NGC to Launch Services for Ancient Coins

I'd like to know how they will slab an Athenian tetradrachm? They are actually fairly thick coins.

Or let them try and slab my Egyptian AE46 from the 2nd Ptolemy.

 

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Yeah its does! Though, its hard to see from my pic, the obv looks like a bearded figure, I was originaly thinking it was this:

Termessos Major, Pisidia



















Ive been tryen to get a good picture of mine since my last post, but it just doesnt want to be attributed

 

I would, you are great with ancients.


stainless

 

They have a special double thickness holder for the ancients. That should let them holder pieces up to around 7 or 8 mm thick.and 40 or so mm in diameter.

 

Many will. However, even if they don't guarantee authenticity (and I've not heard that this is correct and/or it may change in the next two months), the slab will still add some reassurance to the coin being authentic. That may not mean much when buying from a reputable dealer, but it can help when buying over the internet from a dealer you don't know.

I wouldn't count on this. I see people posting pictures of coins that can't identify and the country and denomination is written in simple English on the coin. :desk:

 

The current slab can supposedly hold a coin that is ~4.5 mm thick, so close to 9 mm for the piefort slab. Diameter max is ~45.

 

It seems it will only add a false reassurance since the company doesn't even trust its own judgment enough to stand behind the service like they do with most other coins. I guess if a person doesn't REALIZE that the authenticity isnt backed by the TPG, then they will just think its a certainty that its real and will buy buy buy I think you are way off base if you think a lot of current collectors of ancients will want this service...those looking to make an extra buck, and those they sell to who dont know much about what they are buying, and the TPG itself, now thats a different story.

The quotes from David Vagi are his responses to questions posed about this new service from collectors and sellers on Moneta-L.

I think the fear most ancient collectors seem to have about the service is that it will turn ancients into something similar to the US coin market which has become slab happy price and cleaning crazy, as if the mission is to slab every US coin ever made. Practices found in the US market will creep into ancients like charging an outrageous premium for a coin that is one point higher in a subjective TPG grade than another. In other words, negatively effecting the buyers in terms of prices for far more common type of coins than you find in ancients but with high prices because its an MS-69.

I tend to agree with most of them when they say the only people such a service would help would be people too lazy to attribute a coin by themselves, or learn a bit about how to spot fakes...which most ancients collectors enjoy doing themselves. This service might help new collectors who have decided to start buying ancients without learning enough first and give them a sense of security when buying something they know little about...again...it helps the seller on several levels but not so much the average ancients collector. As I am a collector and not a seller, I could care less if new collectors feel a bit more at ease about buying a coin without knowing squat about ancients, the fewer people out there bidding for coins I want the better. Why would a collector willing want to attract MORE people to bid against him? Not to mention people who rely on slabbing to pu thtem at ease thus raising the prices of coins that are already on the rise.

I am not disappointed that the general view it seems for the lions share of the collectors I have seen responses from was negative and I simply dont see a lot of existing collectors rushing to pay to slab up their coins behind a cheap plastic sheen for a unguaranteed assurance of authenticity and a highly subjective grade. I certainly hope TPGs dont pollute ancients the way they have american coins but I guess we will wait and see.

 

Drusus - could you send me the stuff from Moneta-L on this?

 

sure, I will PM you the exchanges when I get home if you like.

 

Considering the number of fakes that have fooled many long time dealers as well as larger reputable sellers and auction companies, I think it is a little naive to say the only people who would like this service are the lazy ones. Thirty-odd years ago the ANA started an authentication service for US coins. I guess you’d have called people wanting this service lazy also? When something is wrong with your car, do you fix it yourself or are you just lazy and take it to an expert mechanic? Wanting an expert opinion is not being lazy. Many people may not have the time or ability to gain/grasp the knowledge required for this hobby. I enjoy looking at old masters paintings, yet can't tell a real one from a fake. Am I lazy?

 

I was thinking about posting a McDonalds vs Home made cheeseburger analogy... lol

 

If my hobby was cars then no, I would not go to a mechanic, I would work on my own car and sometimes do. If I had a passion for tiffany lamps, then I probably wouldn't spend a dime until I studied them rather extensively and didn't need to spend more money on a tiffany expert EVERY TIME I buy one and THEN encase it in plastic. Every lamp I buy gets put in plastic and it catches on and now all the best tiffany lamps are locked in plastic boxes and selling for twice the price.

If you have a very casual interest in something and decide you want a roman coin or a tiffany lamp and just don't want to be bothered delving deeper, then yes, I can see how authentication would be a good thing. If you see coins as just a commodity then again, yes, slabs are great for such things. If you are new to the hobby and dont want to be taken but want to get coins to study and will pay more for reassurance, yes... but good luck studying them properly through a plastic sheen.

I would recommend getting it from someone who guarantees that assessment and there are people and companies that indeed do. Yes, I view it as lazy, a person who wants something but doesn't bother to learn about it. I started that way, I bought a fake...and then I stopped buying and immersed myself into it and I could be wrong but I dont think I have purchased a fake since...many of them are online and have been posted for many knowledgeable eyes to see. I have a feeling every coin in my collection save one or two I have set aside would be slabbed as authentic. Do I think a person should become and expert if they want to get into a hobby that requires one to spend serious money? Without doubt...slab or not.

My main issue is the effect it might have on the price of coins in general if it becomes common place. I dont care if someone decides they want an ancient coin but doesn't want to collect or learn about them, slab some LRB and sell them for 3-4X more, I PERSONALLY don't like encasing them in slabs in general for a variety of reason. I dont like spending another cent for anything but a coin in the hobby of coin collecting. The opinion from an expert who stands behind the service he is being paid to give can be useful even to experienced collectors though I have gotten by with advice from other experienced collectors for free as of yet.

If I needed to bite the bullet and pay for help I would still not want it encased in the plastic. As someone said elsewhere though, this service isn't aimed at collectors like me...I dont care what anyone else does with their coins, I only care how it might effect prices, if I can buy the same coin unslabbed or slabbed for the same price...no problem, I can always break them out. If there are still plenty of coins I can buy unslabbed from reputable dealers with lifetime guarentees like on vcoins...then I am fine....nuff said.

 

Where were the people with this opinion when for years I griped about how PCGS and NGC didn't have a written guarantee of authenticity for US coins?

Thanks Greg for the more exact specifics. I don't think there would be too many ancients that wouldn't fit in the piefort holder.