BCS - Banknote Certification Service

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BCS (Banknote Certification Service) is a new third party grading company run by Steve Bell (you may know him as the paper money guy at Colonial Acres Coins in Kitchener, ON). If you've ever bought notes from Colonial Acres, you know that they are generally graded quite strict.

If you know me, you'll know that I rather dislike anything I've seen from TPG organizations to date. The other day, after hearing a talk by Steve at the Waterloo Coin Society meeting, and having an opportunity to ask him several questions, I decided to send in a few notes for grading.

While Steve does use a numeric grading scale, he is very conservative in his grading, and it very closely aligns with the strict standards that I have seen in use by most educated Canadian paper money collectors. Almost all the notes that I sent in for grading came back assigned with grades that I expected.

For the best note I sent in, I figured it was as close to flawless as I have seen. No cutting cup, no waves, nice gloss finish, well-defined intaglio printing, etc. I graded it a Gem UNC. It came back as Gem UNC 65. I was very satisfied by all the notes I had graded.

BCS is a refreshing taste of third party grading. We're definitely not talking about another PMG here. You can be assured that when you get a note back from BCS, it is the grade that it says it is. I would strongly recommend that you consider BCS for any future notes that you want graded. Tell Steve that Brent sent you.

Colonial Acres is the official drop-off and pick-up location for BCS, and their website is http://www.banknotecertification.com.

Sounds appealing... what kind of currency note holders do they use.  Unfortunately, their website's "Our Holders" section doesn't appear to work... no photos...  so, if I am assuming if they graded your notes... did they place it in their holders? 

The holders they use are similar in size and format to PMG, except that the plastic is clearer and slightly softer, and the note is in a secondary sleeve. Both are non-volatile plastic. The holder is heat-sealed with no holes where water or moisture could get in. This holder also avoids one of the problems with PMG in that they leave the note dangerously close to the top seam, and sometimes that leads you to wonder if they crimped the edge of the note in the seam. BCS holders make this impossible.

I will be meeting with Steve next week.. I will add my two cents then.

Scott

BTW: I was asked why I switched sides so dramatically lately, going from staunchly anti-TPG to reasonably pro-TPG.

I'm not pro-TPG as the term generally implies. I still do not agree with the grading of PMG or most of the others that I have seen. BCS is simply the best I've seen to date. I have seen their work first hand (putting my money where my mouth is by sending a small number of notes so I could have a sample of their work) and I know and trust the man behind BCS. Should you decide to get your notes graded, I recommend BCS. (Note that I did not say "go get your notes graded and get them done by BCS.")

Am I going to run out and get all of my notes graded by BCS? Unlikely. Am I going to send a few more to BCS over time? Potentially. Am I going to support the blatant overgrading done by PMG? Not a chance.

Here is my two cents:

I recently had 22 notes graded by Steve at BCS. I really took the time to study and grade these notes and tried to assign a number for each that I thought would correspond with Steve's and Charlton's standards. Here is an example of what I found for nine of the notes:

BC-62aA 2001 AOB23087**
- strong embossing
- well centered
- two very light counting dimples
I graded it unc 63 - it came back choice unc 63

BC-63cA 2003 BEK93908**
- strong embossing
- well centered
- no visible marks
I graded it unc 65 - it came back choice unc 64

BC-62bA 2005 HPA59616**
- well centered
- one very light boarder mark
I graded it unc 64 - it came back choice unc 64

BC-63c 2003 BEK88433**
- well centered
- strong embossing
- partial as made ripple
- a little excess ink on the lower boarder
I graded it unc 64 - it came back gem unc 65

BC-68aA 2004 FEP00965**
- just a hair off center
- heavy cutting cup but no other visible marks
I graded it unc 64 - it came back choice unc 63

BC-63cA 2004 BER97067**
-no faults - a very nice note
I graded it unc 65 - it came back gem unc 66

BC-65aA 2004 AHF97050**
- well centered
- very light mark
- cutting cup
I graded it unc 64 - it came back choice unc 63

BC-65aA-i 2004 FMI80940**
- well centered
- cutting cup
I graded it unc 64 - it came back choice unc 63

BC-64aA 2004 AYR16814**
- well centered
- strong embossing
- no marks or ripples
I graded it unc 65 - it came back gem unc 66

Of the 22 notes I submitted, three notes came back with higher grades than I anticipated ( all by one point ), and eight came back with a lower score ( all by one point ). Over all I was very satisfied with his grading and will continue to use his services.

Scott

Thanks for reporting in your results.

I am planning on sending in some notes as well.

I have had some communication with Steve and he has answered all my questions promptly.

I am looking forward to sending my notes off and getting them back.  I do like the promotion price they are offering as well for the next while.

If I like the grading I receive from the first batch I may send others before the "Promotion" time ends.

BCS's web site looks very professional indeed although I did detect several spelling errors/typos that need to be corrected. Their plastic holders look impressive and I applaud their willingness to take a stand and call a spade a spade by using unambiguous words like "ORIGINAL" to describe an unwashed/unpressed note and "APQ" (Altered Paper Quality) to describe a washed/pressed note, etc. It will be a real joy to get away from that awfully evasive cop-out term employed by PMG, i.e. "EPQ" (Exceptional Paper Quality), which conveys little or no useful information and is confusing at best.

Sounded like a great idea as I finally was going to take the plunge and have a few notes graded to start. I've heard nothing but good about BCS's work. Plus I wanted to take advantage of their special pricing until July.

Being 5 plus hours away from Kitchener I sent an email with a few questions and concerns last week. Maybe they are way busy, that I am not sure of.

Has anyone else had the same problem with getting a response from BCS? Or do you think one week is not enough for a reply?

Denis

I've always called them direct.

I have met with Steve in kitchener to have a note graded , but he won't do error notes. he was though very helpful and willing to give me all his time.

I had emailed him a few questions about his service and he emailed me a response within 24 hours.  He answered all of my questions very well.  I wonder why it is taking so long to get back to you in your case??

Ian

Well just in case the problem was at my end I resent the email last night. I will give it a few more days before I decide what I'll be doing.

Denis

Here is my two cents:

I recently had 22 notes graded by Steve at BCS. I really took the time to study and grade these notes and tried to assign a number for each that I thought would correspond with Steve's and Charlton's standards. Here is an example of what I found for nine of the notes:

BC-62aA 2001 AOB23087**
- strong embossing
- well centered
- two very light counting dimples
I graded it unc 63 - it came back choice unc 63

BC-63cA 2003 BEK93908**
- strong embossing
- well centered
- no visible marks
I graded it unc 65 - it came back choice unc 64

BC-62bA 2005 HPA59616**
- well centered
- one very light boarder mark
I graded it unc 64 - it came back choice unc 64

BC-63c 2003 BEK88433**
- well centered
- strong embossing
- partial as made ripple
- a little excess ink on the lower boarder
I graded it unc 64 - it came back gem unc 65

BC-68aA 2004 FEP00965**
- just a hair off center
- heavy cutting cup but no other visible marks
I graded it unc 64 - it came back choice unc 63

BC-63cA 2004 BER97067**
-no faults - a very nice note
I graded it unc 65 - it came back gem unc 66

BC-65aA 2004 AHF97050**
- well centered
- very light mark
- cutting cup
I graded it unc 64 - it came back choice unc 63

BC-65aA-i 2004 FMI80940**
- well centered
- cutting cup
I graded it unc 64 - it came back choice unc 63

BC-64aA 2004 AYR16814**
- well centered
- strong embossing
- no marks or ripples
I graded it unc 65 - it came back gem unc 66

Of the 22 notes I submitted, three notes came back with higher grades than I anticipated ( all by one point ), and eight came back with a lower score ( all by one point ). Over all I was very satisfied with his grading and will continue to use his services.

Scott

I submitted 3 Notes at the CAND show on Sunday 26th, and received a phone call on Tuesday morning stating my notes were ready which I though was pretty neat. Most grading companies the wait time is significantly longer. I will post the results of the grades when I pick them up on the weekend.

I sent in 20 Notes yesterday via Mail.  They should arrive today. 

I am glad that they should make the queue before they go to the Paris Show.  I am sure there will be a bunch of notes being sumbitted especially if they are keeping the $10 intro price at the show.

Just glad I will get them back before those notes get in the queue to be graded. 

Steve replied back this week that the current turn around was 1-2 weeks with return shipping.

When I get them back I am will post any significant findings.

I decided to send in the $1 1954 *SO note I got from the now banned E-Bay Person who appears to be "cleaning" "repairing" and re-selling.

I sent it in to see what the experts think of it.   $10.. I had to find out.

I really hope that BCS gets more business and they remain.