Hello everyone! I got this coin at a coin show in June. It is an NGC sample slab with a 2001-D New York state quarter in it. The reverse hole on the slab is obstructed by a 4¢ girl scout stamp. The stamp is definitely inside the slab and it doesn't appear that the slab has been tampered with. My questions are: How would the stamp get in the slab? Does the stamp add any value (besides its 4¢ face value)? Thanks.
My guess is that the stamp was included within the slab specifically for the coin collecting course. No doubt, the instructor had these made up.
Bingo, that is exactly what it was for. This is what I call a Presentation slab. These were made up for distribution to the girl scouts participating in a collecting badge course being held at a major show. Only the girls in the course were given the slabs. None handed out to the general public. They have used this at more than one show though. These were the brainchild of Patty Finner. I do have one but technically it is "on loan" because I was not a participating girl scout. If I am ever to dispose of it I am supposed to return it to Patty. It isn't a "sample slab" because it was intended to be presented to a specific group, at a specific place or for a specific reason. Hence the name Presentation slab. Other examples of Presentation slabs would be the slabs presented as gifts to guests at the weddings of Cameron Kiefer, David Lange, or the collectors who went to the "final showing" of the NNC before it was taken off display at the Smithsonian. there are others as well.
Ok, without sounding like a smart-ass, I'd really like to know the difference between a sample for presentation and what might be considered just a regular sample? I only have two sample slabs and I do not come in contact with slabs of any kind very often. Please enlighten me. I thought all sample slabs were for some kind of presentation, somewhere.
True sample slabs are handed out by the TPG's (not other groups) strictly for the purpose of advertising their product or introducing a new slab design. The are handed out indiscriminately to anyone that asks, and often without having to be asked. They are often handed out at multiple shows. A Presentation slab is typically distributed by a group, not the TPG, to a specific group at a specific time and place. Usually in connection with a given event. In the case of the op slab you had to be a girl scout, at the show, and participating in the collecting badge class. If you were at the show and just asked for one you couldn't have it. If you were there and a girl scout but not part of the class you couldn't have one. You had to meet all three of the requirements and if you did then you were presented with one of these slabs.
