mint director signs with PCGS
(Newport Beach, CA) – Former United States Mint Director, Philip N. Diehl, has signed with Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) for its Mint Directors Series of “autographed coin” projects. PCGS, a division of Newport Beach, California-based Collectors Universe, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLCT), earlier signed former Mint Directors Donna Pope and Jay W. Johnson.
Appointed by President Bill Clinton, Diehl served from June 1994 to March 2000, an era of tremendous importance for circulating and commemorative U.S. coinage.
“Philip Diehl championed some of the most momentous and spectacular changes in modern U.S. numismatics including the launch of the extraordinary 50 State Quarters program; the innovative introductions of the Sacagawea Golden Dollar and the Platinum Eagle bullion program; and the expansion of the Mint’s Internet site into one of the most successful business-to-consumer sites on the Web,” said Miles Standish, PCGS Senior Vice President.
“He joins a growing list of distinguished former Mint Directors participating in the PCGS autographed coin programs.”
The PCGS Mint Directors Series will feature handwritten autographs of Pope, Johnson and Diehl on insert labels inside sonically-sealed PCGS coin holders. Each holder will protectively contain a United States coin struck during their time in office.
Each encapsulated autograph and coin will be accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from PCGS (www.pcgs.com), the world’s largest rare coin authentication company. Collectors Universe, the parent company of PCGS, has provided signed-in-the-presence-of autograph certification services for sports and entertainment personalities for many years.
“Donna Pope served as Mint Director from July 1981 to August 1991, and oversaw the historic introduction of modern U.S. commemorative coins beginning with the 1982 George Washington half-dollar. Jay Johnson, a consultant now to Collectors Universe, served as Mint Director from May 2000 to August 2001 during a time of explosive hobby growth with seven of the new state quarter-dollars’ designs entering circulation,” explained Standish.
PCGS also has a similar American Heroes Series with an impressive list of autograph participants that include former Presidents George Bush and Gerald Ford; former Iraqi prisoner of war Jessica Lynch; six-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong; and Kathryn D. Sullivan, Ph.D., the first American woman to walk in space.
Since its founding in 1986, PCGS has authenticated and graded more than 10 million coins, and estimates their total declared value at approximately $11 billion.
Certified, autographed coin products in the Mint Directors Series and American Heroes Series are offered for sale to the public by third-party vendors, not by PCGS.
For additional information about PCGS, contact Professional Coin Grading Service, P.O. Box 9458, Newport Beach, CA 92658. Phone: (800) 447-8848. E-mail: [email protected]. Web: www.pcgs.com.