NGC has come up with a new holder. its a step in the right direction. take a look here http://www.ngccoin.com/news/viewarticle.aspx?IDArticle=1078
Based on the pic, I like it. I think the being able to see the rim is a really good thing...and not just for coins with lettering on the rim. I think being able to see the rim on reeded rimed coins is nice. It's something the slabs have ignored for a long time.
It will be great for coins with rim dings at any of those four prongs. It will make it impossible to photograph a coin in the slab without including the four prongs overlapping the rims.
I like the security features but the 2 points that Hobo made are the only drawbacks I can see for now. Bruce
Yep. I wish they would go one step farther... put the date, denom, and grade on the top edge so it's visible when there are a lot of them in a box.
The new added security featuress are very good. It's certainly a good step. As for the prongs, I'll just have to see some coins in them myself to judge them. Being able to photograph coins in the holders, as I see it, is not a primary function of the slabs. You can still photograph the coins just fine, but it will probably look silly without showing some or all of the slab if the prongs are showing. Covering up portions of the rim is certainly a downside though.
Why don't they put the coin in kointain type holder and then fill around it with acrylic so that you can see thru to the edge of the coin. It would be very permanent but you could see all sides of the coin with only a slight magnifying effect from the acrylic. Kind of like the picture below.. but maybe they could make it split down the middle so it wouldn't be all one piece.. like putting two halves together.
