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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 1908814, member: 19463&quot;]Too, too many points:</p><p>1.&nbsp; I do not like to hear any suggestion that David Vagi would in any way tip the scales of a questionable coin just to collect the 1%.&nbsp; I believe he is way too honest to do something like that but I know he is too smart.&nbsp; Exactly one case of something like this would end NGC permanently.&nbsp; The ancient coin fraternity has been based on trust and honor with ungodly sums of money.&nbsp; People who are not trustworthy are known.&nbsp; You can be wrong many times and be forgiven; you can be caught being dishonest exactly once.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>2.&nbsp; There are examples of slabbed coins that are either misidentified or fake.&nbsp; They are very rare.&nbsp; In fact, I suspect a genuine NGC slab containing a demonstrated fake would sell at auction for double what it would bring with a real coin inside.&nbsp; Off brand slabs with coins of Elagabalus IDed as Caracalla exist but I was too stupid to buy the one I saw for sale.&nbsp; I would love to own an NGC error which is about as nice a compliment as I can imagine saying about their service.&nbsp; We all make errors.&nbsp; If you sent a lot of really uncertain coins to them I would expect them to refuse to slab many more real coins than they would slab a fake.&nbsp; When we buy coins we all can use this same technique.&nbsp; If I am 2% doubtful of a coin&#039;s authenticity, I can decide to just walk away and spend my limited budget on something else.&nbsp; If I were running a slabbing service, I would make regular use of the &#039;don&#039;t know, can&#039;t tell&#039; option even if it lost me a customer every time I did it.&nbsp; I own a dozen or so coins I would not sell to anyone who know less about coins than I do simply because they violate that 2% doubt rule.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>3.&nbsp; Harlan Berk is a genuine expert in some fields and employs some of the greatest numismatic minds in others.&nbsp; He will make an occasional mistake as will anyone else.&nbsp; I would so, so rather have a coins with his fingerprints on it than one in a slab of any brand.&nbsp; That said, he shocked me by saying &#039;not the internet&#039;.&nbsp; His firm has a web site and his firm sells some lesser coins on eBay.&nbsp;&nbsp; I know a few coin books that have more errors than any web site.&nbsp; It is not the venue that makes something good or bad; it is the content.&nbsp; Similarly, I would feel better about a coin that Harlan Berk and his staff had seen RAW than one they themselves had only seen slabbed.&nbsp; Slabs make it hard to examine a coin fully.&nbsp;&nbsp; It is not the type of container but the clarity of eye and mind that saw the coin. </p><p><br /></p><p>4. I know many reasonably good sources of coin information online and on paper.&nbsp; I do not know a single source of what I would consider useful information as to prices for ancient coins.&nbsp; I believe it is impossible to write a guide that does not require the user to know more going into the process than they are likely to gain from the guide.&nbsp; Sure you can record what &#039;similar&#039; coins sold for in past times and places.&nbsp; Armed with that information all you have to do is apply all the minor variables and you have the answer.&nbsp; As soon as I understand <i>all</i> of those variables, I&#039;ll let you know.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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