Collectors attending the Florida United Numismatists convention in Orlando Jan. 5 to 7 will have the opportunity to test their coin grading skills and a chance to win a gold coin from the Professional Coin Grading Service. They’ll also have an opportunity to view selected gold and silver coins from the PCGS Grading Set.

“The winner of the PCGS Collectors Club Grading Contest will win a Saint-Gaudens double eagle graded PCGS Secure Plus MS-65 with a retail value today of over $2,200,” said PCGS president Don Willis.

The competition is sponsored by PCGS Photograde Online and will be open to current members of the PCGS Collectors Club as well as active PCGS Set Registry members. It will not be open to dealers.

“Participants will have to grade 20 U.S. coins of random denominations and dates that have been previously certified by PCGS, but their encapsulation inserts will be covered from view,” explained PCGS Set Registry manager B.J. Searls.

“The winner will be the collector who has the most correct grades, ‘correct’ defined as matching the PCGS grade exactly. In case of a tie, there will be a 10-coin ‘playoff’ to determine the winner,” Searls said.

Past winners of PCGS grading contests are not eligible to participate.

The competition will be conducted at the PCGS booth (No. 100) at the FUN convention, and participants should ask for B.J. Searls or Gayle Kean at that booth. Additional information and complete rules will be available there as well as on the PCGS website, www.PCGS.com.

PCGS Photograde Online also will sponsor an educational exhibit at the PCGS booth with approximately $100,000 worth of coins from the PCGS Grading Set.

“We’ll be displaying 36 Morgan dollars graded MS-60 to MS-68, including examples within each grade of high-end (worthy of a plus grade), mid-range and ‘barely-make-the-grade’ specimens. The exhibit also includes 27 Saint-Gaudens double eagles graded MS-60 to MS-67, with variations within each grade noted,” said David Hall, PCGS co-founder and president of Collectors Universe Inc., PCGS’s parent company.

“This will give everyone at FUN a chance to see the sometimes subtle but important differences that can affect a coin’s overall grade and marketplace value for these two extremely popular types of coins,” Willis explained. ¦