Buy the slab, not the coin?

This year, South Korea had its SECOND ANNUAL "national coin show" called the 2013 Money Fair in the city of Daejon. Daejon is where the Korean Mint is located, (and where a General Dean personally knocked out a few T-34 tanks with a bazooka, and was later captured).

Now, would it be worth it TO YOU to buy this slabbed coin (the coin itself is face-value pocket change) just to own something from one of Korea's first Money Fairs?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PCGS-South-...8662639?pt=US_World_Coins&hash=item19e5261cef

Would any of you ever be tempted to "buy the SLAB, and not the COIN" just because of the slab tag? If the coin in the slab has no numismatic/metal value, what would the slab tag have to be for you to buy it?

 

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Not to be rude or snobby but this is one of those things where I would not put in my collection even if it were free. The coin is as you mention worthless and not very appealing. The slab looks like it was developed by a 5th grader. Finally I am of the belief that a Korean money fair isn't anything big enough for collectors to draw to especially given the nature of the product in question here

 

Looks like a Pepsi logo on that slab, lol.

 

Nothing rude nor snobby about your post.

Hey, that slab is a PCGS slab! Yeah, it looks kinda ghetto, (with its Engrish title, "Behind Story of Money") but it was also probably a "door prize" kinda thing. Wouldn't it become a "collectible" in the future? Makes me wonder...

As far as the Korea Money Fair being "big enough" and being a "draw" for collectors, they did conduct auctions on site where they were putting up some very nice key-date Korean, Chinese, and other Asian coins for sale in the tens of thousands of dollars.

Attendance was around that same number... I'd say that's big enough.

 

Also, check out THESE links. They're about this event.

It seems that PCGS and NGC are chasing the Asian coin-collector market:

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/VHBHryJHAnY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

http://www.pmgnotes.com/news/viewarticle.aspx?IDArticle=3631

http://www.pcgsasia.com/Article/PCGS-New-Holder-2013-Korea-Money-Fair?l=en

 

Not interested in the slab or the coin(I have about a bajillion of the 100 won coins). I am interested that they are doing a coin show in Seoul. When I was over there a few years ago I couldn't find a single coin store. Hopefully I will have more choices next time I go back.

 

Take a look at one of my webpages that I made about the coin stores in Seoul (see below). Everything that you need to know about coining in Seoul is here:

http://www.dokdo-research.com/coinshops.html

I hope this link is of use to you...

 

Wish I would have heard about that show, I would have gone, or tried anyway.

 

It's an annual event now. This was the second one.

Bummer is, it's always gonna be in October. Due to work, I can never visit Korea in October. Only summer.

Early next year, try googling "2014 Korea Money Fair" or use this Korean text:

2014 대한민국 화폐박람회

 

Ah, but I won't be here next year.

Also a big bummer, every time I try to get to Seoul something always comes up. Keeping my fingers crossed for this weekend. My time is running short here and I'm really eager to get a mint set and some other Korean coin goodies.

 

See my link to Coin Shops in Seoul (above, post #7) before you go.
I did that webpage last summer after my last trip to Seoul. Info should be still accurate.

Like mint sets? Here are mine:

 

that's what I was thinking when I first looked at it. I guess it could also be the 2008 Obama campaign logo.

 

Ya, I did a Google search before I got here and I found your site. You've also put together some good information about Korean coins and it's all greatly appreciated.

 

IDK. Its not my cup of tea, but I am not going to throw stones. If I did, that stone would be a much larger one than just at this PARTICULAR slab.

I collect coins. I like to handle coins, feel them, feel their weight in my hand. So for ME, such a coin and slab would not be appealing.

However, I don't want to go very far down this rabbit trail again. If I did, I would ask why is this much diffferent than First Day slabs, or "black insert" slabs, etc ad nauseum. So, to not offend other collectors here, I will stay away from that side of this altogether.

Happy happy happy.

 

Who is the person on the coin?

 

It's a Sixteenth-Century Admiral from Korea. His name was Yi Soon-shin (also anglicized as Yi Sun-sin, or Lee Soon-sin), and he was famous for winning scores of naval battles against Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Japanese forces in the southern waters of the coast of Korea. Hideyoshi made two attempts to conquer Korea (1591 and 1597) in order to use the peninnsula as a staging area for an invasion of Ming China. Both times, Admiral Yi sank his ships, with help from the Ming Chinese, cutting off Hideyoshi's supply lines. After the first victory, Yi became the victim of jealousy and was reduced to the rank of Private and thrown in jail. When the Japanese came back five years later, of course, they said, "oh, sorry 'bout that! Umm, could you be a dear and go save the country again for us?," gave him back his commission and command, and in the final battle which sent the Japanese packing for good (Battle of Noryang Strait), of course, he gets killed.

Hollywood should make a movie about him. Starring Russel Crowe as Admiral Yi.

The first design of these coins (1970) were much more sharp, and had better strike-depth. In 1983, they redesigned all six of the circulating coins' and based the new designs on the then-newly-introduced 500 Won coin. The new design is what you see: A washed-out, shallow strike, and Admiral Yi looks positively tired. I like the old one much better.

 

I thought he looked familar. There was a Korean YN a while back who posted a coin like that but it was part of a pretty big mint set that he had bought. The Admiral is certainly historical but I can't see someone paying for one that they can get from circulation just because it's in a sample slab. Why not put that money towards a mint set which would be higher quality? Cont. next post.

 

PCGS and NGC, IMO, have a steep hill to climb in Asia. I don't believe Asian collectors are anywhere near as maniacal about grading as U.S collectors. And they seem to have a more practical culture all around. I don't believe "buy the coin not the slab" meme is going to cut it Asia. If they have to do the job themselves anyway, where will they see the practical value of a TPG? cont. next post.

 

However there are folks who collect slabs. Condor wrote a reference book on slabs. That type of collector may well see a sample slab from a big Korean show as historical and worth collecting.

 

I don't know much about collecting on that side of the Pacific, or the collecting community in East Asia, or even in Korea itself. I really am trying to learn more! All I know is that there are MORE collectors here in North America (per capita!) than Korea, but I do get the sense from my yearly summer trips to Seoul that grading (TPG) IS important to them and to the commerce in collectible coins over there.

There ARE certainly people who are new to the hobby/trade/life (due mostly to the rise in the personal fortunes of people all across Asia, esp. China), so maybe that explains our perception that they are less maniacal about grading. It seems to me that the TPGs see this potential for growth and interest in East Asia and are trying to capitalize on it.

It will be interesting to see how coin collecting and Third-Party Grading progresses in the next decade over there...