I was at a local dealer's shop recently and he had a raw 1877 Indian Cent that looked XFish marked at $2500. I asked about why he didn't have it slabbed, and he replied that he has customers who don't have a problem spending 1000's on a raw coin. Personally, I think one would have to be crazy to purchase this big a $$$ coin not certified by a TPG. So, at what price level do you feel uncomfortable buying raw and would prefer a coin graded by a top-tier company? Edited to say: Or maybe the plastic makes no difference to you.
09SV.D.B. I've been a collector since 1960 and have never bought a slabbed coin. I've purchased U.S. Mint sets and have recently bought proof coinage of Mexico which came in capsules and I have recently acquired Canadian silver dollars from 1971 through 1985, also arriving in capsules inside a box. I only deal with dealers who offer a return policy. Never had to return a coin because of incorrect grading. Some firms I deal with have been around a long time. Clinker
I really don't have a set limit---if its a key date I try to always get them slabbed---but I did buy a 1931-S cent and a few 1932-D's and S's raw and sent them in to NGC---I guess my limit would be around $100... Speedy
I believe the the more experienced collectors that are able to grade coins themselves probably feel more comfortable buying unslabbed coins. I personally would have to go below 100 dollars because of my lack of knowledge. Probably nothing over 10 to 15 dollars, but if they have a fair return policy I might go as high as 100.
I said 350, anything over that and I get a little skittish. I concur with speedy, if its a key or a coin that is known to be counterfeit frequently i only look at slabbed. The most i have ever paid for a raw coin is around $500 for my saint.
Hmmm - I did just spend on few bucks on the 1879/8 shield nickel and it was raw, but then again I have some 30-50 dollar slabbed coins. I do know for my 1909S and 1877S IHC I will buy slabbed or from 1 of the 2/3 dealers I have used.
My limit was probably about $250 a few years ago, but it's been steadily dropping and if I don't buy something from the Mint, it's all the way down to about $30 now. The more I know about how much I don't know regarding cleaning, counterfeits, overgrading, etc., the lower it goes. A big part of it is just to make life a little easier for whoever inherits the coins someday too.
As low as possible. Where the quality of the coin I need (or want ) and the available funds meet. I've also found that the vise-grip is best when cracking out Bust Half Dollars or other large coins. The PCI slab tends to shatter into many small slivers while some of the others are really a hassel and turn all white when being bent, LOL... Ben
Always prefer raw coins. I'm hardly an expert grader, but I value my own opinion about a coin more than anyone else's, even if it's a professional opinion. All that really matters is if I like the coin. Theroetically if I wanted to buy a rarer coin where authenticity might be questionable, I might go for a slab for piece of mind, but 99.9% of the time I'd rather just get unslabbed coins.
I was a little surprized that this poll started out with such a high cost. I've bought some slabbed coins for as little as $5. I always wonder why someone would have had a coin worth $3, $4, $5 etc slabbed but they do. At coin shows I've seen even coins in the 1990's up to present slabbed. I recently bought several Mercury Dimes that were slabbed as MS60 or AU50 for about $8 each. They were actually in a dealers junk pile. I think this pole should have been started at $1.
Just Carl, The price points I'm referring to in the poll are levels at which you would hesitate to buy raw for fear of being ripped off, buying a fake, etc. I believe you're talking about the lowest pricing level at which you would buy a slabbed coin. Correct?
grading services are just another way to extract a bit of money from collectors, I have never used them. All I need to know is if the coin is authentic or not and there are ways of doing that without paying a fee..same with grading. I dont have to rely on my own opinion, there are people who offer it for free. I WILL however pay to have an expensive ancient verifid by David Sears.
