Starting a 12 Caesar Set and wondering about Slabbed versus Raw

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Beau1010, Jan 16, 2021.

  1. johnmilton

    johnmilton Well-Known Member

    The issue I hear from collectors, who are real novices, is counterfeits and reproductions. I see copies of ancient coins during my surfs on the Internet. Some of them are offered as such and are at cheap prices. Once they get in wrong hands, it can turn into a sad story.

    I prefer raw ancient coins. I also buy only from well-known dealers who belong to the professional organizations. It costs more, but I am far confident in what I have.

    I also have a near life long interest in coins in general, which gives me quite a bit of background knowledge.

    Buy what you prefer. If slabs make you more comfortable, it’s okay.
     
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  3. Orfew

    Orfew Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus

    95% of my coins are raw. I like it that way because I can handle the coins as often as I want to. Coins are tactile items. I like holding one thinking about who had handled it before. The bulk of my collection are housed in Abafil cases. I love the cases for their beauty durability and their elegant design. They are both practical and beautiful. However, I have several coins that are slabbed and they will stay that way for now. i have cracked out a number of coins but did not do so with these. The reason is that these coins come with a provenance and I want to preserve that. The fact that these are slabbed makes it very easy to add tickets and tags to an envelope and to attach this with a rubber band. I very much like having the ephemera with the coins. Also on a few tickets the provenance is actually noted. This makes tracing the ownership much easier. I think that this will become important in the next decade or so.

    Also, if you like Abafil and slabs, they have come up with a neat little elegant solution.:singing:

    Abafil slabs.jpg
     
  4. PeteB

    PeteB Well-Known Member

    Dear Orfew:
    I strongly suggest you not use rubber bands anywhere near coins. The sulphur in the rubber will stain the coin.
     
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  5. DonnaML

    DonnaML Well-Known Member

    Even through a slab?
     
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  6. johnmilton

    johnmilton Well-Known Member

    If you store you coins in confined space, like a safe deposit box, I would avoid them The sulfur gets in the limited amount of air which can attack the medal.

    Rubber bands are like PVC flips. With respect to coins, keep it temporary.
     
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  7. +VGO.DVCKS

    +VGO.DVCKS Well-Known Member

    Do we really even know how acidic the plastic in slabs are? From here, that would be news.
    ...My approach is paper envelopes, 2" x 2" (for most purposes), from sources that advertise them as "archival quality," or (more explicitly, and only better) acid-free.
     
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  8. Orfew

    Orfew Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus

    Pete, Not to worry my friend. I was only referring to securing the envelope to the slab when I am moving them around. The ephemera are kept in an acid free mylar envelope. The mylar envelope is then secured with a rubber band when I am moving the items so the ephemera do not become separated from the slab. I hope Pete that you and yours are safe and keeping well.
     
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  9. +VGO.DVCKS

    +VGO.DVCKS Well-Known Member

    @Orfew, this is making a lot of intuitive sense. ...'Intuitive' being shorthand for, 'Gosh, I never thought of that....'
    I really need to revisit what folks here (you, maybe, for one?) have said about mylar envelopes, only within the last week or two.
    What I do, in keeping with your attachment to the ephemera (also conspicuously mentioned here over the last week), is to use paper envelopes, which then go into small letter envelopes (3 5/8" x 6 1/2"), with 3" x 5" index cards, with everything I know about the coin, known references emphatically included. Along with everything there is in the way of tickets.
    Two obvious disadvantages are that nothing besides the envelope for the coin is even ostensibly acid-free, and the whole project is labor-intensive enough that I'm Way behind in following my own advice. It worked better when I was poorer than I am now, and more consistently had more time than money. But you end up with everything being reliably in the same place.
     
    Last edited: Jan 18, 2021
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  10. PeteB

    PeteB Well-Known Member

    Thank you Orfew, and I wish the same for you and yours!
     
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