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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;nerosmyfavorite68, post: 25163158, member: 134416&quot;]Yes, I&#039;m in the camp of ancient collectors who despise slabs.&nbsp; From what I can gather, (Aaron Berk discusses it a lot), the slabs are mostly meant for gold or silver coins (ancients) which would be minty, super rare/expensive, or get a star, as to maximize profit.&nbsp; AE&#039;s, according to Mr. Berk, are more likely to get a negative comment, so there&#039;s little use in doing it.</p><p><br /></p><p>Aaron Berk and especially Mike Nottelman never miss a chance to mention that the TPG&#039;s don&#039;t guarantee authenticity for ancients.&nbsp; Mr. Berk even also opined in the latest podcast, that some of the shadier operators try to send off fakes to non-NGC TPG&#039;s to get them slabbed, as mistakes are more likely to slip by.&nbsp; He was&nbsp; of the opinion that a slabbed electrum coin up for auction (non NGC holder) was a fake.&nbsp; The metal and style just looked wrong.</p><p><br /></p><p>The slabs also hide flaws/tooling and the edges, making it harder to spot fakes.&nbsp; Many don&#039;t even offer size or weight.</p><p><br /></p><p>For most of us, even the wealthy collectors, the criteria are; is the coin cool and can I afford it?</p><p><br /></p><p>That&#039;s as it pertains to ancients.</p><p><br /></p><p>I considered it rather boring to offer up a straightforward ancient coin for grading.&nbsp; The purpose of these were to offer up the real toughies, for fun and education.</p><p><br /></p><p>I never participate in the American GTG&#039;s because I have zilch expertise in the matter.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1603831[/ATTACH]</p><p>One of my more recent buys, a Magnus Maximus argentiolus, was purchased because it was nicer than usual, unclipped (rare as such), nicely toned, and the price was right.&nbsp; Stated grade played no role in the purchase, although VF would be my grade were I forced to grade it.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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