PR: Elite Coinage develops anti-counterfeit technology for collectibles with VeriTrace, Inc

Elite Coinage Co., a collectibles trader and creator, today unveiled a proprietary anti-counterfeiting 24K-gold-infused printing technology developed in collaboration with VeriTrace, Inc., the nation’s largest printer of high-security government vital records.

In its first exhibition of Elite’s technology, Elite unveiled its limited edition high-security 24-karat gold note collectible featuring one of TV’s most enduring and beloved hits: The Golden Girls. The note combines multiple printing processes, including five-color offset, 24K gold-infused intaglio and holographic foil, UV-visible ink, individual serial numbering, and more than 20 security features, many of them not commercially available and typically reserved for high-security government documents.

According to Elite CEO and Founder Yury Shapshal: “As fans, collectors, and investors migrate to collectibles, so do counterfeiters, who operate with growing sophistication. Brands need to catch up or risk losing their valuable intellectual property. For our licensing portfolio, given my background in the fintech industry, we drew from what we knew worked in the banking industry. Today, we have some of the strongest protection for collectibles on the market, and our technology can be applied to almost any collectible item, including NFTs, sports trading cards, comic books, art, and more.”

In addition to The Golden Girls, Elite will be developing licensed collectibles for ABC Entertainment favorites, such as Dancing with the Stars, General Hospital, and Schoolhouse Rock!

Says Shapshal’s business partner and Elite Co-Founder Emma Slater: “Our licensing partners demand the highest levels of security for their valuable rights. We knew what existed wasn’t working. It was therefore critical to reimagine anti-counterfeit technology usually reserved for banknotes and apply it to collectibles.”

“Getting to an exclusive agreement with VeriTrace was key,” Shapshal says. “VeriTrace is one of a select few printers in the United States with access to high-security technologies and components not commercially available. By design, our products contain totally unique and random technological fingerprints, easing the way for future authentication. Add the 24K gold, and you have a hybrid collectible of revolutionary quality, complexity, and security.”

At the VeriTrace plant in Ohio, each individual note is subjected to multilevel protections found only in high-security documents. Says Jim Columbus, VeriTrace’s Vice President of Sales North America Government and Vital Documents: “Soon after Elite approached us two years ago, it became clear that this R&D challenge would test our 110 years of combined security print experience to the very core. We were asked to come up with new, undeveloped print methods and technologies. Today, all that effort and collaboration have paid off. From the beautiful graphics to the extreme print technologies, these notes are totally secure. As a specialist with more than 37 years’ experience, I can confidently say this is a note I would not be able to counterfeit. We are excited about this collaboration with Elite and we welcome the challenge.”   

Shapshal’s effort caught the attention of Mark Salzberg, Chairman of Certified Collectibles Group (“CCG”), the world’s leading provider of expert, impartial and tech-enabled services that add value and liquidity to collectibles. According to Salzberg: “Our certification provides a guarantee of authenticity and condition as well as protection in our state-of-the-art holders. Our graders evaluated Elite’s notes according to our rigorous standards, and more than nine in 10 earned the highest available grade. In all these respects, Elite’s technology delivers.”

The CCG affiliate Collectibles Authentication Guaranty (CAG) – generally reserved for major collections, estates, museums, and select artists – is now the exclusive grading service of these notes.

Says Elite’s Shapshal: “Successful brands generate billions of dollars in revenues from royalties on the sale of licensed products, making them ripe targets for counterfeiters. Continuing the status quo is simply not good enough. Our technology is for any brand serious about protecting its intellectual property.”

About Elite Coinage

Founded in April 2018, Elite Coinage has traded in high-value, premium collectibles, focusing on technological innovation, industry-leading quality and respected partnerships. Shapshal, a 20-year veteran of the fintech industry, has been involved in the collectibles market since 2007.

About VeriTrace

As a multi-level security company, VeriTrace offers a complete line of state-of-the-art anti-counterfeit and tamper-proof solutions combined with unique security designs. These provide powerful brand protection tools with a full line of scalable overt, covert, and forensic features to protect governments and brands alike. VeriTrace is a member of NASPO International, a nonprofit association dedicated to developing and supporting national international security standards through education, auditing and certification.

About Certified Collectibles Group

CCG is the world’s leading provider of expert, impartial and tech-enabled services that add value and liquidity to collectibles. The CCG companies include Numismatic Guaranty Corporation® (NGC®), Numismatic Conservation Services™ (NCS®), Paper Money Guaranty® (PMG®), Certified Guaranty Company® (CGC®), Classic Collectible Services® (CCS®), Certified Sports Guaranty™ (CSG™), Authenticated Stamp Guaranty® (ASG®) and Collectibles Authentication Guaranty® (CAG®). Since 1987, the CCG companies have certified more than 60 million coins, banknotes, comic books, trading cards, sports cards, stamps, estate items and related collectibles. Today, CCG serves the world of collectibles online and at its offices in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and China.