Saturnalia dilemma

The coins displayed in the SS unveiling thread are incredible, and yet another example of the great people that make up this forum. OK, enough sucking up...and to the real point.

I have a dilemma. While I like stabbed modern coins for a list of reasons, I am less than partial to stabbed ancient coins. My SS gifted me a spectacular (as far as I'm concerned) Titus AR Denarius that is stabbed by NGC. The coin seems to be calling out to me and when I lean in closer, I can hear whimpering. whenever I get close to the slab.

Although, the whimpering is coming from me

The dilemma, as most of you have deduced, is whether to deslab the beautiful Titus, or leave him safely ensconced. There are strong opinions here about slabs for ancients, and for coins in general.

I also understand that the coin is a gift and I have the right to do with it as I please.
That said, in my opinion it's the not right to ignore the wishes of the gift giver.

This isn't a trick to out my SS benefactor. But, I don't want to take anything away from such an amazing SS gift.

Thoughts?

Also, if the fancy strikes you, please post pics freed and still stabbed ancients.

 

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Deslab. The slab offers no useful information, and there is no benefit to a plastic covering for a coin in F condition.

 

Despite the fact I'm very much in the anti-slab camp, if you plan on reselling the coin any time soon leave it in the slab - it will fetch a better price slabbed.

Otherwise, it's hammer time.

 

If you could hear inside the slab (which you can't because the plastic shields the sound), you would hear Titus whimpering also. He was screaming for a long time, but it seemed so useless. He is in pain, help him!

 

I'm not as anti-slab as most on here. I prefer to hold my coins in hand, for sure, but with certain coins it is comforting to know that it is slabbed or was once slabbed. Despite what some may think of NGC not guaranteeing authenticity I think Vagi and Co. are more qualified than me to spot a good fake. It would be nice if NGC offered a service similar to Sear where they offered an opinion without entombing the coin but, hey, at least we still have Sear.

I hope that ancients don't go the way of modern when it comes to slabs but I don't mind having a few in my collection because I can always bust 'em out whenever it suits me . Long story short, if it were me I would probably leave it in the slab until there was a reason to take it out (better photos, new storage organization etc.)

Edit to add: The slab might also have been considered part of the gift by the giver. Something to consider.

 

I like the reverse on that coin.
I'd free that baby so I could get a better look

 

I'd take it out of the slab too.

 

Q

 

Set him free. Keep the slab as part of its history.

 

Crack and retain the label as part of its provenance:

 

This is going the way I figured. Unless I get a compelling reason to keep the coin slabbed, I'm planning on breaking it out over the weekend.

Thank you!

 

I do not know how much it cost to have the coin slabbed but whatever it cost adds value to the gift which you received. Probably your SS took that into consider when making the gift.

On the other hand, I love to see my coins and would want to free it, also, so I feel your pain and hear your whimpering which is very sad and contagious!

So I vote that you free it. If you were to sell it, you can prove that it had been slabbed because you have photographs of that particular coin in the slab. Maybe you could open the slab carefully (I am not sure how you could do that? With a fine toothed saw or something?). Would it being slabbed really improve the selling price of the coin?

The reverse is intriguing. If you free it, please let us see better pictures of it.

"Hammer time" That's funny!

 

Actually... from casual observation of slabbed coins and the prices they fetch, I see bulk submission slabs (like the OP coin) selling for less than their au naturel counterparts.

My hypothesis is that in general slab shoppers are not interested in slabs with less than an AU grade and that good deals can sometimes be found in the slabbed coin aisle

 

I'll keep that in mind if I ever find myself shopping.

Great to see you here, @TIF!

 

Thanks, LaC! I’m on a cell phone but have good signal... don’t know how to link old posts and such from the phone version. Looking forward to some time off and high speed WiFi soon!

....

I had a big crack party a year or two ago.



One of the freed coins:


ROMAN REPUBLIC, M. Piso M.f. Frugi
58 BCE (redated from Crawford's 61 BCE by Hersh and Walker, 1984)
AR denarius, 20 mm, 3.94 gm
Obv: terminal bust of Mercury right, wearing winged diadem; calix below chin; to left, star above wreath; dotted border
Rev: M·PISO·M·F / FRVGI above secespita (sacrificial knife) and patera; all within laurel wreath
Ref: Crawford 418/2b; Sydenham 825; Calpurnia 23
formerly in an NGC slab

I have some cracked out clothing too

 

@TIF! Your coins (and the ones you selected as your favorites of 2017) are just out of this world! I will have to spend time studying this coin you liberated. There is so much going on on both sides of it that I have never seen before.

Did you design this fabric? Did you print it as well? I love fabric design and printing my designs onto fabric. Recently I have been thinking that I must find time to do something pertaining to coins. Your 'cracked out' design is attractive and cool for those interested in coins who will understand what the motif means. It is also clever while following the rules of 'classical' fabric design.

TIF, you really are something else!

Thank you for sharing your coins and this fabric with us.

 

Not to overrun your thread, but I too have a dilemma - reveal or not reveal myself in the SS thread???