One Of The Major Reasons To Buy A Slabbed Coin...

I was reading David Bowers's column in Coin World 2/14/05) and he touched on Authencity...

"Regadless of inconsistencies about grading, a major protection is the seeming assurance of obtaining authentic coins. The situation was far differant years ago (before slabbing) when noted coin dealer, John J. Ford, Jr., commented that, in his opinion, nearly half of the 1916-D Winged Liberty Head Dimes he viewed at a coin convention, and being offered by dealers, were fakes.

In a trip I made to the coin department of Swiss Banks in the 1960's, more than half of the US gold dollars and $3 coins on display were counterfeits. In 1992, I had discussion on this subject with J. P. Martin (then of Anacs, now one of the head guys at ICG) and he related that he seen a flood of supposed Proof 1895 Morgans struck at the Philadelphia mint that were 1895-O or 1895-S Morgan dollars with the mint mark removed, and conversesly, a lot of so-called 1893-S Morgan dollars that were regular 1893 dollars with the "S" mark added. Now at least with the several leading services (he mentioned specifically PCGS, NGC, ANACS and ICG), this problem has abated."

He also states in the article that with the advent of the internet and on-line auctions (i.e., ebay), that fakes and counterfeits are getting more severe. After all, what happens to a seller once a fake is discovered (rarely), the auction gets pulled, but does anything happen to the seller!?! They usually go about their business with other fakes, and worst yet, may post the same fake coin at a later date hoping NOT to get caught.

A common trick by coin/fake sellers is to simply illustrate a coin or bank note and say nothing about it, giving the impression that is a newly discovered, a "rare" find for the taking. If the item is found to be fake, the seller can plead ignorant stating something to the effect, "I am not a coin collector...I am just helping this old laby sell off her late husband's collection."

I always ask the question, if you were presented with a 1909S-VDB 1c in AU55 condition slabbed by (insert PCGS, NGC, ICG or ANACS here) or the same coin offered by Chuck's Coins graded AU/BU at the same price, which would you choose?

Then the question becomes, how much is that authencity and grade worth to you and what does that peace of mind cost? $20 additonal? $50 additional?

Authenticity, sight unseen buying/selling, protection and display are reasons why slabs are here to stay.