TPG's Driving Out Average Collector?

A good indicator of the average collector's tastes are what sells at coin shows--the raw coins in albums, or the dealers' showcases of slabbed, higher-premium coins? Of the shows I frequent, I see much more sales in the raw category, even for nicer grades/dates. Most coins really aren't worth slabbing, and collectors who specialize in slabbed high-end coins will always be a subset of the total--imo.

I now when I took a hiatus from the hobby, a lot of it was due to college/starting a family/work, but also have to admit the TPGs did play a big role in it.

If the TPG grading process were turned over to impartial machines (and the tech has been around now for quite some time), the slabbed coins could be impartially graded, less people would be needed to complete the process (hence less inexpensive!), and less coins would slip through with a different grade b/c the one doing the grading put too much mustard in their coffee that morning.

Too many stories exist of people sending in a coin and breaking it out of the slab until it gets the grade they want. I have talked with two people who have worked grading for the big name TPGs. They said they are paid by the volume they get through in a day. No wonder there are mistakes.

It actually amazes me that something like the certification services can also exist! What next? A verifying company for the certification service of the slabbed coins?


Give it a few years.

I agree, the exception being that the key dates are more frequently slabbed.

Like many "improvements", slobbing hasn't eliminated counterfooting and grading problems, it's only changed them.

Old:Is this coin genuine?
New:Is this slab genuine?

Old:Any coin from (insert name) is a good deal, right?
New:Any coin in a fancy plastic holder is a good deal, right?

Old:It says Gem BU, so it will be Gem BU when I go to sell it.
New:It says ms65, so it will be ms65 when I go to sell it.

Old:Every dealer's Gem BU is the same as any other dealer's Gem BU.
New:Every TPG's ms65 is the same as any other TPG's ms65.

Old:I disagree with the grade.
New:CAC, Snow, whoever, disagrees with the grade.

Old:I paid $30 for a fake.
New:I paid $30 to be told a $20 coin is genuine.

ad nauseum

The Australian scene is somewhat different.

The TPG presence is nowhere as strong in Oz as it is in the 'States. Collectors are just not as dependent on TPG's. There just seems to be less market demand for slabbing.

Most of us still buy coins in the same way as we buy second hand cars. Perhaps that makes us a tiny little bit more self confident, and perhaps more forthright, when it comes to make buying or selling decisions.

In auction catalogues, the U.S. coins are more commonly slabbed than those of other countries.

We are more inclined to just put our coins straight into albums.

Personally, I would rather put my coins in 2x2 cardboard holders, with all of the purchase details marked on the holder. Much harder to do that with a slab.

Getting back to the question posed for this thread: Yes, I suppose I have acquired my coins for a little less, unslabbed.

bigfred really nailed it-the main difference I see as a collector before and after TPG's is that many people buy the grade on the slab, without regard to strke quality, luster, and eye appeal. Remember, the TPG's grade is nothing more than an opinion, and they make mistakes all the time, just like dealers do. Otherwise, we wouldn't have all this resubmission and crack out garbage going on. When I go to buy coins, I will pay a dealers asking price if it's a coin that I need, and the grade is absolutely spot on-both obverse and reverse. If not, I pass. One last thing,what I really don't get is market grading-either the coin is, or isn't that grade-not what people will pay-that just makes the grading world more murkier, imo.