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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 2977769, member: 19463&quot;]Plastic holders bother me but I believe much too much is made out of the NGC lack of guarantee.&nbsp; Ides explained it well but I&#039;ll add that there is a small handful of US coin types compared to buckets of ancients including hundreds known from only one example.&nbsp;&nbsp; The NGC graders are two of the hobby&#039;s most capable numismatists and I would value their opinions above 95% of the dealers I know but I prefer buying coins I know (1) from dealers I know (2) who offer money back guarantee and skipping the $40 for a third opinion.&nbsp; If you feel better paying them for that opinion, fine but I see <u>absolutely</u> no reason to put the coin in that sealed plastic tomb.&nbsp; I might use their service on occasion if they offered a photo certificate with paragraph of discussion on pertinent points like David Sear does but I have zero use for their grading opinions based on an inflated system aimed at people not familiar with traditional ancient grading and an ID that includes almost no details.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Slabbed ancients were conceived to introduce ancients to a new set of collectors whose experience was with slabbed modern coins.&nbsp; These buyers and the dealers who sell them are freed from the need to learn about the coins and take comfort in the plastic rather than seeing it as an offence to the senses as do most of us who relish handling and learning coins rather than the boxes they come in.&nbsp; If this describes you at present and you see no reason to try to know more and handle coins in the future then slabs may well be for you.&nbsp; When you tire of the coins, you can find another new-to-ancients with more money than desire to know who will be willing to pay the extra cost or you can sell the coin to people like most of us for what it will be worth after we remove it from the plastic.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Whatever you do, avoid slabs other than NGC.&nbsp; There are many plastic box sellers who do not know enough to be half dangerous.&nbsp; Paying for their opinions is not wise.&nbsp; Consider the coin below:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]732027[/ATTACH] </p><p>The label on this slab clearly reads Constantine II but the coin reads Constantius (his brother).&nbsp; Beginners and those not able to see the extra N in the name have this problem on a regular basis.&nbsp; Why pay for a slab done by an expert who knows not?&nbsp; I would enjoy seeing any error slabs done by NGC.&nbsp; I really would like to see a genuine NGC slab containing a fake coin.&nbsp; (Fake plastic does not count.)&nbsp; I strongly suspect such a fake would carry a market value in excess of a real coin simply because there would be enough slab haters who would love to rub it in their faces.&nbsp; I have not seen such a fake.&nbsp; Has anyone?&nbsp;&nbsp; The coin above is my only slabbed ancient.&nbsp;&nbsp; If you plan to pay an expert, pick an expert with a clue.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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