Can we trust current slab coins?.

Not just collectors, but knowledgeable and experienced collectors.

 

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Thats just wrong.

 

Back in the days before Pearls were "color altered", it was said that the average customer could recognize about 5 shades of white,the average dealer about 10 shades, while a top professional pearl grader could consistently recognize over 100 shades of white.

I would think coin grading would follow a similar pattern.

Jim

 

Here are the said coins i got from an auction a few months ago in Quezon City, Metro Manila. They are 5 in all, i used a phone cam so sorry if there are other details that are a bit blurry. So far the rays of the sun all count to 13 which it should be.

Please let me know if all or one of these are fakes based on what you see:

 

Why would anyone pay to have an obvious MS-68, 69 graded?

Why would anyone pay to have an obvious MS-68, 69 graded? Especially when all these coins are that grade.
The whole thing is the biggest joke since Jose Tatum pawned off the V-nickle as a five dollar coin.
The grading companies are there to make money, make money, make money - get it? They are not there to help you and they are not there to help numismatics at all.
The very fact that they (and we) want grades on silver an gold eagles plus all modern comemoritives is a con to begin with. They are all perfect.
They are not coins struck for circulation where at least there is a challenge to find MS-64, 65, and 66 coins.
What would the early developers of the grading scales think if someone was dissapointed when they got back a MS-68??? It's all crazy and we have no one to blame but ourselfs. The grading companies have hooked us all and we pay them for nothing - none of this stuff is ever going to be worth what a "real coin" in a proper grade in original condition is worth.
We have only ourselves to blame. Everyone talks about the shopping networks being a rip but they are not very much different than the TPG companies - they are both selling you the illusion of something that will not be.

 

bhp3rd - very excellent point. my advise is never buy a single slabbed coin. never and never. in the near future. everyone will cracked out the slabbed coin and put those coin in what it should be. because slabbed coin will be worth less than raw coin.

 

I disagree. We pay them for authenticating the coin, issuing an opinion on the grade, and providing the plastic slab. Regarding what it will be worth -- nobody knows for sure. Some folks just like the slabs even for coins that are commonly high grade, and that is a valid way to collect.

 

And why on earth would you want them to authenticate a 2008 silver eagle???

And why on earth would you want them to authenticate a 2008 silver eagle??? This is what I'm talking about not real coins. We pay them to take a silver eagles out of mint roll and give a grade and authenticate - that's my big point of topic - virtually nothing since 1950 needs authenticating except varieities esp. proof or commems???

 

I disagree. I think what bhp3rd said is true for modern commemoratives...but slabs have their place. Would you buy a $5000 coin raw? I certainly wouldn't. I wouldn't even buy one I knew a lot about the coin. If I was going to add a 1893-S Morgan to my collection it would be in a slab...I am 100% confident I could pick out an authentic raw one, but I still want that insurance. Do I care if I ever own a graded ASE...no, but I want high end key coins slabbed and so do many collectors. For this reason alone, the TPGs are here to stay.

Plus, when you say crack out and "put coins in what it should be" what does that even mean? Coins are meant to be spent...not put in any kind of container. Putting a coin in a 2x2 or in it's original packaging is just as unnatural as a slab IMHO so what difference does it make.

I am not a huge fan of slabbed coins, 99% of my collection is raw. But I do have some in slabs and those will remain there.

 

The TPG graders are good at what they do, for two reasons. One, that's all they do, day-in and day-out. And two, that's all they do, day-in and day-out.

 

There are folks out there who enjoy collecting MS70 [for example] sets of ASEs. Some come back as 69s. They are recent issues. So are clad Kennedy halves and state quarters. They are silver, which to some folks makes them more real than the modern clads. Taking a coin out of a mint roll and slabbing it is the surest way to preserve a coin in some of these super-high grades. Maybe your personal definition of what other people should or should not collect is too limited. EVERYTHING is collectible.

 

Just like any expert...they have a ton of experience and the only way you get that experience is by doing it day in and day out for years. Just like any other learned skill.

 

I think the argument is that these coins are expected to be very high MS grades for the mint. So, therefore there is no reason to have some expert tell you that. For circulation coinage...it's different. But, for mint issued collector coins (which cater to collectors and thus are all produced at the 68+ level) is it really necessary to slab them? I think that is up to the individual collector...but I certainly wouldn't pay a premium because a TPG has told me something that I already know.

That being said, I really do believe TPGs have their place, but the modern collector coins is a little bit of a stretch IMHO.

 

I don’t think I said, “for years.” You just sneaked that one in there. Of course, that’s just how you may feel about it. But, I don’t.

 

You didn't say for years...but that's how people get experience in anything. I know you don't think they are very good graders, but they are. And anything to the contrary is just plain incorrect.

 

There you go sneaking another thing in there that I didn't happen to say, namely, that I "don't think they are very good graders." On the contrary, I think they are very good graders. That surprises some of you, I take it.

 

OK, you didn't directly say you "don't think they are very good graders" I'll give you that. However you did say:

By saying that it is harder to learn to work at McDonald's than it is to learn to grade like a major TPG, the only prerequisite is being able to add 2+2, and that they can be taught to grade inside a week either implies one of two things. Either, grading is very easy or the TPG's aren't very good at it. Now, I am not putting words into your mouth. I am reading exactly what you said.

IMHO, grading is very hard to do and nobody can go from no knowledge to a professional level of skill with one coin (let alone all US coins) in one week. I think most people here would agree with me on that.