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Message:: [QUOTE="vavet, post: 330885, member: 11630"]I collected coins for 45 years and every raw key date coin I've sent to the ANA and then ANACS for authentication was determined to be authentic. Perhaps the size of my numismatic library had something to do with my success. Or was it that I searched out reputable dealers that made the difference.  As memory serves me, we did just fine without having to pay some total stranger for a questionable opinion based on a system that even the alleged pros can't consistantly function within. I might also add that the money I saved by not getting drawn into the hype has translated into many more coins in my collection.  Thanks to the efforts of the greedy dealers who created a convoluted grading system and the slab phenomenon, we now have a collecting community that has been brain washed into thinking that a slab guarantees the coin is original and genuine unless otherwise indicated, and the result is that thousands are being scammed by those who know better. Namely the TV hucksters, the self slabbers, and best of all, those same dealers who keep comming up with created rarieties like the "first strike" "signature series" yadda, yadda, yadda..........  The scamming that took place prior the the advent of the 70 point grading system and the introduction of TPG's pales in comparison to what is taking place today.[/QUOTE]