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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;TIF, post: 3102141, member: 56859&quot;]Yes, but...</p><p><br /></p><p>Look at what it has done to US coin collecting within my lifetime!&nbsp; TPGs now rule the hobby.&nbsp; Just look at this <i>currently featured thread</i>, <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/tpg-rankings-all-imho.317635/" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/tpg-rankings-all-imho.317635/">https://www.cointalk.com/threads/tpg-rankings-all-imho.317635/</a>.&nbsp; <b>Great Zeus Almighty!</b>&nbsp; The importance of the coin within the holder seems to have taken a back seat to the rarity of the <i>holder</i> or the likelihood of being able to remove the coin from an older holder in order to have it grade higher with a new company or a newer incarnation of an older company!!&nbsp; Collecting US coins looks like more of a commodities game.&nbsp; It&#039;s all about grade and resale price.</p><p><br /></p><p>Sure, there is nothing &quot;wrong&quot; with that (as you say, it&#039;s <i>your</i> hobby), but imagine if the pushback against slabbing ancient coins softens.&nbsp; How many ancient coin TPGs are there right now?&nbsp; Two?&nbsp;&nbsp; NGC and ANACS?&nbsp; If slabbing ancients becomes more accepted, more companies will appear.&nbsp; The crossover games will begin.&nbsp; Gradeflation becomes the norm.&nbsp; CAC-like companies will try to get in on the game (and one such company has already appeared, although they are viewed as a joke... so far).&nbsp; Who benefits from this?&nbsp; Not me, as a collector who is focused on collecting rather than potential profit from flipping or selling.</p><p><br /></p><p>Heritage is leading the charge with the push for slabbing ancients.&nbsp; What a clever marketing ploy, and one that seems to be working well for them <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie3" alt=":(" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />.&nbsp; As a leader in the US coin market they have a a massive clientele, most conditioned to buy slabbed coins and to strive for the highest possible grade.&nbsp; Prices for carbon-copy modern coins reach astonishing prices based on minute differences on the label of a plastic slab. Those customers are being lured to dabble in ancient coins because of HA&#039;s slabbing ploy.&nbsp; The new-to-ancients customer doesn&#039;t have to bothered with to learn anything about the coin or the hobby, just see what the label says <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie11" alt=":rolleyes:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />.</p><p><br /></p><p>What grade doesn&#039;t say about ancients is whether the coin is visually appealing.&nbsp; Sometimes an NGC slab may have extra verbiage such as &quot;fine style&quot; but from what I see, the grade still trumps all when that slab sells.&nbsp; NGC also does try to give extra information about coin quality with their strike and surface ratings (although only on higher-tier slabs), but even that doesn&#039;t adequately describe the individually struck coin within.</p><p><br /></p><p>I sincerely hope that &quot;registry sets&quot; don&#039;t become a thing in our ancient coin hobby.&nbsp; Just imagine how prices and slabbing games will escalate if it does.</p><p><br /></p><p>I could go on all day but this probably isn&#039;t a great way to begin a peaceful weekend so I&#039;ll stop here.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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