why a graded coin is more expensive?

graded coins can worth even twice or more than a non graded coin but in the same grade, why? is it logical? Is it fair to collectors that live outside USA and cannot make their coins grade?

 

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It is argueable why but here are a few reasons why I think so:
1. It costs money to get it graded (normally at least $15 and up per coin)
2. It guarentees the buyer authenticity and problem free (not cleaned, polished, holed/filled, etc)
3. It also guarentees the buyer of a specific grade

 

The reason they sell for more is because many people only collect certified coins. Also people selling them don't want to lose money on the deal because they paid to get them slabbed. Do I think it is fair that people outside the country can't get them graded? No, but life's not fair. Truly, there are more important things to worry about.

 

do a search on the slab values. i wrote up a full length disertation on this. As for fair, hey if you aren't in Brooklyn, life is tough.

Ruben

 

Though they cost more they can save you a lot. There are a lot of 19th century coins that can be VERY tough. That light cleaning under natural retoning thing can cost you. Many older coins have at least a light cleaning and can be tough to spot and debatable.

 

http://www.cointalk.com/forum/t49667-2/#post546024

 

and just for fun...

http://www.cointalk.com/forum/t45007-3/#post482609

 

As already noted it costs money to have those coins in a slab. Some people just like to collect those plastic things though. Primarily if your interested in a 200 year old coin of any significent value, it is sort of nice to know that it was not made in China last week. Naturally there are many coins where the slabbing fee is much larger than the actual value of the coin and that too is wierd.

 

and if you ARE in Brooklyn.... n/m

 

:hug:

 

What about it ?

 

Young Man ... rephrase the last sentence


At least pretend your sympathetic to his plight.

Ruben

 

Along with a graded coin comes an insurance policy ( PCGS or NGC)

Generally, they are accurate, but dogs are out there and primos as well. What a graded coin will do is protect you from our own mistakes in many cases.

The premium is not always the slabbing cost, as most trade already slabbed, the seller is not the submitter. My guess? Market confidence might be a good one.

I keep 2 cases of raw at all shows, and still, the slabbers outsell the raws 2 or 3 to one.

 

!!!!!!!!!!! I would have to say 95% of my purchases in the last 6 months are slabbers. Eventually all my lincolns will be slabbers.

 

My answer to your question will be a little different than most offered so far. I would like to start by saying that I don't recommend that a coin be slabbed unless it is valued over $200.

The answer to your question is simple in my mind. Most collectors are not willing to pay greysheet prices for a raw coin. They immediately think that any raw coin will be bumped at least one grade by the seller, therefore, they will only be willing to pay the price of the grade below the grade advertised. The thought process is that if I pay MS65 money for this coin and I get it slabbed before I sell it and it comes back MS64, I will lose money. This effect does not happen with slabbed coins because both buyer and seller accept the grade assigned by the TPG.

In my experience, only the most astute collectors are willing to pay full value for raw coins. They can do this because their grading skills are such that they know what the grade of the coin is rather than making an educated guess. How many collectors when grading a coin can narrow it down to a range (eg. MS63-MS65). Now how many collectors can say with authority and accuracy the grade is MS65. If you know the grade is MS63-MS65 and the dealer has it listed at MS65, you will most likely only be willing to pay MS64 money for the coin. The astute collector will know whether or not the grade is MS65 and make the right decision whether or not to purchase the coin.

That is not to say that all of the good reasons provided by the others do not apply, they do. My reason is just one more to add to the list.

 

I'm new to the hobby..but I enjoy the process of grading. I think that if I learn enough, I can find some fairly priced raw coins. Personally, it's less of a challenge to buy a slabbed coin where the homework has been done for you. I enjoy the homework.

I don't think I'll be buying anything via E-bay, there's just never enough detail or true color in a photo to tell you what the real "eye appeal" of the coin is.

I'd rather deal with a real seller and his coins in person. For me, part of the fun is in the human interaction.

Realistically, I know that there will be times when I get semi-burned, but I'm willing to pay my dues in this regard.

 

That is typically referred to as numismatic tuition and there is nothing wrong with it. I learned the same way and even created a thread about my tuition last year. It was about raw Barber quarters. If I sell, I will take a bath.

 

But in the end you will have a vast store of knowledge that is priceless which would not have been possible had you taken the easy way......

 

you also forgot that you will also probably not have overgraded coins as you will if you just buy slabs.

Just as the peter principle says, slabbed coins will all rise to their own level of being overgraded.

 

Fair, logical, who knows?

Fair, logical, who knows? Find peace in grading your own coins and buying what pleases you. Very little else in coin collecting is of much importance anyway. If your looking for investments in coins I'd spend the money elsewhere. If you want to pursue a hobby that rewards you in so many other ways, coins, whether graded or not can do that very thing.
I really started enjoying coins when I found my own path, stopped worring about what others had or did and learned instead "what made me happy".
But couldn't the word "coins in that sentence also mean "life"?