Our Commitment
to Responsible Stewardship.

Criterion Grading is based in West Virginia and administers its privacy program from West Virginia. This Privacy Policy applies to Criterion Grading ("Criterion," "we," "us," or "our") and to personal information processed through criteriongrading.com, verify.criteriongrading.com, Criterion customer and dealer experiences, coin submissions, certification and guarantee-review processes, and related communications and services (collectively, the "Services"). By using the Services or providing personal information to Criterion, you acknowledge the practices described in this Privacy Policy.

This Privacy Policy does not apply to information processed by a third party under its own privacy policy or to information that is not personal information under applicable law.

Depending on your interaction with Criterion, we may collect:

• Identifiers and contact information, including name, username, email address, telephone number, mailing and billing addresses, account identifiers, and authentication information.
• Application and eligibility information, including account-access applications, collector or dealer profile information, professional affiliations, Founders Edition relationships, invitation or reference information, collecting interests, experience, and application-review records.
• Submission and transaction information, including orders, requested services, declared values, payment status, shipping information, invoices, claims, and transaction history. Payment-card information may be processed directly by a payment provider rather than stored by Criterion.
• Coin and certification information, including descriptions, provenance supplied with a submission, grades, designations, qualification information, measurements, test results, reviewer evidence, holder information, certification status and history, and photographs.
• Communications, including support inquiries, privacy requests, guarantee-review materials, survey responses, and other correspondence.
• Internet and device information, including IP address, browser and device type, operating system, referring pages, approximate location derived from IP address, site activity, log data, and cookie or similar-technology identifiers.
• Inferences and preferences, including interests or preferences inferred from your interactions with the Services and the privacy choices saved in your browser.

We collect information directly from you; automatically from browsers, devices, and the Services; from Authorized Dealers, submitters, representatives, shipping providers, payment processors, security and fraud-prevention providers, and other service providers; from public records and numismatic references; and from other persons or organizations when permitted by law.

Criterion may use personal information to:

• create and administer accounts, receive and manage submissions, and provide authentication, grading, imaging, encapsulation, verification, guarantee-review, and support services;
• confirm identity, ownership, authority, eligibility, payment, shipping, and service instructions;
• create, maintain, correct, investigate, and protect certification records and population information;
• process transactions, fulfill requests, communicate status, and provide operational notices;
• detect, investigate, and prevent fraud, misuse, counterfeiting, security incidents, and other harmful or unlawful activity;
• maintain, analyze, personalize, and improve the Services, consistent with your privacy choices;
• comply with law, respond to lawful process, resolve disputes, enforce agreements, and protect the rights, safety, and property of Criterion, its customers, and others; and
• send marketing communications where permitted by law. You may unsubscribe from marketing email using the link in the message.

Criterion certification is designed to support public verification. Certification numbers, coin descriptions, grades, designations, qualification information, holder status, approved imagery, evidence summaries, certification dates, population information, and public certification history may be publicly accessible and may remain available after a coin changes ownership.

Criterion does not intend to publish a submitter’s private contact, payment, account, or shipping information as part of a public certification record unless the person directs Criterion to do so or disclosure is otherwise permitted by law.

We may disclose personal information to:

• service providers and contractors that support hosting, security, communications, analytics, payment processing, shipping, insurance, imaging, records, customer support, and professional services;
• Authorized Dealers, submitters, owners, and representatives involved in a submission, transfer, claim, or requested service;
• government authorities or other parties when reasonably necessary to comply with law or legal process, investigate wrongdoing, enforce agreements, or protect rights, property, safety, or certification integrity;
• transaction participants and advisers in connection with an actual or proposed financing, reorganization, merger, acquisition, sale, or transfer of all or part of Criterion’s business or assets; and
• other parties at your direction, with your consent, or as otherwise described when the information is collected.

Service providers and contractors are authorized to process information for specified business purposes and are expected to protect it consistent with applicable obligations.

Criterion does not sell personal information for money. If Criterion uses optional advertising or measurement technologies, certain disclosures associated with those technologies may be treated as a "sale," "sharing," or targeted advertising under some state privacy laws. You may opt out through Your Privacy Choices. Where required, Criterion also processes recognized opt-out preference signals, including Global Privacy Control, as a request to opt out for the browser or device sending the signal.

Criterion does not knowingly sell or share the personal information of consumers under 16 years of age.

Criterion uses strictly necessary technologies for security, network delivery, preference storage, fraud prevention, and essential site operations. Optional functional, analytics, and marketing technologies remain subject to the selections available through Your Privacy Choices. Your selections are ordinarily stored in the browser where they are made and may need to be repeated on another browser or device. Browser settings may also restrict cookies, although doing so may affect some features.

We retain personal information for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, including to provide Services, preserve certification-record integrity, maintain transaction and claim records, prevent fraud, comply with legal and accounting obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce agreements. Retention periods vary according to the information’s nature, the relationship and service involved, operational requirements, and applicable law.

Public certification information may be retained for the life of the certification and afterward when necessary to preserve the integrity, traceability, and historical accuracy of Criterion records.

Criterion uses administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information against unauthorized access, acquisition, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. No safeguard, transmission method, or storage system is completely secure, and Criterion cannot guarantee absolute security. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for promptly notifying Criterion of suspected unauthorized account activity.

Depending on your state of residence and subject to applicable exceptions, you may have the right to request access to or confirmation of personal information; obtain a copy; request correction or deletion; request portability; opt out of sale, sharing, targeted advertising, or certain profiling; limit certain uses of sensitive personal information; and appeal a request decision. Criterion will not discriminate against you for exercising an applicable privacy right.

Submit a request by emailing privacy@criteriongrading.com with “Privacy Rights Request” in the subject line. Describe the right you wish to exercise and the state in which you reside. We may request information reasonably necessary to verify your identity, authority, and the scope of the request. An authorized agent may submit a request where permitted by law, subject to proof of authorization and identity-verification requirements. If we deny an appealable request, our response will explain how to appeal.

Some information may be exempt from a request, including information necessary to complete a transaction, protect security and certification integrity, comply with law, exercise legal rights, or maintain permitted internal records.

Criterion is based in West Virginia, and this Privacy Policy is designed to state Criterion’s practices clearly and coherently in keeping with the consumer-protection principles of the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act. Criterion does not describe a privacy right as a West Virginia statutory right unless West Virginia law provides that right. The additional request options described in Section 11 are Criterion commitments and may also satisfy rights granted by another applicable jurisdiction.

Criterion maintains safeguards designed to protect personal information and will provide notice to affected West Virginia residents when required by the West Virginia Breach of Security of Consumer Information law, West Virginia Code § 46A-2A-101 et seq. Statutory breach notice will be provided without unreasonable delay, subject to legally permitted investigation, restoration, and law-enforcement considerations.

West Virginia consumers may send a privacy notice, inquiry, or request electronically to privacy@criteriongrading.com. Criterion will respond in accordance with applicable law and the commitments stated in this Privacy Policy.

The Services are not directed to children under 13, and Criterion does not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided personal information to Criterion, contact privacy@criteriongrading.com.

The Services may link to or integrate with third-party websites, platforms, payment services, shipping services, or other resources. Their privacy practices are governed by their own notices and policies. Criterion is not responsible for the privacy practices of services it does not control.

Criterion may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in the Services, information practices, or legal requirements. The revised policy will display a new effective date. Where required by law, Criterion will provide additional notice or obtain consent before a material change takes effect.

Questions, complaints, and privacy-rights requests may be directed to: