Certified VS. Raw coins

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Point well accepted, but for a large number of people, collectors and non-collectors alike, being in a slab does give the owner a warm and fuzzy feeling. I see all the examples presented are "foreign" coins.

 

Slabbed coins are not perfect. But think of family members who might get stuck with selling your collection. What would most likely lead to them being ripped off: slabbed coins or raw coins?

 

Don't matter......they can get 'ripped off' either way. Detailed instructions, including trusted associates to lend assistance and advice, must be included with the collectors stash.

 

I am firmly in the slab camp. I just wish they all had to make their slabs air tight. I remember the old days of cotton gloves and holding your breath lest you injure a rare coin. Now I can share an 1872-s Seated Dollar with my Ten year old niece. I can also build my sets to my desires, not based on what album makers decided made a good set of coins.
Personally, I am just a temp. owner. My coins should out last me and still be preserved so others can enjoy them. Slabs make that much more possible.

 

They got that.

 

That is the only good argument in favor of slabs, and in truth it's a pretty strong one.

 

True, but a slab gives them a very good starting point if they want to put anything over a nonexistent effort into figuring out what it is. 20 seconds online per coins basically for approximate values.

More importantly though it makes it MUCH harder for someone to convince them the grading is way off and rip them off with smooth talking about why they aren't that good.

 

Quite right, but just wanted to get it out there that 'slabs' ain't fool proof either. Folks still have to do their homework.........

 

For sure, but nothing in life is fool proof expect death anyway

 

Can't fool anyone on that my friend.

 

My oh my...HOW EVER did those coins manage to last for hundreds of years before slabs came along?

 

People had a clearer and less self-centered concept of where they fit into the bigger picture than they do now.

 

Some sellers on eBay crack out "details" coins bought at shows and sell them online to unsuspecting collectors.

I've bought raw coins online that appeared quite nice...only to come back from PCGS as "cleaned"...usually after the return policy has expired. I doubt most people care to admit it, but it happens.

There's no substitute for good relationships with trusted dealers.

That's another issue...I recently sent what appeared to be a VERY nice 1928 Peace dollar (I bought online) to PCGS for grading. I was worried because the luster was just a tad subdued. Sure enough, it came back as Unc Details.

Had the surface not been altered, it would have graded MS66 all day long! I wish that TPGs would score coins by Surface, Blemishes, and Color so "details" coins might be more accurately valued. We pay for the service...how hard would it be for TPGs to more thoroughly document their decisions?

 

Ah...the good ole' days...

 

Why are you convinced that you'll never be able to do that as well as they do, and that your opinion is unsound? Are you sure that 1928 isn't original, or are sure because they told you so? You had a lot more time to study it than the few seconds they get....

 

I can spot most cleaned coins quickly, but there are some that fool me.

A few years back I purchased a raw 1914-s Half Eagle online. I thought it was a solid MS62. I showed it to a dealer/friend and he instantly declared it "cleaned". I sent it in anyway...and sure enough...Unc Details. I never had the chance to ask him how he knew.

I think about that coin a lot. I have far more successes than failures...but the failures are the ones I remember most.

 

Here are a couple of pictures I just took with a new camera (bad lighting). There are a few contact marks, but not many.

 

With all the well made fakes being sold, slabbed gives you some peace of mind.