Slabs And Slabbing Medals - Coin Community Forum

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Author	Replies: 3 / Views: 1,449
retiredkper Pillar of the Community United States 541 Posts	Posted 11/18/2018 6:08 pm For starters let me say that I was an established collector before the slabbing coins was invented. I can also fondly remember the pre-MS grading days. I understand the purpose of slabbing and MS grading. It has worked so well that now it is not unusual to see ancient coins, medals, sports cards and comic books slabbed and MS graded! I am also a medal collector and as such I do not always trust slabs containing medals. Unlike with coins where grading and authentication are the main concerns because the other features are regular and constant, medals are different. When slabbing a rare or possibly unique medal the slabber or slab tech, has never seen the item before and can not look it up without doing extensive research which time constraints do not permit. Case in point, I recently bought a very rare slabbed gold Wisconsin Perry's Victory Centennial medal. Only 12 are known to have been awarded and each was named. The medal has a short auction history and details are sketchy. Being in a slab made it impossible to properly examine it. How was I to know if it was actually gold and it's weight. With a hacksaw, screw driver and pliers I carefully liberated the medal from the slab. After measuring it, weighing it and doing a specific gravity test I now know that the medal is a minimum of .990 fine gold, higher than .916 as previously reported. The weight is 34.05 grams, slightly heavier than reported. The medal is 2.2 mm thick which is less than the copper version. The dealer who sold the medal could have saved a few dollars by not slabbing this medal and I would gladly paid the same amount as I did for the medal slabbed. * Moved by Staff moved to a more appropriate forum. * Report this Post to the Staff

Spence Moderator United States 34408 Posts	Posted 11/18/2018 7:46 pm Quote: With a hacksaw, screw driver and pliers I carefully liberated the medal from the slab. @RK, I'm glad you said that you were careful. Very nice pick-up! "If you climb a good tree, you get a push." -----Ghanaian proverb "The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed." -----King Adz Report this Post to the Staff
beancounter New Member United States 24 Posts	Posted 11/18/2018 8:34 pm I'm not a big fan of slabs. I appreciate that it provides a "certified" grade, giving a buyer a level of comfort. Like the OP, I started collecting long before slabs existed, and the overuse of MS-61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68 and 69 to inflate the value of a coin/token exponentially with each increment. I remember going through my local dealers V nickel's, wheat cents, and other low value item box, holding each in my hand and looking at them closely as real pieces of history. To me, a slabbed coin/token just doesn't feel real, and it seems like they morph coins and tokens into just another cold/soulless investment vehicles. Back on topic - with medals, however, I imagine authenticity is more important than grade, and so slabbing is valuable. Quietly steps off soapbox... Edited by beancounter 11/18/2018 8:35 pm Report this Post to the Staff
Earle42 Bedrock of the Community United States 10038 Posts	Posted 11/18/2018 9:05 pm Quote: When slabbing a rare or possibly unique medal the slabber or slab tech, has never seen the item before and can not look it up without doing extensive research which time constraints do not permit. The human "need" for an "experts" opinion can make anything possible. Marketer's love this notion and definitely take advantage of it. Hence collectables of all sorts became the target for various types of grading services. Watch for it in the future: If grading overall was a science, certain technical standards might be able to be set up for grading a rare specimen of a certain type object. Collecting data such as surface damage percentages, percentage of wear overall, etc. would at least give some sort of verifiable standard by which very rare items could have grade's assigned. Until that time, some company assigning a grade to a rare item of which they may or may not have ever seen one before is even more subjective than slabbing items that are commonly seen. How much squash could a Sasquatch squash if a Sasquatch would squash squash? Download and read: Grading the graders Costly TPG ineptitude and No FG Kennedy halves https://ln5.sync.com/dl/7ca91bdd0/w...i3b-rbj9fir2 Report this Post to the Staff
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