Question On Slabbing/Grading Of Modern Clads/Proofs

I definitely like the look of slabbed coins, but don't think they're necessarily worth it unless they are valued at more than what it takes to send them in. Now, saying that, IMO only very high quality rare coins should be slabbed. Although I think they look professional and very cool, I like being able to actually hold the coin. I am afraid that somepoint all coins will become slabbed and unless you crack the slab they are stuck there. I would only send in a coin to NGC if it is worth $1000+
But if you like them, go right ahead it's your collection. I'm not telling you how to collect. Just for me, something about raw coins feels more genuine to me.

I've recently bought about a half dozen slabbed PR69 modern silver proof dimes off ebay. I paid just under $10 for each of them shipped and I can't imagine any slabbed coin going for less, much less a silver one.

If it's what you want to collect then by all means do it. I'm sure you're not the only one out there that collects slabbed clad or there wouldn't be any. However, sending them in yourself to be graded would be very expensive, I'd just look for ones already encased that can be had for much less than paying for grading.

Rick

Beaker,

Interesting question and knowledgeable answers for a new guy like myself. Thank you for asking what I think is a great question.

I collect Kennedy half dollars and, for me, I couldn't justify the cost of graded coins and, for me, once you get above a 66 you're really splitting hairs. Wanting a high quality set I started looking for coins from Mint sets still in cellophane, and for my proofs and silver proofs buying proof sets and opening them myself. But that's me and I am all for whatever makes YOU happiest.

You may be paying more than you need to, but if the assurance of a certain level of quality is what floats your boat than by all means get what you want.

The end result of my collecting this way is I have broken up many proof and Mint sets and to finance my habit I sell those in their mint packaging or carefully place the proofs in 2x2 mylars and sell them on ebay and Bidstart.

I have a box full of modern Roosevelts you're welcome to peruse and pick from if you should ever decide that you'd like to try finding those Choice BU Gems yourself and sending them out to see how well you can spot them. Keeping in mind that PCGS concedes that some denominations are more costly to have graded than they are worth. If you want the sure thing buying on ebay after someone else has taken the risk is probably cheaper in the long run. But by all means do what makes YOU happy and enjoy building the collection of your dreams.

I'm not familiar with the market and my grading isn't the best but I suspect most of these clads that are "out of the money" are some of the biggest steals in numismatics. If you go for the highest grades then you'll be competing with registry participants and at the mercy of the market which can be brutal with wild upswings and downswings as collectors vye for spots on the registry. But if youlook at coins a couple grades down some appear to be vastly underpriced relative their actual availability. You could burn a lot of shoe leather looking for something like a really nice MS-65 1971 dime that looks like it might go 66 or 67 but only went 65 due to some issue which you find relatively unimportant. Only about 3% of '71 dimes in mint sets are top notch like this and the cheapest of these might go for five or ten dollars.

If you do shop around like this for undergraded or underappreciated clad then I'd strongly suggest you look at mint sets too. Not so much so you can find top notch coins but just so you know what "typical" really looks like. Some clad dimes look really nice in typical condition and you might not want to spend $20 or more for one that isn't substantially better. These coins don't get sent in when they're out of the money but some are scarce and some are very commom a few grades down. A very gemmy '72-D is extremely easy to find in a set for instance.

I've always told people that if they want to do a lot of work they can assemble top notch sets on a shoestring but if your intention is to assemble a very nice set for a reasonable sum then let others do it for you and buy slabs. If you don't like slabs then just bust them out. If you intend to spend several hundred dollars just make sure you've looked at some mint sets because this is the source of most of the graded coins.

I think you're much too quick to write off the monetary potential of these coins. No one should collect anything for "investment" because collectibles merely reflect herd mentality. Collectors tend to be very individualistic but it's demand that causes wild price swings so it's the behavior of groups of collectors that cause the price swings. This behavior can't be reliably predicted making investment impossible and speculation risky.

But saying that there will never be enough demand to push up the price of the 60,000 or 80,000 nice attractive 1969 dimes (in all grades) seems to be probably off base. There are millions of new collectors who don't have the prejudices against clad coins that we older ones do. Why couldn't something like an MS-65 1971 dime go much higher than five or ten dollars? Only a few thoudands are available now and this decreases substantially each year that they remain available for pennies in mint sets and aren't worth the cost of submitting. I'd wager a few of these are even intentionally put in circulation by those searching mint sets for coins worth the cost of submission. Some sets are cut up to get a very Gem half dollar and it's not even noticed some other coin is low end Gem.

These coins are fun to collect and they are exceedingly inexpensive relative their potential in many cases. Collectors need to know a little about mint sets if they're going to collect in this area or they'll make more mistakes and miss more opportunities. It doesn't make sense to pay $10 for a coin that can easily be found in a $4 mint set nor does it make sense to not buy a scarce coin for less than market when market price is already grossly understated. If you pass a nice well made MS-64 1982-P quarter at market price you are likely to kick yourself someday. If you pass a nice clean MS-65 '83-P quarter with a decent strike you'll kick yourself even sooner.

One of the nice things about collecting is youlearn the real value of coins as well as their potential and this gives you the opportunity to acquire sets at less than market prices and to capitalize on some opportunities and underpriced or undervalued coins.