Do you normally buy raw coins, or slabbed coins, or some mix of the two?

I'm more of raw coin buyer. When I buy slabs, the majority of those are mainly for my registry collection. I also have a misc slabbed coin here and there for something I may just want one of a certain year just to have.

 

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I belong in a coin club with guys who have hundreds of years collecting combined , they say you should buy the coin not the container

 

Slabbed gives me more peace of mind, due to all the fakes being sold.

I just watched a very obvious "fantasy coin" that sold on Ebay today for over $300. It was a "1732" Sicilian King Charles III 4 Tari coin. King Charles III did not become king of Sicily till 1734.

This "coin" was comparable to a 1907 Lincoln cent.

 

The bulk of my collection is raw, but then again if I was going to buy a high value coin that would be different. What do I mean by high value? Over $500, unless I am buying from a trusted seller. Like many of the posters I keep the majority of my collection in Dansco albums.

 

Slabbed. If you're interested, I have two columns in Coins magazine about why I think that all or nearly all of my coins should be certified by one of the major certification services (ANACS, NGC, PCGS). Actually, the columns may not have appeared yet, but they'll be in there in the next month or two.

 

Slabbed; the last time I bought a raw coin was about eight years ago.

However, I buy very few coins. My ongoing goal is to assemble a higher-end MS 19th C copper and nickel type set (plus the occasional piece of eye candy). So the final set will be relatively very small. Also, I haven't bought a coin in a couple of years—money has gone into some home improvements among other things.

Buying slabbed just speeds up the process for me. I don't have a lot of time these days to devote to the hobby.

 

Early on in my collecting I purchased mostly raw coins and did quite a bit of searching both rolls and everyone I knew change. Now my purchase are 90% slabbed. I am just now now selling off duplicates and less appealing coins and currency. I go after the very rare and excellent condition.

 

I rarely buy slabbed coins. When I do it's typically because they were a part of a larger collection.

My main issue is that slabbed coins are typically more expensive that their raw counterparts.

~JobIII

 

Since my first coins were stolen years ago, I have finally got back into collecting in 2015. I prefer all my coins now to be NGC or PCGS. Thinking back I still wonder if I could gotten them back if they were Certified as today's are. Anyway Have A Quick Question for the Group. I am Shopping for an Trade Dollar xf to ms. Do you prefer A Trade Dollar with CHOP MARKS or without and why. Thank You

 

You really need to start a new thread. You'll get a lot more answers that way. Off topic posts are discouraged in a thread.

 

Probably 97 % of my purchases are raw. Purchasing raw coins in the higher end range does not bother me since Paypal will stand behind them. I prefer US sellers
so you can return items easier if you need to.
Have been brave and purchased three (3) 1893 S Morgan's and two (2) Isabella Quarters with great success. One of the Isabella Quarters turned out to be MS 63.
(Take a look ANACS 5289053)
One of the 1893 S Morgan's was around $1100.00. (Graded PCGS G Details) Nice looking coin.

A Lafayette Dollar proved to be counterfeit but Paypal has a 180 grace period to file claim. Had it graded and it came back in body bag. Ended up with refund and nice counterfeit Lafayette Dollar to keep.

If you study the 1893 S Morgan's on VAMworld, you can pick out the counterfeits
without any trouble.

Raw coins are much less expensive and the find of the hunt makes collecting fun.

Noticed ad for 1902 Great Britain Half Penny on site for $10.00. Could not determine the sea level due to the poor photograph. Placed straight edge across coin to see sea level since I could judge the level on the left reverse on wheel.
Turned out to be Great Britain Half Penny 1902 LOW SEA LEVEL MS 62.
Take a look ANACS 5221051
Have seen these for $495.00 on eBay.

Study up and become knowledgeable and buy raw.
You can double your collection.

 

I buy all my coins raw. But I am building a US Modern Coin set so I prefer raw in OGP. If I were to buy older coins I would buy them slabbed to help against counterfeit coins. Still, buy the coin and not the slab!

 

I possess both raw and slabbed coins, but the majority are raw (though 90% now sit snugly in air-tites). Things just worked out that way. Sometimes coins I want come slabbed and sometimes not. It's pretty situational.

I do like the experience of holding a coin as it was held by people in the past. The slabs obviously take that away, but they do provide more assurance that I'm actually holding a real historical coin whereas with raw coins I sometimes wonder.

 

I had a dealer I went to since I was a child--I ended up (nearly) completing my Lincoln cent collection with him. All of those coins were raw. Ever since my local shop closed, I try to buy slabbed coins for anything over $200 or even $100, especially for anything off eBay. I just can't imagine spending a grand on a raw coin from a dealer that I don't absolutely trust.

 

I like buying slabbed because of the peace of mind that comes along with it. Of course there are good and bad coins for the grade but at least I can rest assure I'm in the ballpark for the grade and it's authentic. Also if I buy a raw coin and then want to have it graded it's quite an expense. Maybe someday when I'm confident in my grading skills I'll be more interested in buying raw.


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I buy mostly raw. But if I was buying higher grades I probably would buy slabbed as I'm not a great grader. I don't like looking through plastic to enjoy the coins.