centering, and the CSG graders will be equipped with forensic devices that reveal alterations and hidden details through infrared and UV lighting, ultra-microscopic inspections and non-destructive ink and paper analysis.
The CSG holder and label are also game changers in the industry. The holder is sleek and strong, offering superior display and protection. The label is bold and clear, providing a detailed description of the card, its grade, its unique CSG certification number and a QR code to facilitate quick verification. Both the CSG holder and label feature extensive security elements to prevent against tampering and counterfeiting.
The CCG companies are known for their industry-leading guarantees, and CSG is proud to announce that the CSG Guarantee of authenticity and grade will be the strongest of any third-party sports card grading service. It provides recourse for the owner of a CSG-certified card if it is determined to be altered, not genuine or overgraded.
“We are extremely excited to launch CSG,” says Steven R. Eichenbaum, CEO of CCG. “There is a tremendous need in the sports card collecting hobby for an advanced, fast and independent certification service, and we will be ready to meet – and exceed – all expectations.”
To learn more about grading of Sports cards visit the CSG website.
Mark Salzberg, the chairman of CCG, recently published a letter about his thoughts on COVID-19 and collecting.
In 2018 Ursula Kampmann visited NGC and shared her look behind the scenes.
Recently we gave a look at the world of sports cards in connection with PCGS being sold.
