I have been a member of this forum for a long time...more than a decade now. Many things have changed in that time. We have gotten new software, staff has come and gone, friends have passed on, and Doug has gotten even crankier. But, one thing seems consistent throughout all this time. There is an overwhelming view here that TPG slabs have no value. I completely disagree with that and I want to attempt and explain my reasoning. We hear all the time here..."buy the coin, not the slab." I think that is awesome advice. A numismatist is someone who studies coins...not someone who blindly buys them. Knowledge is the cornerstone upon which this field is based. Anyway one who blindly trusts the label on a slab is not behaving like a numismatist should. Of course, at one time or another we were all beginners. It's easy to forget about the time when we didn't know what we know today. We learned our knowledge over years. Reading books, studying coins, and learning from those who were willing to share what they knew. Even those among us who have been doing this for decades or even centuries (not going to name names) are still learning. It never ends. In my opinion, the TPGs are another learning tool. Like it or not, the big name TPGs and CAC have become a powerful force in the world of numismatics. Their grading standards (although different from the ANA) are widely accepted. Studying how they grade coins will make someone more knowledgeable. But, they are more than a learning tool. They do have value in themselves. It's common to hear around CT that "the slab doesn't add value to the coin" or "it's the same coin with or without the slab." Both statements are totally true. The coin is identical slabbed or not...and worth the same either way. But, that doesn't mean the slab is worthless. The slab is a certification from a recognized group of numismatists to the quality of the coin. It's the evaluation by an expert that the coin is genuine and of a specific quality. That evaluation has value of it's own. Put together as a tangible package...that package is worth more than just the coin alone. Now, has this been used as a crutch by those who don't want to do the work and learn how to be a numismatist? Yes. Is that bad for the field? I honestly don't know. In my mind...there is a difference between someone who is a numismatist and someone who collects coins. I would like to think I am in the former category...some of you might disagree. I personally don't think the TPGs have affected the numismatists that much...but they certainly have affected the coin collectors. I do think TPGs make it easier to collect coins and not become a numismatist...but I don't see the point in that. At the end of the day, I do believe that educating yourself is very important. If you choose not to...you are missing out on the best part of this field. One should be able to evaluate a coin and decide if they believe it is properly graded regardless of what the slab says before buying it. But, just because someone should do that...does not make the expert opinion on the slab valueless. Therefore, I believe slabs have value.
Richie, yet I don't know you, I like what you have posted. You remind me of a wise friend with outside the box thinking. BTM
LOL, thanks. I haven't been super active on CT for the last couple years. Busy with real life. But I miss the forum so I'm making an effort to be back.
well that is great to hear. I too am not here so much but enjoy certain things the hobby has to offer. Can't afford most of it but enjoy learning from others. Will have to look up some of your older posts sometime. Best of luck to you Richie.
I’m at the age — and with a health condition — that requires me, at least a little bit, to think about what would happen if a loved one got stuck suddenly with collection disposal. I think it’s common sense that they would have less of a chance of getting a royal screwing with slabbed coins than with a raw collection. That, and a good narrative inventory with instructions on how to research prices, will help that goal.
A slab can absolutely add value (coin + slab product is worth more than the raw coin). Look at trade dollars for example. Sure a raw vs slabbed coin are the same coin, but your pool of potential buyers is much greater for the slabbed coin. More buyers creates more demand. More demand leads to higher prices. The value is in whatever someone will pay for the coin. Look also at coins with a pedigree, registry set builders, and internet sales, where a trusted opinion from a TPG makes all the difference when all you otherwise have to go on are questionable photos.
Insofar that coins as art, like paintings, or even as just pretty shiny things to gawk at, look better in a frame, or even not unlike a pretty girl in a fashionable dress. I agree. Of course, raw coins not unlike, well, pretty girls, are fun to hold.
In an age of scary, highly deceptive and sometimes undetectable counterfeits, slabs definitely have value, especially for those who don't possess sensitive bloodhound senses for forgeries. Since I fall into that less than bloodhound-skilled category, I do not buy raw coins over a certain minimum value. When I purchase a slab I feel far more confident that I'm getting something genuine and graded at least to a somewhat decent degree of accuracy. Of course, before laying down any money, I first examine a slabbed coin as if it didn't exist in a slab. I do my best. Still, the slab makes it easier for me to purchase something of higher value. At best, it feels like a risk-reducer out in the wild bourses of the world. Challenges with TPGs arise with the notorious "gradeflation" often cited on this site and elsewhere. I'm in no position whatsoever to claim whether this is or is not actually happening, but if it is then this will gradually erode the trust of TPGs in the community. Another phenomenon I've heard about but have never personally encountered are fake slabs. Apparently, they're not hard to fake. Thankfully, online lookup helps counter this as long as one has an internet connection at the time of purchase. Plus, as already said, slabs do quarantine coins for better or worse. The slabs definitely protect them to some degree, of course, but they also inhibit direct handling, which for many lies at the root of numismatic appreciation. Nothing really beats direct contact with a coin that's 100, 200, 500 or 2,000 years old. Numismatics has a tangible aspect to it and slabs do detract from that. Some may find these trade-offs worth its, others may not. Those who possess more succinct grading skills may see slabs as a waste of time. I really wish I fell into that category, but I don't, at least not yet. In the meantime, I continue to support slabs while simultaneously understanding their limitations.
I'm also in agreement that slabs can add value. And anything that is a key date in a series would be risky to buy raw at this point. The point about what your heirs do with your coins when you're gone also makes the argument for slabs and gives them some way (with instructions) to estimate a current value.
The only virtue of them from my opinion is to confirm the authenticity of possibly fake coins. I'll take it one step further and be really heretical: I don't like the whole idea of grading coins. Let me state to get it out of the way that anyone is welcome to collect the way they want, and there's no right or wrong way. That being said, for me all that matters is if I like the way a coin looks. I don't get off on this system of numbers and letters, die cracks and clashes that most collectors get excited about. I don't know the grading system and have no intention to learn. It has nothing to do with what I want to get out of the hobby. And slabs are a part of that as well.
