I never seen a write-up about this, an got me wondering, the way technology is, can Grading Service Slabs ( PCGS,NGS,ICG & ANACS) , be tampered with, once they are bought from a customer, say Ebay ? Without even knowing it ??? That kinda' runs chills down my back, just thinking that , since I've purchased high-grade coins there. I've always been curious about that ! I would really appreciate hearing from a knowledgable person about all this ...
well, ohh you want a knowledgeable person ----------------------------------------- just kidding I will give you a quick run-down Yes they can be tampered with. Coins have been discovered to be counterfeit and yet they are in PCGS holders. Kinda scary, but for now only highly valuable coins have been discovered. However, as for the average person, slabs are tamper resistant. Once the slab has been opened (NGC, PCGS, ICG, ANACS) it cannot be closed back together. IF you need further clarification, feel free to ask.
No, slabs cannot be tampered with. At least not in a way that you can't tell they have been tampered with. Yes, counterfeit slabs do exist, of all the TPG's, but they were never genuine slabs to begin with so they were not tampered with - they were out and out fake slabs.
I have not heard if the ANACS slabs have been changed since the MAJOR shakup, buyout and move. A while back I posted THIS thread with a link to how easy it was to tamper with their slab.
ANACS quitely changed there slab some time ago long before the buyout/move. The slab is much better but still prefer the orginal. Here is a like to a thread when I recieved my new (new) ANACS Slab. http://www.cointalk.org/showthread.php?t=29602
Here's what I find interesting about that thread... it has a picture showing an Ike (obverse only) in an ANACS slab originally issued for a Morgan. The picture shows no obvious evidence of tampering. But here's the rub... the most obvious indication of slab tampering is on the edge of the slab, which was not shown in the picture. I'm not saying ANACS slabs are 100% tamper-evident. It's just I need a little more evidence before I make a call one way or the other. I will say they are the easiest to crack out, that's for sure. So if there's a slab which could be tampered, I can see it being ANACS.
Some of the older NGC slabs could be opened and glued back together with very little evidence of tampering. If you weren't looking for it, you could easily miss it. The newer NGC slabs are tamper evident, as, to my knowledge, they can't be opened without obvious evidence of such.
Slabs do not have to be tampered with in order to contain a fake coin. PCGS slabbed 95 fake coins (that we know of) and the only reason they were finally able to tell the difference was because someone submitted too many coins and that raised suspicion. Had the crooks not used the same reverse die on coins dated seven years apart, the alleged experts at PCGS would still be clueless.
