Well-known paper money authentication expert Jason W. Bradford and his team of experts launched Legacy Currency Grading (www.LegacyGrading.com), a new paper money grading and authentication service, on February 20, 2019.
Legacy Currency Grading will offer a warranty for all banknotes certified by its graders.
"Legacy Currency Grading will strive to improve the consistency and accuracy in grading for which my team has always been known. We will focus our primary efforts on excellent customer service and turnaround times, and we will be expanding our team," stated Bradford, the founding and former President of PCGS Currency. "We’ve added both operational staff and additional grading experts to increase our capacity and help dramatically reduce turnaround times."
"The guarantee for all Legacy graded notes will be as strong as ever, with all notes guaranteed for grade and authenticity by our lifetime grading warranty," explained Bradford.
"In addition, to ensure the continuity and stabilization of the market, Legacy Currency Grading will continue to honor the same grading guarantee for all notes that K3B, Inc. certified from February 4, 2009 until January 30, 2019, under the license for the PCGS Currency brand name from Collectors Universe, Inc. The Legacy Currency Grading population report will also include all notes graded under that same license," he added.
In order to make the transition as smooth as possible for all collectors and dealers, Legacy Currency Grading will be offering a discounted "crossover" service for all notes graded under the previous brand name.
"For a limited time, we will be offering a special rate for our clients to reholder their notes into Legacy Currency Grading holders," said Bradford. "Details will be announced in the near future regarding the procedures for submitting notes, including the ‘crossover’ service."
Legacy Currency Grading is also launching a new holder design featuring a fully sealed holder with the grading insert inside the tamper-proof Mylar plastic.
"This holder design is the result of several years of market research. The Legacy Currency Grading holder will be made of the same acid-free Mylar material used by generations of collectors and dealers. We are extremely excited about this new holder because I believe that this is the safest material for the long term storage of any banknote, and we won’t compromise by using anything but the highest archival quality materials for our holders," stated Bradford.
Existing grading submissions that were previously submitted to K3B, Inc. now will be graded by Legacy Currency Grading.
"We will be contacting all clients in the immediate future regarding the details of their submissions and the estimated time frame for completion. However, if any client prefers that their notes be returned ungraded and their fees refunded, we will, of course, honor that request," said Bradford. "In addition, all current memberships from the old service will be honored and extended in the new Legacy Membership program."
Bradford is a pioneer in the paper money grading profession, personally examining, authenticating and grading more than a million banknotes since 2005. He will continue to lead the new company as President and CEO.
"It is extremely important for me to focus my energies primarily on grading and training our other graders. The day-to-day operations of the company and customer service will be overseen by our management team, which will free me and the other graders to focus on doing what we do best — grading banknotes. We are optimistic and excited about the future of the currency collecting hobby and the marketplace. Legacy Currency Grading will provide the best and most efficient customer service, and the most accurate and consistent grading process possible," Bradford pledged.
Information regarding submitting banknotes for grading and authentication to Legacy Currency Grading will available soon at www.LegacyGrading.com, or by calling the Legacy office at 309-222-8200, or by email at info@LegacyGrading.com.
The handling of this change from PCGS has been very, very badly done. The notes I have in have been in limbo and information has been sketchy, when available at all. Someone needs to understand that casually handling peoples’ hard-earned assets is damaging to a business. All that said; I hope my notes get graded and returned without even more drama and uncertainty.
Same old story with a new logo. Their grading is about as consistent as CGA was, pretty sure we know what happened to that TPG.
These clowns have had my six figures worth of notes since July (seven months!). Despite repeated requests, they refuse to return them. It looks as though I will have to go to federal law enforcement authorities such as the FBI or postal inspectors. I was able to dispute the $2,200 in credit card charges for the certification fees, but I want my notes back!
UPDATE: I finally received my notes back (uncertified, of course) after seven frustrating months of waiting. But what a terrible experience! Seven months of worrying just to get my raw notes back and I’m out $200 in postage incurred to ship the notes to them. I shall never deal with Jason Bradford or his firms ever again. And I shall no longer buy any notes certified by his firms.
UPDATE #2: Jason Bradford was able to steal my $2,200 after all. He apparently disputed my credit card dispute and won because the time window had expired. He did send me a check last week but it bounced. Bradford is still listed as a member in good standing of the PNG and PCDA despite my complaints against him. The rare currency business is run by good old boys who cover each others’ tracks.
I too was a fraud victim – they had 57 of my notes for almost a year. I started keeping a log of conversations after 5 to 6 months and basically they kept stalling me. Beyond the $1,005 grading fee that Discover will not keep as a credit I lost another $200 in insurance and postage and handling not too mention all my wasted time. saying. The final straw for me was when I was told they were waiting for the new labels from the printer and said they should have them shortly that they were complete at the printers…At… Read more »
Does anyone have direct contact information for Jason Bradford?
I only found out about the demise of PCGS Currency and the new start-up of Legacy Currency when I inquired after 5+ months of waiting for my consigned notes to be graded. No one called, emailed or contacted me in any form prior to my instigated call. Then, I was twice told that my notes would be immediately pulled and graded. A follow-up a few weeks later and I was informed that the notes still were not scheduled,and likely another 1-2 months was to be expected. That would have made the entire process something around 7 months. At that notification,… Read more »
in 2009 they leased the name from Collector’s Universe which is the parent company of PCGS coins, in January this lease expired, PCGS Currency was only a division of Collectors Universe prior to 2009
I wonder that PCGS, the parent company, is not being more highly criticized about this fiasco. A large company would normally go to great lengths to insure against a bad ending to a relationship. They issued the rights to the currency grading name. True that the new entity could have gone rogue, but the safeguards (for the consumer) should have been put in place. To have sent your money and notes to what you thought was a well established firm, only to end up in ‘limbo’ reflects on them as well. Just bad business, all around.
Tried Legacy for grading in June 2019. Good results! They were punctual in returning the graded notes and the accuracy seemed quite appropriate. HOWEVER, I just read an article that the President of Legacy has been suspended from the Numismatic Association effective July 17, 2019!!! I also read the President of PMG has taken over the PCGS grading operation and it will likely be called PCGS GOLD or some moniker that closely resembles that. The article also said it would NOT be accepting new notes until some undefined point in the future. Perhaps the delay is to allow them to… Read more »
PCGSC/Legacy has had my notes for 9 1/2 months. I’m not a big dealer, just a club member that can’t get a response from anyone. I guess people like me don’t matter to these thieves. Does anyone have any advice out there? Who do I contact? Thanks in advance.
I AM IN THE SAME PREDICAMENT – I SENT TWO NOTES TO PCGS CURRENCY TO BE GRADED IN OCT OF 2018 AND HAVE HEARD NOTHING SINCE. TRIED CALLED THE 309 NUMBER FIVE DAYS IN A ROW – LEFT VOICEMAIL EACH TIME – NO RESPONSE. ALSO EMAILED THEM – NO RESPONSE. IS ANYONE AWARE OF ANY CLASS ACTION SUITS ? CAN ANYONE GIVE ME ANY INFO AS TO HOW I CAN GET MY 2 NOTES BACK ?
I contacted info@pngdealers.org and got my notes back within the week, graded.
I also have Very Bad Experience With Legacy Currency Grading. I submitted 46 Notes on March 15, 2019, and Mailed it to Their Office In Peoria IL I was able to speak with Their receptionist and My Credit Card Was Charged $2680.00 For Grading Service. I found out That They Moved To Bradford TN and Still Has same IL Phone Number Called Number Of Times But unable to contact anyone and left a voicemail that has not been answered. Am concerned that I am Also the Victim Of A Froud. Would Appreciate Any Help to Recover My Submitted Notes And… Read more »
Update
I followed Stephen M. Webbers post and contacted Professional Numismatists Guild (Info@PNGDelears.Org) and spoke the President, of PNG; his intervention got my currencies returned promptly graded in Legacy Holder.
When I spoke To Heritage Auction I was informed that Legacy Holders have Not Been Recognized by the numismatics industry and I will have to re-graded them by PMG and issued in new holders.
My experience with Jason Bradford and PCGSC/Legacy was an eight-month wait to get my very valuable notes back (not certified, of course). I am still waiting for a four figure fee refund but doubt that I will ever receive one. The return of my notes would have taken far longer had I not threatened to sue. Others achieved results by complaining about Bradford to the Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG), but PNG’s website no longer lists him as a member. You could try to complain to the Professional Currency Dealers Association (PCDA), which still lists Bradford as a member, but I… Read more »
Foolishly, I trusted the old reputation of PCGS and sent my notes to Legacy. Now, after having sent them and tracking shows them sitting at post office not picked up, I find many sites like this with all kinds of horror stories I wish I knew before I sent my notes……….foolish me!!!! While I am not a big time collector, still, my locally historical notes mean a great deal to me and the frustration of seeing how this once was “business” is NOT being attended to makes my blood boil!!! Trying to intercept and re-direct my mail does not work,… Read more »
If your package has not yet been delivered, you can absolutely have USPS return it. Just search “USPS package intercept” and fill out the form. You could also call the recipient’s post office and ask them to return your package if has been there for more than 15 days. You could also call your local postal inspectors for advice. They may be able to help you if you show them the $650,000 Stack’s Bowers’ fraud judgment against Jason Bradford and his corporation.
I need to update my post. After initially reading so many negative posts it was easy to worry about the notes I had sent for grading. This is not my first rodeo as I have sent hundreds of coins through the mail to be graded and have had many varied experiences so I probably should have been a bit more patient in this instance. Long story short I received my graded notes today a bit more than 1 month since I sent them! I have no complaints regarding Legacy and am sorry I made a hasty judgement earlier.