Be Careful When Mailing Slabs With New Security Chip-Embedded NFC Chips

""The NFC chip contains a uniform resource locator (URL) that generates a unique, cryptographic one-time password (OTP) that changes every time the chip is tapped. This password is validated by the HID Trusted Tag® Cloud Authentication service to prove that it is the exact same tag that was issued with the slab.""

Apparently, PCGS might be able to know when, and perhaps where, and maybe by what phone a slab is checked.

I agree. Several of my PCGS purchases have come in these slabs. For what it is worth, I had to get really close to the slab (that is, basically touching it) for my phone to read them; which is no different than when I use my phone to make point-of-sale payments. The crime is high cost (time and effort), low reward (what percentage of US mail contains a PCGS slab?). Keep calm and carry on.

46 years as a mail order coin dealer total packages really lost
3 .
#1 Malaysia 1987 , #2 Belgium 2019 , #3 Ohio this year . Total overall value of the 3 pieces that were lost
less than one thousand dollars , half was recovered through insurance.
This is out of many many thousands of shipped items !
This is really , really a stretch if you understand how the postal system
works with tracked , registered , signed for packages . If you did, you would
feel more at ease . You have a better chance of being mugged than losing a package to this technology .

That never occurred to me - but now wrapping in tissue paper first, then foil (to prevent scratches) then package them..

I have seen debate on this over on the PCGS forum.

In my mind, the main drawback to the theory is this line...


It presupposes a thief will be a specialist coin-snatcher, infiltrating USPS or the courier companies and actively seeking out rare coins to steal (as opposed to other valuables).

Let's face it, if a fifth-column thief embedded in USPS suspects a parcel might have coins in it, they're not going to download an app, and scan the parcel using the app just to make sure it's got coins in it before they steal it. They'll just snatch the parcel completely uncertain of its contents, and open it at their leisure to see for themselves.

So, now our coins must wear a tinfoil hat?

To be sure, only Ohio was this year. Belgium was four years ago. Malaysia was when I was in high school.

The vast majority of thefts are those of opportunity. Something like this requires too much effort and the hit rate is going to be very low. There will be more success spotting labels and other patterns. Why limit yourself to just graded coins when there are so many other things to steal?

There are just way too many parcels in the system. An extremely small percentage of them will have an externally readable NFC tag. An even smaller percentage of those will be a PCGS NFC tag. And if you somehow managed to steal all the ones I have bought with them... Congratulations! You got less than $500 for your efforts!

But if wrapping a slab in foil make you feel better, I will not stop you.

Of course, this is nothing new. When TollTags became a thing, I recall that there were problems with people getting specious charges on the NJ Turnpike usually before they received the tag. The packages were being scanned from inside the UPS trucks!