This is one of the earliest sample slabs I have seen but I am by no means a collector of sample slabs. I have also never seen a sample slab with a peace dollar in it. I was hoping one of the slab collectors could enlighten me about this piece. Thanks in advance! Matt
You would be looking for Conder101. Nice coin for a sample. Most of the one I have seen are just essentially pocket change in a slab.
I was just coming here to suggest that site. Cameron Kiefer did a marvelous job with it. I sent him pictures of a slab he didn't have in his collection. You can see it at: http://www.sampleslabs.com/blanchard.html It's Blanchard 2. I didn't have my photo techniques quite down-pat at the time, though.
That is a very early NGC sample slab and was intended for distribution to dealers rather than the general public (due to the expense of the coin in the slab.). The main thing this sample was to illustrate was the change over from the line type logo to the hologram. The holograms came in response to the counterfeiting of the PCGS slabs in 1989. The Blanchard 2 slab is interesting. It could almost be considered a mule. It has the Sample front label but not the white on green reverse label that was used on all the other Blanchard samples I've seen. That embossed gold on white reverse label is the same one that they used on their regular production slabs. Basically it is a Sample printed on the wrong label.
