Does Anybody Else Hate Slabs?

yes I hate slabs but they are the best way to buy and sell people
that don't know to much about coins like and feel safe
I spoke to a few dealers and they say there sales are up with slabs as the average joe feel safe buying them
that my 2 bobs worth

Slabs are scorned upon in the UK.Especially for hammered.If I'm not confident that I know what I'm buying...I don't buy it.
Plus serious UK collectors mainly use cabinets.
TPG's have put the fear of god into the N American market and built up a multi million $ market for themselves.
Asia are copying the TPG slabs plus you get characters like Centsles who self slabs.(NNC)
Its each to their own.I have bought 6 slabbed coins but ignored the grade and graded myself.2 have been broken out.

I personally like to see my coins close up. To handle them, weigh them. You can't do that if a coin is slabbed.




OK, I get you'd want to perhaps protect proofs or BU copper from fingerprints. But capsules would work for that.

You might want reassurance your coin is genuine, but knowing your collecting area, buying from reputable dealers and learning to grade yourself will all help this. Plus you will become more of a numismatist, rather than just someone who collects slabs with coins in them.

To be honest, I don't hate slabs. Everyone is different and if some people want them, that's fine. What I do dislike is the creeping spread of the things from US coins to areas that the TPGS have little knowledge or experience in, such as hammered and ancient coins.

Trying to assess a 350+ year old coin by the same standards you'd use for, say, a 1969 cent makes no sense. They were manufactured by completely different processes. Plus the question we're really asking when we look at a coin is "is this coin a good (or better than average) example of the type?" Modern coins can be found in MS70 and so you have a benchmark for everything else from those. But you can only answer that question for earlier coins if you have seen a large enough number to establish your benchmark. And the evidence suggests TPGS graders haven't.

And finally, the genuineness of many of my coins is confirmed by provenance. Earlier collectors' 'tickets' upon which they wrote about the coin, photographs in auction catalogues or numismatic journals. TPGs don't seem interested in that. And unlike flips, there's no place to store old tickets with a slab.

So, no. I have no problem with slabs. So long as the coins I want continue to come to me raw as they traditionally have done.

I get pcunix' point about inheritance. My family will just have to turn to some of my friends who collect, or an auction house for advice I guess.

.

I have cracked out 3 coins from slabs this year alone. I only have 2 slabbed coins at this time and I might crack out one of those.

i like these square capsules
instead of the round.
the square actually fit in a drawer, where as the round take up to much space
https://www.leuchtturm.com/epages/l...ducts/308571

I don't "hate" slabbed coins - I'll buy one if there's at most a nominal premium attached. Unfortunately, they've become an entrenched aspect of the hobby - just try placing a "raw" coin with a major auction house.

I have only one graded coin. Does ICCS count as a "slab". It's kind of a flip.