Complete Set Of PF70 Proof ASEs....need Enlightenment

It would. Back when PCGS was doing their World Series of Grading they allowed TPG graders to compete as well. They did do better than the general collectors. They got about 75% of them "right" And that was with lower grades, not having to tell 69's from 70's.

We have all seen reports of coins being sent back in and having come back at different grades, some higher, some lower. Some times coming back as problem coins, and sometimes coming back the same. And it is a significant percentage that change. So although it my be hypothetical, you really can't expect that if you sent in a bunch of 70's that they would ALL still come back as 70's. And since they can't go up, and they are not likely to be problem coins the only way to go is down and I would expect a large number of them would.

Thats no different then buying a slabbed one. Just because its graded doesn't mean youve given up your right to make a judgement on a coin. I've been looking for an ms67 Antietam for close to 18 months now because I havent found one that meets my eye appeal expectations. Thats not to say the others are over graded but they didnt do it for me.

We see slabbed coins go lower than they should if theyre dogs and some of the execption ones go for more than they should with most going for what they should. The only difference between slabbed and raw is slabbed protects your investment on resale. Either way though whether your paying the slabbed price for the label or the raw price because of what a dealer has graded it at youre making the decision that you agree with the grade given by purchasing it. In both instances you also have the ability to say I dont agree with that or thats not good enough for me and move on.




Thats what us slab buyers do too. We buy coins we like that we agree with the grades. I cherry pick raw coins myself in stores to send in if I see a good deal. I missed on a few at first but seeing the slabbed ones over and over you learn about the grading and what theyre looking for and have gotten a few really good deals. The only downfall is having to wait until you have enough coins for it to be worth it to send in, sending in single coins is crazy expensive.

But like I mentioned above buying a slabbed coin doesn't mean I've given up my right to grade something myself or make my own decision on it nor does it mean I'm just buying something because I think I can make money. In all honesty I would buy most things if I knew I could turn it into things I like, but for my personal coins if I dont like it I'm not the least bit interested.




That was a problem on ebay when it first started with the coin boom there. A lot of people do stick to graded coins there because its easier to know its real, but also if people like their coins graded its generally cheaper to let someone else get them graded. I'm happy ebay took the step of getting rid of the basement slabbers or making it harder to sell those but there was certainly a learning curve there for that new market.

Now though the average ebay buyer is much more educated about what theyre buying. You dont see the unappealing coins going for the same as the exceptional ones and those basement slabber coins often do bring back raw prices.

I would add that anything you see happening on ebay with buyers making bad purchases isn't anything that you dont also see at shops and coin shows. While its true that not every slab buyer knows what theyre buying, not every raw buyer does either. There certainly are criticisms of slabbed buying, but its not unique to slabbed coins and theyre the same criticisms that apply to buying raw and not knowing what theyre looking at the only difference there is theyre trusting the dealer instead of a TPG. I would honestly say ebay and slabbed buying would give the new buyer a better shot of not making a bad purchase with the added information available to them as opposed to walking into a coin shop for the first time with no idea what to look for or what prices should be.



EDIT: Just to be clear I'm not arguing that someone has to buy slabbed, they dont and should buy what they want. But what I am saying is that buying slabbed shouldnt be looked down on nor does it mean that people are just blindly buying labels.

Thats no different than someone paying stupid money for an MS 65 over an MS 64 when they cant tell them apart, doesn't mean there isn't a difference.

There might not be. It depends on the grader.


I would never spend more than MS-60 money on any coin, whether I can tell it or not.

But most of you know I prefer circulated coins, so there is that.