Heya guys. Long time I started a topic so let's get at it! I prefer buying raw 100% of the time. Even keys and semi keys. I love the idea of being able to get a good coin at a discounted price and I'm not a big fan of trying to find "A, B, or C coins in their slabs. Give em to me raw! What do you prefer buying and why?
You are taking a huge gamble buying keys and semi-keys raw, unless you know the series very well. I would not recommend that for most people at all. I personally like buying slabbed most of the time for American coins, because I enjoy the NGC registry. My set linked in my signature is evidence enough of that. My foreign coins are usually raw though, both because they aren't really worth slabbing, and because collectors of foreign coins generally prefer them raw. Early American collectors generally prefer raw as well, so I've got a couple/few raw busties.
Find or buy Simple question to me. Every slap is a buy. Every raw is a find. Then you can buy a slab and introduce them.
It doesn't really matter if you can hold the coin and know the series , but slabbed is the only way if buying exspensive coins by picture . Also slabbed for Trade dollars and other frequently counterfieted coins . rzage
I like to buy the best coin I can. Having the coin slabbed, is somewhat of an insurance policy, if it is graded MS64 then there is a reason it did, and if you are newer to this hobby, you'd be better off buying slabbed coins. I have no problem buying raw coins, in general, but have a problem buying raw gold. Indian Quarter Eagles, are the gold that I collect, and they are tricky to tell if they are counterfeit, and tricky to grade, so while I am still learning on that series, I will buy slabbed only. My second set, morgans, I am putting together a nice registry set, so to save me money, I'd rather buy slabbed Rather than finding a raw coin, to get it graded, and spend a slabbed price, for the same grade of a raw coin. ($40 for MS64 Morgan RAW vs. $40 for MS64 Morgan Slabbed) The third set, the type set, I am also doing it as a registry set, so I would use the same method as I do with my morgans, but If I can buy a coin at a cheap enough price, I would buy it raw, then send it in to be graded.
I really don't have a preference most of the time. If I see a coin I want to buy, I buy it. A slab, like a two by two is just another means of holding a coin in my opinion, though I'm sure others will argue that to the end of time. Guy~
Know your coins, know the series, know your dealers, know how to grade. I own thousands of coins including some key dates in the coins I know best. They're 99% raw. I probably own less than 20 slabs. A few I actually had slabbed. I've rarely bought them that way. Now as for key dates in a coin I'm not real strong on I agree that buying slabbed is best. Know it's real but even then I don't just trust the number on the slab. I like to see ANY coin I buy in person. Slabs have their merits but learning has it's merits as well. Knowing how to buy a raw coin right can be very satisfying. I bought six today actually. Nothing major but I'd bet if I sent them to get slabbed all would come back with a grade as high as, if not higher, than I assigned and with no problems.
If I waited around for slabs in the coins I'm collecting at the moment, I wouldn't be collecting much at all.
Well I am only hitting the 1950-Present market right now. So I like buying both raw and graded. I love to fill my dansco albums. I have 9 of them in the works right now. There is certain coins that I like to send to get graded. I am getting my whole 1983 (My birth year) set graded. All of the coin have been picked raw by me. Some coins are not even worth the slab fee but it is more of a personal thing. Getting a top pop coin is the biggest thrill in the world to me!!
Raw vs. Slab As a young colletor in the 60's ...... everything was raw! I understand that 3 rd party grading is a must in todays world. With registry sets, fakes, & conterfeits one needs to buy smart. However I came up in a time when holding a coin in your hand ,trading with friends,or at shows.....made this hobbie fun! You agreed or disagreed on a grade, you built a collection even if they were all just G/F grade in a Whitman penny folder made you feel like you really had something. " These were simpler times" I spent a many of silver nickels for candy or an ice cream cone. My mom gave me a nickel every day to spend at school for penny candy ......some of the ones I traded for sugar would be worth lots of $$$ today. I my self had a hard time excepting coins in slabs! I'll never buy a coin with a green sticker on it! Placing a coin in a slab ....and I do have slabed coins and belong to PCGS & NGC.....it like having a part of my childhood taken away...you may think silly.... but I remember simpler times...and wish those of you who were not a part of this time could only know watching TV on just 3 channels! Swapping coins on a Saturday afternoon club meet...... and licking a one scoop chocolate ripple cone that you just paid for with a buffalo nickel! Stupid is as stupid does.... RUN FOREST RUN!
No real preference either - I would say it is probably slanted towards raw. Then again several of the more expensive coins I will get graded.
Raw - I learn more, from the coin and my ability to select something that interests me without someone elses seal of approval. I make mistakes but more importantly each new coin/note is like reading a new book that has it's own story to tell. Slabs - leave me feeling like someone left off a chapter and I struggle to figure out what I might have missed.
The way I look at it is, if you DONT know your series extremely well you shouldn't be buying the keys anyway. I would buy a key Canadian large or small cent any day of the week raw, but wouldn't touch a Morgan with a 10' pole. Therefor, IMO, the whole "buy slabbed unless you know your series" story doesn't quite fit in My shoes. I would/will slab some of my coins when I add some to the registry, and I'll probably buy some slabbed for that too. But for me, finding a raw example and submitting it myself and achieving a high TPG grade is far more gratifying then just riding the coat tails of the previous owners.
Not much to add here, it has all been said. Knowledge of your series seems to be the common denominator. Those who know the series usually fare well. Those who guess usually post those " I got burned by a dealer " type threads
I definitely prefer raw, but most of the things I collect are so scarce that if one becomes available, but it is in a slab, I still consider it. I don't pay any more than I would for a raw example though.
I am leaning toward slabbed lately. Everyones' arguements are good for both sides. I prefer slabs, because of the registry and I am competitive by nature. The registry maybe a self-promotion machine and self-serving, but it is fun and slabs provide better security for my collection to my heirs.
