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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;IdesOfMarch01, post: 1644497, member: 39084&quot;]Interestingly, when I read the opinions and arguments in this thread, I find them supporting my belief that ancient coins should never be slabbed.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Realistically, how do you evaluate an ancient coin that&#039;s in a slab?&nbsp; How can you judge the amount of smoothing on a Roman bronze, and analyze whether it crosses the boundary between acceptable smoothing and unacceptable tooling for that coin?&nbsp; Are you really able to detect small defects that the auction house either missed or neglected to mention, if the coin is slabbed?</p><p><br /></p><p>Of one thing I&#039;m certain: my dealer would NEVER recommend purchasing a coin for my collection unless he were able to personally examine it unslabbed.&nbsp; Are other collectors of ancient coins likely to accept slabbed coins that can&#039;t be examined firsthand?&nbsp; I&#039;m very doubtful this is true, at least in the current market.&nbsp; If a coin has a verifiable provenance that dates back decades, or even centuries, then it might not be necessary to examine it unslabbed, but even in these circumstances I personally would not feel comfortable purchasing a slabbed ancient coin.</p><p><br /></p><p>Finally, as I&#039;ve written previously, nothing compares to the feeling of holding an ancient coin, especially a large bronze, in your hand.&nbsp; This isn&#039;t the same as modern coins, and I&#039;d probably ONLY buy modern coins that are slabbed (should I ever collect these coins).&nbsp; But ancients are different.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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