Photograph When Cracking Slabs?

Clawcoins said this at 7:12 a.m.today. I only said to him that the un-slabbing must be done with pristine ethics and practices. But also note that any observable alteration would be immediately noticeable at the time of sale by comparing to the original image.

 

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I am glad you are honest. We could use you at RCNS.

 

You’re literally trying to advocate for a business that sets grading back 30 years. Lol yea good luck

 

ronnie, have you ever wondered why a coin in a PCGS slab or an NGC slab sells for more than the same coin in a ANACS or ICG slab?

The same factors that lower the value in the case of ICG and ANACS will affect your suggested service and maybe to an even greater extent.

 

Nothing of the sort. I am offering an idea for some collectors for some coins. As I've said, it would not be for moderns or mint state (or proof). Who knows, if a prototype methodology could be demonstrated, leading to the TPGs offering it as an option it just might catch on.
Now one might reasonably assume that for coins of extremely high value, the owner might not want to participate. Seeing an EF45 Chain Cent in an original PCGS holder would likely be just fine for most. But for mid-range collecting I really think the benefit would outweigh the risk. That is, I would be willing to risk finding only suspicious, mistrusting buyers on sale day in 30 years if it means I get to enjoy those coins more for the rest of my life.

 

No, I think I understand that pretty well. There are levels of expertise. But I do not see how you can forecast slackness in an organization that's only in the concept phase!?

 

I see it as a credibility issue.

 

Well sure, ANACS and ICG do not have as much credibility as PCGS and NGC because, I assume, they have made demonstrably sketchy grade decisions. And any new idea would have that hurdle. But it doesn't have to start out behind the eight ball if it's done well.

 

So you want them to go back to photgrading which they did 30 years ago and you think that’d be a good idea?

 

No I did not suggest that at all.

 

I don't think it's been due to "sketchy" grade decisions, but rather the market has determined that their level of expertise is not equivalent of PCGS and NGC.

Your idea faces that same hurdle. The market has to decide whether or not it a) wants your service, b) trusts your service, and c) believes that your service adds value to a coin.

 

OK, I'll give an example. I buy an unslabbed coin with a certified, immutable photo. I want to rip of an eBay buyer, so I take a new photo, misrepresent the coin with it, and pass it off as being nicer than it really is, asking twice what it would be worth with the grading information honestly included, and accept offers for a mere 50% profit. If it sells, I ship the coin shown with the crappy picture in a flip and none's the wiser that it had been graded. If it doesn't sell soon enough, I can always fall back on the certification I didn't tell anyone about up front. Blockchain doesn't do anything here.

 

What you are missing is that your new photo would not be done by the service I am proposing. The Blockchain would be a record of the original re-certification, which cannot be duplicated or altered for this unique coin. The scenario that you are proposing has nothing to do with this; it's just taking a picture and selling a coin.

 

The scenario has to do with safeguarding against bypassing an existing certification. For slabbed coins, once you crack it out, the certification is void, which presents a risk to the unscrupulous seller. The service you propose, while safeguarding against alteration of the certification, makes it less of a risk for such a seller, as the coin is raw and certified at the same time.

 

I will have to ask you to clarify the 'risk to the unscrupulous seller' idea. Do you mean the risk of being ripped off by such a seller? Maybe give an example step by step.
The only risk that I see is that buyers might not trust the system, so it might take some time to get off the ground. But by taking one coin conversion at a time and showing that a transaction history is developing, this trust can be built as the process is shown to be inviolable. Also, any system needs a testing period, through which glitches are addressed. That's with anything.
Thank you for mentioning 'both raw and certified at the same time' - the first whiff all day that anybody understands what I am talking about here.

 

Actually, I mean the risk that the seller takes by cracking a coin out of a holder, thus making it only a raw coin that he might not be able to dupe someone with. There's downside risk that (1) the coin might not be sellable, (2) they may need to spend money recertifying, and (3) upon recertifying the grade might be lower. Providing a mechanism by which this risk is mitigated will make it very attractive to shady sellers.

 

or just the fact that a different grader may grade it lower. Which for much more rare type coins could be a significant amount of money.

and blockchain ... we all know how secure blockchain is from all the crypto thefts.

 

Ugh. This thread makes my brain hurt.

IMO, there may be a small fraction of people who might want this service, but what is preventing them from cracking out the coin themselves? Good luck on your venture, but I just don't see it.

 

I'm a cracker in more ways than one.

 

Ok... I'm convinced. I've changed my stance. This is a great I idea. I insist you follow through with it. I highly encourage Ronnie to go into whatever debt necessary in order to acquire the capital for this venture. Mortgage the house because you gonna be rich!