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Posted 06/23/2017 8:49 pm
You may feel the NEED to slab an 1885 nickel in MS and above grades. I wouldn't bother. Such a coin for me would be in a 2x2, in a non PVC archival quality album page.
If it is fully patinated, (and so it should be after 130 years), you can use bare fingers, as if it was a very valuable ancient bronze or silver coin that maybe over 2,000 years old.
The thick patina it should have acquired would fully protect it. Such a patina will even protect it from fingerprinting.
It may be desirable to slab such a coin if you wish to sell it, to help demonstrate authenticity.
In any event, slabbing severely interferes with the way I store and display my collection.
As a consequence I have learned to fairly accurately grade all of my coins for myself.
Slabbing has only been around for the couple of decades or so. All of the pristine coins that have been struck in the last two centuries have remained pristine for most of that time WITHOUT slabbing. Slabbing is not going to help them any better now, but respect in handling and storing them them will.
I always have all of my coins in 2x2's but that is for full attribution reasons. The encasement that slabbing provides will prevent you from writing an attribution that goes with the coin.
If it is fully patinated, (and so it should be after 130 years), you can use bare fingers, as if it was a very valuable ancient bronze or silver coin that maybe over 2,000 years old.
The thick patina it should have acquired would fully protect it. Such a patina will even protect it from fingerprinting.
It may be desirable to slab such a coin if you wish to sell it, to help demonstrate authenticity.
In any event, slabbing severely interferes with the way I store and display my collection.
As a consequence I have learned to fairly accurately grade all of my coins for myself.
Slabbing has only been around for the couple of decades or so. All of the pristine coins that have been struck in the last two centuries have remained pristine for most of that time WITHOUT slabbing. Slabbing is not going to help them any better now, but respect in handling and storing them them will.
I always have all of my coins in 2x2's but that is for full attribution reasons. The encasement that slabbing provides will prevent you from writing an attribution that goes with the coin.
