A spotlight on...
John Albanese
Certified Acceptance Corporation - Founder
Top 10 Coin World's 2025 Most Influential People in Numismatics
John Albanese is known for his groundbreaking contributions in numismatics.
His extensive career has aimed to improve the experience for numismatic collectors and dealers. Since his start in 1978, Albanese has been at the forefront of addressing issues with solutions.
He co-founded the Professional Coin Grading Service in 1986 and established the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation a year later. These grading companies brought confidence to the market by addressing the subjectivity that threatened numismatic integrity. In 2007, Albanese founded the Certified Acceptance Corporation (CAC) to further raise standards and trust.
CAC introduced market transparency by evaluating graded coins for superior quality. This reinforced that not all coins within a grade are equal and provided collectors with a valuable tool. Unsatisfied with grading quality, Albanese and Ron Drzewucki launched CAC Grading in 2023, an independent full-service grading company.
CAC Grading was designed with a collector-friendly philosophy to bring consistency, integrity, and transparency. Backed by elite graders, CAC Grading combines collector-friendly standards with long-term market stability. Its conservative approach has been widely praised, leading to work with major collections and coins.
Albanese and Dwight Manley founded California Gold Marketing Group in 1999, which purchased the SS Central America gold hoard. That same year, Albanese became the sole numismatic expert for Blanchard & Co. He also created Intercept Shield to protect coins and helped establish the Numismatic Coin Alliance to combat unethical dealers.
Albanese was inducted into the PCGS CoinFacts Coin Dealer Hall of Fame in 2016. He received the Abe Kosoff Award from the Professional Numismatists Guild in 2012 and the PNG’s Sol Kaplan Award in 2013.
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.
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