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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Long Beard, post: 3984440, member: 108674&quot;]I began coin collecting sometime around 1974 pursuing the Boy Scout merit badge which lead to a life long endeavor. As the older out there can attest, and to my best recollection, the only third party grader was the relatively new ANACS. Which until the explosion of grading firms in the early eighties, not much thought was given to owning a graded coin much less buying one. Besides, for a nine year old with no income the added expense was out of the question. Why pay three or four times more for a coin you could get from the local dealers or coin show for a couple of dollars? Or so those were the thoughts since grading was new and unknown. So, like many others of the time, my collection took off filling Whitman, Dansco and those bank saver booklets. Many others would remain in the cardboard 2x2&#039;s placed into ring-binder pages.</p><p><br /></p><p>It wasn&#039;t until sometime in the early nineties, and several years out of high school, that I bought my first graded coin. A 1964 Accent Hair, NGC PF63 which I believe cost around twenty-dollars at the time. Since then I&#039;ve bought countless others. Without actually looking as I type it&#039;s around a hundred- give or take. However, I continued collecting coins in their natural form. Which to this day I still do, more so than not.</p><p><br /></p><p>Over the years third party grading has proven both useful and valuable. Useful in that they are acceptable across the entire market place within specific standards of uniformity. Not to forget that they are genuine. Valuable in that prices are much more consistent with an established grading system in place. Doctoring of coins to pass them off as being of higher quality is all but eliminated, referring to those less than reputable firms which will not be mentioned. Knowing and understanding this, I find myself clinging to those same thoughts of my early years. Why pair double, if not more, for the same coin (in my mind) I can buy raw? Referring back to their being genuine, I have armed myself with many, many books over the years. Several are series specific by well renowned authors on the subject. I also use PCGS and NGC as reference when in doubt. Despite this, I&#039;m aware that the chance exists of getting taken by a counterfeit. In truth, I can not say with complete certainty that I have not. But, as the post title states, so too are the grader&#039;s slabs. Yes one can check the numbers. Yet these are faked as well. As time and technology advance, so too, do the counterfeiters quality.</p><p><br /></p><p>Perhaps it&#039;s age. Or maybe the fact that I&#039;m clinging to my youth in the way it all started. No matter.&nbsp; I still love coins in their intended state, raw. I do, however, insist on buying only graded key and semi-key coins.&nbsp; Comments and thoughts are always welcome.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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