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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;silvereagle82, post: 788903, member: 1700&quot;]I agree the photos are really too small to compare but I disagree with the OP being comparable to &quot;these&quot;. </p><p><br /></p><p>punekari, as you can see from the responses to your post, opinions on coin grading and authentication are all over the place. The debate of whether to go with &quot;raw&quot; coin with a dealers authentification/guarantee vs buying a &quot;slabbed&#039; coin with a third-party (NGC and/or PCGS)authentification/guarantee goes back to when third-party grading services were started (in the eighties, I think) and surely won&#039;t end anytime soon. </p><p><br /></p><p>I have bought raw coins from US/European auction houses that would not tpg mainly due to cleaning issues. So have I stopped buying raw coins?.. no, but I&#039;m much more vigilent in my buying of raw coins by studying photos more closely, translating descriptions better, and asking follow-up questions to the dealers, etc. Only after this process do I buy a raw coin. </p><p><br /></p><p>Only 5% of my coin purchases were having seen the coin in hand prior to the purchase and I although I think I&#039;m an adequate grader, world gold particuliarly hammered gold, is very hard to grade on the Sheldon grade&nbsp; ..... so with all that said for my money 1) I always try to buy from reputable dealers with return policies 2) I buy coins that are slabbed (TPG). If I elect to break them out of the slab so be it, personally I don&#039;t. 3) FWIW I follow the collector world gold market very closely, I do not see any appreciable difference in prices between raw and tpg coins .. so the way I see it ... why buy a raw coin? With that said &quot;most&quot; world coins are not TPG therefore if you see a coin you would like to buy ... go to my #1 or if you do like I do and buy via the auction route, buy what you like but study photos more closely, translate descriptions better, and ask follow-up questions to the auctioneers prior to auction. If you elect to get it TPG be prepared for their assessment. Then its your choice on whether to keep it or not <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />. Personally I have kept some and got rid of some when the results were not to my liking. I value the look or eye appeal of the coin ... lustre, bold strike, fullness and centering of strike on planch, etc.,&nbsp; so as JeromeLS said it isn&#039;t always about the grade !!!</p><p><br /></p><p>I do own a mint state Edward III Gold Noble and yes it TPG (and still in a slab, for storage and protection as I see it) and yes I paid a price comparable to the prices stated by the previous posters.</p><p><br /></p><p>FWIW .. I&#039;m a collector of coins ... I invest in stocks, bonds, real estate, CDs and of course myself !![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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