Switching to Slabs!

I was always torn between slabs and flips. I like flips because you can see the coin and they fit just about any size, but I've had a few occasions where I've handed one to someone who isn't a coin collector and they either don't realize you can flip it open to view the other side, or they flip it open and the coin slides out the top (luckily it was only once and I managed to hide the body).

Capsules are nice, but most aren't thick enough for ancients and there isn't room for a description. Slabs have labels to hold details, but I've always been against slabs because you can't reopen them.

Then I found these on eBay - they are called Quickslabs. They are like plastic slabs, but have a slot at the bottom so you can pry them apart and close them again. Now I can slab my coins so they are easy to handle, but I can also take them out of the slab if I want to examine them closely, then snap it back together. The labels aren't very large, but I can record the basics. These slabs are also thick enough to handle a Hadrian sestertius from my collection. I also managed to find some labels and a template in the right size to fit in my printer.

 

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Very attractive.

 

Don't see any downside.

 

I use Quickslabs to store my coins, in a safe deposit box with a desiccant. Quickslabs work well since you can easily remove the coin if you want to handle it.

If I want to display them, I transfer them to flips in an Abafil case:

 

That's one mighty fine 1/2 shekel of Tyre. I'm drooling.

 

Ditto

 

I'm drooling over that set of 12 Caesars in gold!

 

Good God Almighty! Please dont try to justify this, nor all you who have responded, shame, shame, shame.

Any yet another shame for enabling.

Did I mention shame? Because if I didn't you should all feel it.

No, you posted, so you dont feel the shame.

 

This looks like a good way of passing around the odd coin in the classroom without fearing one of 25 handlers will send it accidentally rolling down an air vent. I'm willing to endure Ken's scorn for a temporary use of such "slabs." Maybe we can call them "temporary plastic display units" to avoid the s-word.

 

Huh?

 

Wrong side of the bed this morning?

 

I'm assuming Ken is joking, as surely the main complaint against slabs is their being entombed (so no removing them, whereas these fake slabs sound like they are easily opened) and they contain meaningless grades and a false sense of security in authenticity (which these obviously don't). I'm calling shenanigans on the complaint!

That and I once bought a slabbed coin from Ken...

 

Do you keep your personal collection in flips, Ken? I don't think it's shameful if you do, although my own coins are stored naked in Abifil trays. What's the difference really between flips and the easily-opened cases described here?

 

Lovely coin. I've had people drop my coins out of the flips. I take it out of the flip and put it in their hand when we're sitting over a table now.

 

Slabs take up a lot of space. If the coins you have are worth a lot each and you have a limited number, fine. However, if you have hundreds or thousands of coins (some members have admitted to having thousands) storage becomes a problem. However, there is nothing to stop you from slabbing the few coins you pass around and using flips for the rest.

The last time I showed coins (which is a rare occasion) I took them out of the flips and put them, unidentified, in a tray. I hoped that would force the viewer to look at the coin, rather than the information about the coin. I told them added information to the extent they were interested (which was not very).

One objection to NGC slabs is they make it easier to to look at the grade than they do the coin. The grade is so prominent that I bet most people see that first and foremost. Then, they might bother to see if they agree with the grade. Do they ever get around to looking at the coin details? There is a type there. Adjuncts. Artistry. Maybe a helmet or a bunch of grapes. There are all sort of details on ancient coins that a slab encourages you to overlook.

 

That definitely caught my attention as well.

 

I have something similar with my U.S. coin, called Coinworld slabs. Same thing.

Couldn't do it to ancients though, too damn many.

 

Singular?

 

He is joking about encouraging people to slab ancients.

Just a joke I am sure.

 

I use the same slabs as @IdesOfMarch01 and have had great success with them. I have no fear of cabinet friction when pulling my coins out to view and I find myself looking at both sides far more often as there is zero chance of dropping or otherwise harming a coin when flipping it over.

I still take them out to handle "in the flesh" and not all coins fit in a QuickSlab (dekadrachms, medallions, some tetradrachms, and most electrum staters are too thick). But, it allows the majority of my collection to be stored the same way and in inert packaging which doesn't break or snap (like Saflips).

With thousands of coins, this would be a problem but as I generally hover around 100, they're easy to store in the blue PCGS boxes which fit 20 each. It also makes it easier to share as a full, cohesive story can be told and stored in sequence with each coin handed out one at a time.