What Is Slabbing A Coin /

It is when you send a coin or whatever to a company to be professionally graded. There are three trusted ones:PCGS,NGC,ANACS in my opinion. To justify all costs involved to have a coin slabbed,the retail value of the slabbed coin needs to be at least $150.
John1

Another thing a newbie to slabbing needs to know is what is said on this forum over ad over: Buy the COIN, not the slab.

This means be careful to do enough homework (looking at graded coins, using online grading helps etc.) and do not believe the label they companies put on the coin is THE one grade the coin actually merits.

The TPGs (Third Party Grading companies) who do the slabbing are in the business to make profits (legitimate business!). So there is a lot of marketing ideas emploed to maximize thos profits.

One example would be that a TPG will offer special printed decorative graphics on grading of the slab to entice people to buy more of the same thing. Another thing PCGS did which was a genius idea for marketing was created registry sets so people would compete o see who could obtain and register online the best set of graded coins. Hence slabbed prices on the nicest examples skyrockets.

Also note that the reputation of these companies is certainly hyped by their marketing divisions. The facts are that a coin can be submitted, slabbed and returned, broken out of the slab by the owner, resubmitted and the coin not get the same grade it had before. The TPGs outwardly tell you their service is an art, not a science, and is subjective. In other words, they have no way to prove their assessment of the coin is fact.

The technology to make a scientific assessment has been out there for ages. But subjectivity likely is a lot more profitable as it keeps people gambling on the subjectivity.

Collecting slabbed coins can be a blast, but the collector should know what they are collecting is the coin+slab+label opinion. If the coin is released form the slab, all of a sudden any extra value someone would pay for the coin+slab_grade disappears. In fact the value could easily drop if the coin was resubmitted and got a lesser grade the next time. Hence the assigned value is artificial and NOT based on the coin itself.

Be educated to all of this and spend time looking at slabs and grading helps online, in books, and on this forum. Here are some examples of how the expertise these companies claim shows itself to be lacking (very lacking in some cases against their claims):
http://goccf.com/t/346174#2967242

Here are words of wisdom from our now departed, and missed, memeber BiggFredd:
http://goccf.com/t/130186

While there are some collectors who put enough faith in these companies they will come to the company defense at the slightest hint that Mount Olympus is not actually where the grading companies live/work from, seeing the facts for yourself is the best way to make a decision.

A hobby is about FUN. If a person enjoys slabs for what they are - then great! Just be educated and you will come out on top.