A spotlight on...

John Albanese

PCGS, NGC, NCA , CAC • co-founder and founder

Coin World's 2021 Most Influential People in Numismatics

From discovering numismatics at the age of 5 to becoming a leader on the business side of the hobby, John Albanese has impacted collectors in a big way.

Albanese began a career in the business at Raab Coin Shop, where he hired Mark Salzberg. It would become the beginning of a critical relationship for the two.

Albanese has been a full-time coin dealer since 1978.

He would join five other numismatists to start Professional Coin Grading Service, moving a year later to found Numismatist Guaranty Corp. Today, Mark Salzberg is the chairman of that company and its parent, Certified Collectibles Group.

In 1999, he and Dwight Manley founded California Gold Marketing Group, which was the purchaser of the SS Central America gold hoard. That same year, Albanese was selected as sole numismatic expert for Blanchard & Co., a firm generating more than $100 million per year in sales. Five years later, Odyssey Marine retained Albanese as its sole numismatic marketing strategist for the SS Republic treasure coins.

In 2005, Albanese founded Numismatic Consumer Alliance, a nonprofit corporation to assist consumers that have been defrauded by unscrupulous dealers. In 2007, he founded Certified Acceptance Corp. “I consider the formation of NCA and CAC to be among my greatest contributions,” John said.

Albanese has done numismatic consulting for Christie’s and Spink America and been an expert witness for the U.S. Postal Service and for the attorney general in the state of New York. He has done consulting with eBay to develop standards for third-party grading services for their coin listings.

Over the course of his career, Albanese has handled numerous U.S. coin rarities. Among these are the unique 1787 Brasher, EB on Breast doubloon; three 1792 Silver Center cents; two 1913 Liberty Head 5-cent coins; the unique 1870-S Seated Liberty half dime; two 1894-S Barber dimes; two 1794 Flowing Hair silver dollars; two 1804 Draped Bust dollars; the Legend/Morelan Mint State set of Seated Liberty dollars; four 1884 Trade dollars; a Mint State 68 1848 Coronet, CAL. $20 gold quarter eagle; two 1825/4 Capped Head $5 half eagles; three 1933 Indian Head $10 eagles; five 1907 Saint-Gaudens, Ultra High Relief $20 double eagles; and three 1927-D Saint-Gaudens double eagles.

Numismatic awards include the Professional Numismatists Guild Abe Kosoff Founder award and PNG’s Sol Kaplan award. In 2016, he was added to the PCGS Coin Facts Coin Dealer Hall of Fame.

About John Albanese

John Albanese has more than 35 years of experience in numismatics, holding the unique distinction of creating both of America's leading independent coin-grading services. He co-founded Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) before launching Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC), where he personally graded more than one million coins.

15 years ago, John partnered with twenty-two leading members of the numismatic community to create the Certified Acceptance Corporation (CAC). Their mission was to advocate for the hobbyist by establishing an extremely stringent standard of grading. In 2022, John assembled over one hundred and fifty leading members of the numismatic community to form CAC Grading, who's purpose is to reclaim accuracy and consistency in grading.

Today, John Albanese is a world-renowned authority on coin grading and the rare coin market, and he is America's leading professional numismatist.

Find out more about John Albanese or get in touch with John.

This article is an excerpt from Coin World's 2021 Most Influential People in Numismatics. This Special Interest Publication was published and distributed for FREE to all active Coin World subscribers at the time. You can still access digital copy of the full issue, or order a back issue (while supplies last).

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