ANACS
Total visits: 13299 This week: 1
![]() Additional Information
ANACS was created in 1972 by the American Numismatic Association (ANA), a non-profit educational association established in 1891 and chartered by the U.S. Congress. ANACS original mission was to rid the hobby of counterfeit and altered coins. At that time, it was estimated that as many as one of every ten gold or key date coins sold on the typical bourse floor was either counterfeit or altered. (Many of those coins were being sold and purchased by people who had no idea the coins were counterfeit or altered.) At the time, there was little published information on counterfeit detection. ANACS was located in Washington D.C. in order to have access to the Smithsonian’s numismatic collection and to be near the U.S. Secret Service.ANACS graders began writing articles on detecting counterfeit and altered coins in the ANA’s monthly journal, The Numismatist, and, later, in other numismatic publications. Eventually, the articles were collected and published by the ANA in book form and sold to collectors and dealers. Also, ANACS created a photographic library of all the counterfeit and altered coins it found. The library included close-up shots so that people could see the diagnostics and learn where to look on the coin for them. Today, that photographic library resides inside the ANACS Grading Room, available to our graders at a moment’s notice.In 1982, J.P. Martin, ANACS’ Senior Numismatist, began teaching a class on detecting counterfeit and altered coins at the ANA Summer Conference. J.P. has been teaching that same class every year since then. Students in his class have included coin dealers, collectors and even a number of U.S. Secret Service agents.In the 1990s, J.P. wrote a correspondence course for the ANA, Detecting Counterfeit and Altered Coins. The Project Director for the course was James Taylor, ANACS’ CEO and President. Later, the two of them collaborated on a nearly three-hour long video / DVD based upon this correspondence course. Both the correspondence course and the video have received industry awards and are available for purchase from the ANA.Given this rich history, it is clear ANACS has been at the forefront of detecting and disseminating information about counterfeit and altered coins. New and important discoveries are made weekly by ANACS graders. These discoveries are immediately forwarded to the other grading services and some appear in print in ANACS’ Senior Grader Michael Fahey’s Coin World column, “Detecting Counterfeits.”At ANACS, any coin that we believe may be counterfeit or altered may be returned to the customer with a note calling the piece “Questionable Authenticity.” This would mean we are not absolutely certain the coin is a counterfeit, but we believe it is.If we are absolutely certain that a the coin is a counterfeit or an alteration, pursuant to federal law and in accordance with our legal obligations we reserve the right to turn the piece over to the U.S Secret Service. The Secret Service’s standard procedure is to contact the current owner and the previous owner and have the previous owner return the purchase price to the buyer. The Secret Service’s ultimate goal is to trace the coin back to the original perpetrator. Show Schedule
Jul 08 to Jul 09, 2022
Houston Summer Coin Show
Houston, TX
Jul 09 to Jul 10, 2022
Annual Coinarama - San Diego Coin Show
San Diego, CA
Jul 15, 2022
Texas Coin Show - Grapevine on July 15-17, 2022
Grapevine, TX
Jul 16, 2022
Texas Coin Show - Grapevine on July 15-17, 2022
Grapevine, TX
Jul 17, 2022
Texas Coin Show - Grapevine on July 15-17, 2022
Grapevine, TX
Jul 17, 2022
Nashua Coin Show 3rd Sunday
Nashua, NH
Jul 29 to Jul 31, 2022
Low Country Coin Club Show
Ladson, SC
Aug 21, 2022
Nashua Coin Show 3rd Sunday
Nashua, NH
Aug 26 to Aug 28, 2022
The Vegas National by CK Shows-Palace Station Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, NV
Sep 15 to Sep 17, 2022
ILNA Illinois Numismatic Assoc. Coin & Currency Show
Northlake, IL
Sep 18, 2022
Nashua Coin Show 3rd Sunday
Nashua, NH
Oct 12 to Oct 15, 2022
Denver Coin Expo
Denver, CO
Oct 13 to Oct 15, 2022
New Hampshire Coin and Currency Expo
Manchester, NH
Nov 18 to Nov 20, 2022
The Vegas National by CK Shows-Palace Station Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, NV
Jan 20 to Jan 21, 2023
66th Houston Money Show
Conroe, TX
Feb 03 to Feb 05, 2023
Low Country Coin Club Show
Ladson, SC
Mar 24 to Mar 26, 2023
60th Las Vegas Numismatic Society Coin Show by CK Shows
Las Vegas, NV
Apr 06 to Apr 08, 2023
New Hampshire Coin and Currency Expo
Manchester, NH
May 03 to May 06, 2023
Denver Coin Expo
Denver, CO
Jul 28 to Jul 30, 2023
Low Country Coin Club Show
Ladson, SC
Aug 25 to Aug 27, 2023
The Vegas National by CK Shows-Palace Station Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, NV
Dec 01 to Dec 03, 2023
The Vegas National by CK Shows-Palace Station Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, NV
|