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Message:: [QUOTE="Leadfoot, post: 1581003, member: 2972"]Fair points, I think.  I was intentionally trying to keep it simple, though.  <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie2" alt=";)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> Another way to do that, I suppose, would be to say something like: "A coin should be slabbed when the increase in sales price as a result of the slabbing is in excess of the cost to have it slabbed." That cutoff, in a very general way, is around $250 the last time I looked at it in detail. But as you and others have pointed out, the decision is quite a bit more in depth, and requires, both the market knowledge in a particular coin as well as an ability to predict what a TPG will slab a coin as -- and that's not a skill that is very widely found, even amongst experienced collectors.  And given the break-even point is generally a single grade (for instance 69 vs 70 in your example), the ability to accurately predict what a TPG will grade a coin is very important to the decision to slab or not. Lastly, I disagree strongly with your conclusion: "And choose to believe this or not, but most of the time grading it will not do so" and "It's very rare to acquire a raw coin where having it graded will be a net gain for you."  To wit, I know a number of modern dealers and crackout artists who make their living doing precisely that.   I have also done it myself (although I do not make it a vocation).  So it can and is being done.   Again, the key is the eye of the submitter and their ability to predict how a TPG will grade a coin.  Without that, it's a guessing game, and the odds are stacked against you. Respectfully...Mike[/QUOTE]

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