Retiring from SemiKey/Key Date Coins after next month..

Lehigh - surely you of all people recognize the limitations of slabs. How many slabs give justice to your gorgeous toners? (Protection isn't an acceptable answer, you can self slab for that )

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

I don't recognize the limitations. First and foremost, they guarantee authenticity. That's the #1 issue anymore. Even serious collectors won't be an expert in every series. But if they want to drift in a different direction and purchase something else, you can do so with reasonable confidence buying a slabbed example.

I have no faith in any loose Morgans on ebay anymore. None at all. I've never gotten burned but the unmarked replicas are getting good enough to the point where some of them are nearly indistinguishable from real. If all of them were 'obviously' fake, then fine. I'd say no big deal. But that is not the case anymore for a lot of different series'. Not just Morgans. And there are *multitudes of people buying from the Chinese and intentionally* trying to rip people off with those replicas.

Also, the TPG's opinion does matter on grade, because they see no monetary gain from the sale. It is a purely, uninterested, 3rd party's opinion from not just one grader, but two graders have to agree! And if they don't, there's a third grader for the tie break.

Instead of having greedy dealers grading everything two grades higher than they should be (there's one at every show), fortunately we can fall back on slabs where they get it right the vast majority of the time. The argument is settled before it begins. I'll never understand why anybody could be against that.

That's not to say one should assume all MS-64s or 65s or 62s are created equal. 10 different ones within the same grade could be put in order from nicest to worst and justify varying price ranges. Some who don't care about that, will pay the same price across all 10. There is something to knowing a series.

Anyway, the slabs also provide excellent protection and storage. Photographing loose coins IS much better and easier. But shooting through the plastic is no big deal. You can still get fine pics. My avatar is in an NGC slab. Most of the time, you can't even tell. If they get scratched up, the slab can be polished.

The serial numbers also allow for looking them up on line for verifying authentication. The problem is, not enough people use them and I'd bet over half the people on this board could be fooled by a fake NGC slab. Although if you've seen enough of them, the differences should be very obvious.

So there are still pitfalls for newbies buying slabs with wreckless abandon. It still can be risky but is the safest bet. Safer than trusting someone who may not know anything themselves.

 

I never said there weren't benefits of slabs. In fact, I agree that everything you said is true. I just don't like them, plain and simple. When you can show the benefits of slabbing for someone who is confident in their own abilities regarding grading, authentication, and preservation and who has zero concern for monetary gain, then you may be able to convince me.

 

That's pretty easy, when you die, your heirs will have a much more marketable and probably more valuable asset if your coins are in slabs, especially if your heirs don't share your expertise.

 

My heirs better not sell the collection. If they even think of it, its going to a museum. (I'm still FAAAAR from thinking about that, though!)

 

And who might you be speaking of?

 

I fully agree. There is no substitution for knowledge and reading as many books as you can is the best way to get it.

IMHO, you are exactly correct. I don't consider slabs evil and I have no problem buying slabbed coins (but it seems a lot of people think they are evil). To be honest, I don't think I would ever buy a raw high dollar coin. I wouldn't buy it blindly based on the slab grade either...but there is an investment protection that comes with a slab by a major TPG. Knowledge is the key to any investment, but in this case...slabs provide a safety net.

 

unless you buy counterfeit slabs. Blind Faith has a price. ...and a great lead guitarist!

 

Not as good as Faith No More!

 

Somehow, I lost track over today. When did slabbing enter the dialogs? Maybe I was sniffing too much solvent in tonights painting class.

One thing BNB IS very good at, is getting responses to his posts. If credits were given for responses to the original poster, he and those who shall not be named would own whatever it is credits are good for redemption.

Jim

 

ok since everyone else is putting their 2 cents in this I'm going to as well

BNB may not be the "best" investor but then who's perfect? warren buffet has lost money too

it's just inherit to investing you sometimes lose...like everything else in this world no one is perfect cept God so deal with it people and grow up.

as far as the amount of flaming I keep reading of BNB...I think said people should jump over to the collectors universe forum to blast away and leave the good forum here out of it also why be so negative toward a guy saying he wants to say his experiences to newer people so they may actually be better off then how BNB sounds like has been?

kinda sounds like some people would get mad at their own parents for trying to teach them about the mistakes they made. so the kids are hopefully better off for learning.

BNB take care of your finances and definately stick around the forums this place can be a great place but it seems only when the sun is up then you need to get the bars on the windows...

btw: any mod feel like ending this thread cause I think it's more about flaming a newbie wanting to give back then actually listening to him say he wants to share his good times and bad times so others don't screw up...

 

I could also share my experiences watching basketball on tv to the newest NBA draft class, but my experiences don't give anyone any useful information nor do they give the players any insight.

 

In fairness, relative to the abuse BNB took on some other threads, this one is like a G rated movie. No way is the thread going to be closed, nor should it. Besides, this thread actually has a lot of good content.

 

At 24, I was lucky to have $100 in the bank. It took me all year to save up for a plane ticket, and that was even when I was living very frugally. My coin collection, which I was restarting after having liquidated the vast majority during the 1979-80 heyday to pay for college, consisted of a few Barber dimes, wheat and Indian Head cents, and whatever better date coins I could salvage from junk silver rolls. I couldn't imagine spending big bucks on key date coins.

 

Retiring, is this a joke? If you had to truly WORK for your money, I guarnatee you wouldn't have been buying all those expensive coins. Yes, I know everybody works, I'm talking about real work, sweat of the brow work. Get up at 5 am, pack your lunch and be on a job site at 6:30 and go to WORK. Too many momma's boy's in this country. It's pethitic...

 

Abe – being a virtuoso violinist ain’t easy – keep up the good work.

 

Abe, was your post really necessary? Do you think it was a positive contribution to this thread? I live on a farm, work for a roofing business and do my school work, and I still purchase some expensive coins. I don't mean to act like your mommy, but I think your post was negative, disrespectful and completely uncalled for. I hope you will refrain from making similar comments in the future.

 

but do you know that people starting out in nba would actually like to hear it anyway? there are so many people for something in this world.

 

Agreed.

 

Do you think every post on every thread has to be positive, and happy go lucky?
Seriously, judging by past posts by the thread starter, I would say that the post wasn't all that uncalled for.
I agree with Abe, how can you retire from something your barely started? Not only started, but he doesn't not have a better clue now, when he first started, about any of the coins he bought.

Half-Dollar, I would recommend knowing who it is that you stand up for, before getting in the middle of things.