Things I Hate #1

SLABBED ANCIENT COINS!
:desk:
Wow, this really gets me going. Several things that are wrong with the practice:

1. Slabs aren't particularly safe for coins. Sure, they may prevent casual scratching or damage, but coins, bronze ones in particular, need to BREATH or they will never last another thousand years! (Just ask Early American Copper guys about this)

2. The grades are completely irrelevant. Oo, look at that sestertius, its graded EF-40! Meanwhile, I can't read the damn legend, and its struck on an irregular square flan. Honestly, the best that you could do is Poor, Good, Fine, and FDC. All of which are self evident, really.

3. The attribution is poor. I have yet to see a slabbed ancient with a reference number on it. And, generally, this is a pretty important thing to ancient collectors. Without it, you really have a difficult time double-checking the attribution. Also, it would NOT surprise me if theres a bunch of slabbed ancients out there with wrong attributions.

4. C'mon, touch the darn coins! I'm not saying that you should go out there and start rubbing them like a pocket piece, but the point of collecting ancients really is to hold history in your hands, not a piece of plastic!


But thats just my two denarii...

(NOTE: This really is intended for ancient coins, I understand that it is an important part of American collecting, though I don't necessarily agree with it even there... but thats for another thread)

 

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Sorry if this comes off as a bit blunt, but...

It makes absolutely no sense to me that someone would want to slab an ancient coin.

 

Thanks :-D

 

Yes, I agree too. It is like putting the coin in a coffin. Maybe it makes sense if you want to deep freeze your MS-64 so that it doesn't become an MS-63, like a head of a baseball great, but why do it for a coin rich with history.
richie

 

To be entirely honest, I wouldn't trust any of the grading companies to authenticate an ancient. Especially if they don't give a reference and can't get a decent grade on the piece.

 

Oh, come on....you know you want to start playing the crackout game with ancients.....lol! Go after those upgrades!

 

I have always laughed at slabbed ancients. It's so ridiculous.

 

I tend to agree though I am not sure that bronze needs to breath, I am sure they would be just fine in slabs....

No grading company can authenticate me coins...there are places to send them to be authenticated, one of the sabbing companies isnt one of them.

 

I would love for some archaeologist to find a Roman coin encased in glass with a note (in Latin):

"Graded by NGS - Nero Grading Service"

 

graded 'MS LXV'

 

I second that completly. We collectors of ancient HAVE TO touch them

Cucumbor

 

It makes sense to me if I just paid $4000.00 for an ancient (which I haven't), but as for my others, the most money I've layed out is $170.00. Not enough for me to slap.

 

Then why not just pay someone to authenticate it. Maybe someone who specializes in ancients. I guess what I am saying is that the big TPGs may not be knowledgeable enough in the field of ancients to attribute the coins properly. Authentication can be done by many others and one might find a better opinion as well as a better value for the services in places other than the TPGs.

JHMO,

mikenoodle

 

I'm getting to the point where I'm not really too thrilled with any slabbed pieces. I only own four really nice slabbed dollars, but everything else is raw. Ancient coins being slabbed is also ridiculous.

 

point well taken. I guess my gist is that we as collectors need to stop taking a TPG slab as the end all for all coins. The older I get, the more I appreciate the TPGs for certifying coins like a 1916-D dime. I would never buy one that wasn't slabbed, but by the same token, I have seen so many misgraded coins in top TPG slabs that I would never equate TPG slabbed as better or more desireable simply for the slab. Unfortunately, I feel that many feel the opposite and if given a coin graded by a TPG as MS-65 would prefer it over a raw coin that accurately graded MS-66.

I don't know how clearly I have said this. I am probably just rambling...

 

David Sear, for example, authenticates coins. Authentication is a very iffy subject and very rarely something that can be absolutely gaurenteed. Heck, theres coins in the British Museum that have been found to be unnofficial issues. (Britannicus, for example)

As for attribution and identification, I think I'm at least as good as ICG. (But theres ALWAYS more to learn!) You'd be better off posting images here - its cheaper! :-D