new to ancients - NGC certification

Hello,

I purchased a few coins and had them certified by NGC. Would NGC certify an ancient if it was a fake? Also one of the coins they certified was given an AU grade but has a comment which states 'silvering'. What does that mean? Thx. I assume they wouldn't certify if it was fake but just curious of others experience.

 

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NGC doesn't make any guarantees, but that said they won't slab anything that they believe is inauthentic I don't think I've ever seen them slab one that I thought was inauthentic either, but I don't own any NGC certified ancients nor do I plan to buy any or have any certified. As far as silvering, that is a normal thing and generally desired and is the term used to describe the process the Romans used to make coins with a negligible amount of silver look like a silver coin by treating them with a weak acid to leave a layer of silver on the outside.

 

The biggest reason is that I personally like to be able to hold them and having a coin slabbed robs me of that. On top of that, I spend a lot of time researching potential purchases and have a network of many experienced collectors and dealers(many of whom I've met through CoinTalk) that I can reach out to if I have any questions as far as authenticity, and the cost of NGC's opinion is simply not worth it to me, plus I think their grading system is a bit silly and there are a lot more variables involved when I am evaluating a potential purchase.

But having said that, I can understand why some collectors would want to get slabbed coins. IMHO, if you really want an expert's opinion on authenticity, David Sear's service is the way to go. I have yet to send a coin to him, personally, but if I were determined to get a coin "authenticated" I would send it to him before I'd send it to NGC. But really, if you stick to good dealers and do your own research I honestly don't think you've got much to worry about.

 

NGC does not guarantee authenticity for ancient coins. Please take a look at their ancients page. They state this on that page.

Many collectors of ancient coins wish to handle their coins. I understand why some people prefer to slab modern coins when there can be a dramatic price difference between grades. However, ancient coins have in many cases been buried in the ground for many centuries or even a couple of millennia. Handling these coins will not usually damage them.

I own one ancient coin in a slab. I wanted the coin and so I accepted that it was in a slab but I certainly did not pursue it because it was in a slab.

 

Bought only one in a slab of my near 700 coins. Broke it out immediately upon receipt. I don't even know which coin it was. It's a personal preference to slab or not. If you want true authentication send your coins off to David Sear and keep the certificate. If you are sure of the coin, you are just paying extra for the slabbing. BTW, show us the coins. There are many experts here who can give you an opinion for free.

 

I'd love to see them too!!!

I have a few slabs that I bought at auction, but the hammer price was simply the highest bid and not reflective of the NGC plastic...

Generally, I do not want my ancients in plastic and have removed all but one from its prison... I need to be able to hold them in my hand just as so many did over the centuries and millennia...

 

I have two ancients in slabs. I have broken out dozens. One of the two is an error slab, listing the wrong year, wrong emperor, etc. I keep it for fun. The other is an Ostrogothic gold coin. Its an imitative issue and not real easy to identify. I am on the fence on that one. If I had a tag from a good firm saying it was Ostrogothic, I would crack it out. That is how I view a NGC slab, about the same as a David Vagi tag. He was a goo dealer before he went to NGC to grade, so I trust his opinions generally.

 

It is too bad the market crashed for goo and he had to switch to coins. But I guess tastes have just changed over the years and Nickelodeon just doesn't require the same amount of inventory as it did in previous years.

Typos are fun

 

Thx for the replies. I will post pics as soon as I receive them back.

 

Ancients, (unless something special or maybe gold), should not be slabbed...

 

Like I said, it's a personal preference. Not for me, but for some it's fine.

 

Here are the certs. Let me know what you think.

http://www.ngccoin.com/certlookup/index.aspx?CertNumber=4276792-001

http://www.ngccoin.com/certlookup/index.aspx?CertNumber=4276792-002

http://www.ngccoin.com/certlookup/index.aspx?CertNumber=4276792-003

1 and 3 are nice, especially 1.

 

They are fair to the coins. Ancient collectors generally do not us the grade AU so would consider #1 excessive but it appears to be a nice coin allowing for our not being able to see it in the small photo.

 

I especially like #1, Aurelianus, which can be seen reasonably well with the enlarge function. The 1st Jewish revolt prutah is typical of the type--weakly struck and barely discernible (I recently purchased one myself via Agora Auction but in the 'raw' state). I think the Maximian is quite nice, but a bit of a push for VF (overall) from what I can see and in my humble opinion.

 

Slabs? .... sorry, but I can't stand 'em (ummm, and yah I know that I'll take flak, but I even busted my "moderns" out of their nasty slabs!!)



Yah => I collect "coins" ...




Oh, sorry => that's awesome that you've decided to collect ancients!! (you rock!!)

 

"But..but...those first generation slabs & sample slabs are worth alot of $." Plastic is the new money!

*Heh, kinda is with debt. cards.*

 

I echo what the general consensus has been on this thread that I'd prefer not to have them slabbed. I know in my area of expertise (English hammered coins of the 13-14th century's) it is widely preferred not to have the coins graded for various reasons.

However, I do like the slab look and to help me identify and organize my collection. So I satisfy this desire by getting the blank slabs and putting my coins in them myself and because they are not sealed, I can always remove the coin to hold/inspect. Here is what the slab looks like...identical to NGC

 

Now, that's probably the only reason I would have a coin intentionally 'slabbed'...
And, I may do just that with some of my Roman Emperors non-album fitting slips---or of a certain sub-set I'm constantly adding to...

 

They don't use AU? What is the "ancient" grading scale? This might be a good topic for another thread if someone wants to educate me. I know NGC uses the Sheldon scale (without numbers, I think), and also uses Strike and Surface grades (on a 1-5 scale). Is this something that most ancient collectors use as well, or is this an NGC thing?

Sorry if these are stupid questions, I'm new to the ancient side of things....