Collectors Universe Inc. is an American company formed in 1986, now based in Santa Ana, California, which provides third-party authentication and grading services to collectors, retail buyers and sellers of collectibles. Its authentication services focus on coins, trading cards, sports memorabilia, and autographs. The company reached the combined total of 75 million certified collectibles in 2019.[1] Collectors Universe is also a publisher in fields relating to collecting.[2]
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Nasdaq: CLCT (1999–2021) | |
| Industry | Business Services |
| Founded | 1986 |
| Headquarters | , United States |
Key people | Joseph Orlando (CEO, and president) Joseph J. Wallace (CFO, and Principal Accounting Officer) (January 2020) |
| Revenue | $75.17M (January 2020) |
Number of employees | 450+ (January 2020) |
| Website | www |
The company engages in business-to-business market for certified coins under Certified Coin Exchange, and a business-to-consumer under Collectors Corner. PCGS Coin Authentication and Grading Services focuses on coins market and have authenticated and graded over 42.5 million coins, medals, and tokens with an estimated market value of over $36 billion.
History
editIn 2000, Collectors Universe acquired James J. Spence, Jr.'s sports autograph authentication company and later acquired privately held Odyssey Publications Inc.[3]
In February 2009, Collectors Universe sold its currency authentication and grading division to a new company formed for the acquisition. On January 30, 2019, it took back the division and has rebranded it PCGS Banknote.[4][unreliable source?][5]
In October 2012, Collectors Universe's division PCGS (Professional Coin Grading Service) authenticated the 25 millionth coin (PCGS Secure Plus MS65) from Japan, being a historical milestone of the company performance.[6] Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) focuses on sports and trading cards market. PSA/DNA Autograph Authentication and Grading Services focuses on the autographs and memorabilia market. In the publishing field, the company publishes Rare Coin Market Report and Sports Market Report monthly.[7][8]
During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Collectors Universe Inc. requested and secured a $4,204,300 forgivable loan under the Paycheck Protection Program set up by the US Congress and signed by President Donald Trump.[9] Collectors Universe Inc. subsequently returned the loan money they had received back to the treasury by May 2020.[10]
In November 2020, it was announced that Collectors Universe would be taken private in a $700 million all-cash buyout by hedge fund manager Steve Cohen, D1 Capital Partners, and collector Nat Turner in the first quarter of 2021. Among the reasons for the purchase was increased interest in collecting by consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic.[11]
Collectors Universe acquired Wata Games in July 2021. Wata Games, since around 2018, had become the video game industry's leading evaluator for video game collectibles, typically evaluating the condition of sealed games before they were auctioned for sale by Heritage Auctions.[12]
References
edit- ^ "Collectors Universe Reaches Historic Milestone by Certifying Its 75 Millionth Collectible". PCGS. 2019-06-19. Retrieved 2022-08-26.
- ^ "Business Summary". Yahoo Finance.
- ^ "Collectors Universe Acquires Odyssey Publications Inc". thefreelibrary.com. Archived from the original on 2014-02-27. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
- ^ "Collectors Universe Sells PCGS Currency Division". CoinNews. 4 February 2009.
- ^ "PCGS Banknote Accepting Paper Money Submissions January 2020". coinweek.com. 20 November 2019.
- ^ "PCGS Milestone: 25 Million Coins Certified Worldwide". www.pcgs.com. 2012-10-26.
- ^ "Company Full Description". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2014-02-26.
- ^ "Rare Coin Market Report". www.pcgs.com.
- ^ LEGUM, JUDD (2020-04-22). "32 Millionaire CEOs Who Scooped Up Taxpayer Money Meant for Small Businesses". Popular Info.
- ^ Popken, Ben (7 July 2020). "Which companies are returning their PPP loans? Here's the list". NBC News.
- ^ Pendleton, Devon; Javier, Luzi-Ann (2020-11-30). "Steve Cohen and D1 Capital Team up for Collectors Universe". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on 2020-11-30. Retrieved 2020-12-06.
- ^ Peters, Jay (July 14, 2021). "The company that graded the million-dollar copy of Super Mario 64 has a new owner". The Verge. Retrieved July 14, 2021.