This coin deserves a GRADE! 1909S VDB PCGS "genuine" slab.

It's very simple. A grade is a shorthand way of telling someone who can't see it what a coin looks like. Well guess what, the coin you have in your hand looks exactly like it looks.

Certify coins, point out defects, there is no reason to grade them.

I can't do it jbuck.

This coin deserves a grade.

(Trust me, once it has one, I'll crack it back out and tuck it back into the Whitman that I found it in. I would have never even had the thing graded in the first place if not for the folks here at CCF. There's a thread about it somewhere back in the history of this forum.)

Some very good people here gave me some very good advice back then. I "certified" it via PCGS...

PCGS tells me that it is "genuine"...

I feel that this "genuine" coin deserves a grade. A professional grade via a TPGS.

Once I get an actual grade on it, I'll be happy.

Yeah, I don't understand why someone would have a coin slabbed then break it out and put it in a holder. That makes no sense and it is a huge waste of money. What am I missing?

If it deserves a grade, then just grade it yourself or post some good pictures on here for an opinion and it won't cost anything.

You do know, that once you break it out of the slab, that grade means nothing now? At least to me it wouldn't, since how can you prove it was ever in that slab, especially after you have handled it?

To me the whole point of slabbing is to verify it is a legit coin and for easier resale.

I do a little bit of both... I've cracked a number of slabs. Several of these were AU58 coins that I got pretty cheap - I imagine the submitter thought they would come back as MS. I didn't pay a premium for the slab (in some cases, they actually cost less than the submission cost.) They're still nice looking coins; they're good matches for some raw MS coins next to them in an album. In some cases, they look better than some MS coins! I've also cracked a few that were sold through venues that only sell slabbed coins (e.g. Teletrade).

The most expensive coin I've cracked was an XF45 1908-S cent, and I did get a slabbed one in this case to avoid counterfeits. Maybe it was overkill? I don't know how common 1908-S fakes are, or how hard they are to detect. It's not so pricey a coin that I think the extra liquidity from keeping it in a slab is going to be a big factor if I have some financial disaster.

I also have some high-grade Mercury dimes that I've kept in their slabs. These are not extremely valuable coins and they're not key dates. I am, however, a klutz and am worried about marring a MS66 or 67 coin. Most of these are toners too, and the patina can be even more fragile than the metal underneath. I've got 3-ring slab pages, so I've got no need to crack them out for display purposes.

When I get some more expensive keys, like a 1916-D dime, 1877 or 1909-S Indian cent, I probably will leave them in their slabs. While I don't plan on ever selling them, if I was hit with some major unforeseen expense, they would probably be the first to be sold. Those are coins where the slab really does add a lot to the liquidity.

Some other semi-keys, I'm on the fence about. When I get a 1921 or '21-D dime in VF-XF, will I crack it? They're still pretty commonly sold raw, but in higher grades it's probably easier to get the most money out of them if they're in a slab. *shrug*

I understand you want a grade but to me finding out about its authenticity would have been my main goal. Like I said I do understand that since you do now know its definitely authentic that you now want to know a professionals opinion on the grade though

I need some help here......CLEANED.....
How does a TPG tell the difference between a cloth used to wipe a coin clean, and the cloth that lines a pocket that has rubbed on the finish of a coin? One is bad and the other okay? This seems ridiculous to me, unless we are discounting a very high grade coin because it was conserved to remove some dust, or dipped to remove tarnish...."cleaned" seems an absurd term to me. Anything but the highest grades shouldn't be evaluated on "cleaned". Saying what the intent was when a coin received its wear is "snake oil" to me. Is a coin that ended up going through the wash in my jeans no longer gradeable? If so...I would surmise no coins are gradable that have seen circulation.

I definitely understand that. Of course, if my heirs were to be in financial straits and managed to get what my collection was worth, I would be sorry to say that they would still be in financial straits!

I hear you. I have managed to avoid that situation. I think about building other sets after I finished what I have started, but the main thing keeping me from doing them is the fear of my collection becoming too big to maintain.

Okay, I apologize for veering off of the original topic.

Found this forum and the discussion, decided to sign up because of it.
I too recently received a group of coins back from PCGS ungraded, in my case marked "questionable toning". This is my first interaction with a coin grading service.
I believe this is because there was limited toning on one side ( these are all Morgan Silver Dollars) and none on the back.
The coins came from my Uncle, had been stored for years in a felt holder that held them tightly in place but allowed the front to receive air/moisture/whatever. I'm pretty sure that's the reason for the disparity.
So, instead of getting a grade, I instead get a coin with an unknown grade and a holder that screams "look at me, I'm modified" .
I'm also thinking of cracking it and just putting it in a book.
This is frustrating- and feels like I just wasted a lot of money "subscribing" to PCGS and getting five plastic holders.
I'm not really worried about these coins being authentic, as the dates are common. I just thought they were in really good condition ( strong images, little scuffing on the surface) and wanted to know what they graded at. Sigh.

I might add that this was submitted at the Long Beach Coin show, where NGC calmly told me not to bother them and that the woman manning that booth stated "I am not a numismatist, and why not go talk to a dealer".

There, you've got my vent. Now let me crankily go and read more posts...
People wonder why it's hard getting people into coin collecting...