Slabbed Coins

I voted slabs ,
I am happy to buy raw coins at auction houses and coin shows when I see them in the hand ,not so happy to buy on ebay with some of the tricks they can do with photography ., sometimes its just punt . Slabs are made for easy ebay selling imo . I am happy to buy slab on ebay but yep must be right price.

I am happy to see my better coins in slabs ,pre decimal proofs and florins yep for the protection the slab gives.
I have seen dealers rubber band proof sets together in 2x2 holders they still rub and clang against each coin every time they remove the rubber band to show customer.

Also when I kick the bucket , I think the beneficiaries of my coins in my will, will have slightly less of a chance of been ripped off, now my higher valued coins are professionally graded.

I do not have a specific preference either way - on the whole I find the majority of coins I am seeking to be in the unslabbed market and priced at reasonable levels.

I tend to place more emphasis on the track record of the seller for selling genuine, unadulterated coins, and my own personal assessment of the coin (preferably in hand).

It is well known that many forgers/"restorers" view the slabbing of their coins as the ultimate crowning achievement of their art, and that there are plenty of fake slabs containing fake coins in the wild, so I do not view slabbed coins as being exempt from scrutiny and certainly not worthy of paying extra for.

However, on certain key dates or certain key coins above a certain value, where I could not ascertain the genuineness or condition in person I would be inclined to favour slabbed coins.

Trout with all respect the graders at PCGS grade almost certainly more Franklin halves in a week that you'll ever see in your lifetime. Did you give any thought to the fact that the flat spots are strike weakness and not wear? Did you give any thought to the fact that PCGS grades coins strongly based on lustre and perhaps you don't value it as highly? Did you give any thought to the fact that YOUR grading standard is different to the one PCGS uses? You call it EF, they call is MS64. The standards ARE DIFFERENT. Yours is no more right or wrong than theirs.

I should add for those that are starting to think that I'm a TPG graded coin advocate I should point out that only a small % of my collection is graded. Graded coins have their uses, sometimes its warranted and sometimes it's not. I guess I am trying to get across that TPG coins aren't good or bad, they are just different. Biased "anti slab" advocates always bring up arguments that are equally applicable to the raw coin market yet somehow those points are ignored. Sure the coin Trout points out might be over-graded, but so are any number of raw coins in dealers books. No doubt there are raw coins that are over-graded in my collection and in (regardless of what he might think) Trout's collection too. Furthermore for every TPG coin seller that's trying to get a higher price for a coin because of the mis-leading AU grade on an AU55 slab I'll show you a seller that's selling a raw, dipped, wiped coin that he/she is foisting off as AU.

Learn what TPG coins bring to the table and you'll enjoy your hobby all the more.

weird looking "flat spots"
The marks are too strong to be bag marks.
I am of the understanding that MS indicates an uncirculated coin.
This one maybe AU58 and at a stretch MS60-61.
Regardless of which grading system used, IMHO this coin has been WAY over graded.
My point being is that the grading on slabbed coins is not infallible

this is why i'd like take NGC if let me make a choice between PCGS and NGC.

Thata the whole point. I don't rely on the dealers grading, I rely on my own grading.





This quote is from another thread but a response to it probably belongs here. My main issue with slabbed coins is that we have faceless men at PCGS telling us how to grade coins. That lustre is very important but "rub" is less important. What right do they have to tell me that this is the correct way to grade a coin?
With the ANDA system we have grades that dont rely on a ridiculous and unenforceable 70 point scale. It is up to the seller and the buyer to negotiate a value on the coin. Not rely on the whim of a faceless man at PCGS.

It may be that Aussie collectors are really not enamoured with the slabbed coins concept and prefer to grade their own when they purchase them.
My perception about Aussie collectors is that they collect coins for there own pleasure and not as an investment portfolio.
High grade and rare coins are usually purchased from highly reputable dealers or at auction houses without any drama's.
Without the need to be slabbed.

Not exactly, PCGS grade by wear (in circulated grades), lustre just so happens to be by far the most accurate way of measuring wear so people that don't understand this automatically assume that they grade by lustre. In mint state grades lustre only forms a minor part of the equation.

Have a read of this article - it should explain why:
http://www.numismatics.com.au/Blog/...nding_Lustre

Also the 70 point standard is very well enforced - I think what you're saying is that it can't be perfect, I agree, but it is in practice far more consistently applied (at least by the major TPGs) than the ANDA standard.