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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;kaparthy, post: 18564, member: 57463&quot;]There are still several places to get coins authenticated.&nbsp; David Sear does this.&nbsp; So does ICG.&nbsp; A coin slabbed by ICG is a known genuine item.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>The other company that slabs ancients is NGC, but they prefer to do this for large lots, for wholesalers and retailers, and only for limited runs of common coins, such as Roman Imperial denarii.&nbsp; A coin in an NGC slab can also be assumed to be genuine.</p><p><br /></p><p>As noted, the grading scale for Ancients is different than the 70-point Sheldon scale from US numismatics.&nbsp; Ancients are often graded on FOUR areas: devices obverse, flan obverse, device reverse, flan reverse. Centering is also a considering, because the coins were stuck by hand with hammer, punch, and anvil.&nbsp; Even a shorthand grade might be &quot;Good Very Fine.&quot;&nbsp; That means the low side of VF, with &quot;Choice Very Fine&quot; being the high side. With front and back being different events, a grade like &quot;cVF/gXF&quot; is not unusual.</p><p><br /></p><p>All of that said, most collectors of ancients prefer not to slab their coins.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>When I bought my Athenian Owl, I was warned strongly that this coin is as fragile as glass -- I actually had a different large silver coin break when it was dropped by someone else -- but I was encouraged to sit on my bed or the couch and touch it.&nbsp; You can&#039;t do that to an American coin.&nbsp; You have to hold it by the rim.&nbsp; You cannot even breathe on a Mint State US coin.&nbsp; The dealer assured me that after 2500 years in the ground, my handling it was not going to reduce its value.&nbsp; And there is nothing like HOLDING something from the Athenian golden age.</p><p><br /></p><p>Slabbing is OK for commodity coins, but no two ancients are alike.&nbsp; If you have a bunch that are (say, 150 Trajan/Concordia denarii), then slab them.</p><p><br /></p><p>Michael</p><p>ANA R-162953[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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