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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;ewomack, post: 2405070, member: 15588&quot;]Slabs are definitely a mixed blessing. As someone already mentioned, they provide a decent hedge against now rampant counterfeiting (as long as one uses reasonable caution when buying slabs, since counterfeited slabs also exist). Though I have no direct experience with selling slabs, it seems like they bolster the sale-ability of a coin, at least in general. </p><p><br /></p><p>On the negative side, slabs do entrap the coins in a not always attractive plastic cocoon. Even the word &quot;slab&quot; sounds yucky. This gives coins a solemn, museum-esque aura that may sway some from actually touching them for fear of downgrading it from a 70 to a 69. In some cases that&#039;s a good thing. In others not so much. Grade-flation and ridiculous price differences between contiguous grading levels, also already mentioned, make the hobby sometimes feel frustrating and silly. </p><p><br /></p><p>And the hobby is definitely driven by money, money, money, but what isn&#039;t in our society right now? This is probably less, or at least equally, the fault of dealers and TPGs than a reflection on where we&#039;ve gone as a culture. We seem hedged into a kind of economic fundamentalism, which makes sense in some areas but may actually do damage in others. The hobby market overall, not only coins, has flowed with this inexorable tide. </p><p><br /></p><p>The most one can probably do is find trusted business partners, always a challenge, and educate oneself as much as possible. If you&#039;re into coins for a profit this goes doubly, triply or quadruply so. Expecting to make money off of coins without an education abandons one to the rages of fortune and luck. Be careful out there.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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