What is a Slider?

I went into a coin store to buy some Morgan silver dollars. The fellow said, "We have some sliders." I asked, "What are sliders?" He answered, "Coins that are about uncirculated." I looked at them, loved them, and bought several.

Then I went into another coin store and asked if they had any Morgans that were sliders. The fellow said, "Sliders? Sliders are circulated coins that have been cleaned and sold as if they were uncirculated, by unscrupulous dealers."

So what is a slider?

 

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It explains in this link. http://www.tipsicocoin.com/slider.html From my understanding it doesn't mean it's cleaned just that is has some slight wear that keeps it from MS but retains good luster and detail and would grade AU58.

 

A 'slider' is a coin that has the appearance of being uncirculated but upon close examination, shows evidence of wear on it.

 

The second dealer was pretty close, but the first dealer doesn't seem to be one of these "unscrupulous dealers" because he did identify them as sliders. If you paid $50+ for these "about uncirculated" sliders, and they are problem coins as noted below, then the dealer might have taken advantage of you. If you paid $15-25 for them, then it's all good. (Assuming they're all common date examples.)

From fleur-de-coin.com:

 

Cull Morgans sell for $24+, I'd like to know where you are getting these AU Details $15 Morgans.

 

Burgers from White Castle. :>)

 

I was being optimistic, but I can get cull Morgans around here for about 10% over spot, or about $17. Common date AU details might fetch $25.

 

I agree, I don't think cleaning has anything to do with it. Typically a slider is a coin that has only trace high point wear (AU58) and can easily be confused for a mint state coin.

Linked below is a thread on the NGC forum where guys are showing off their sliders.

"Super Slider Saturday"... Post a Great AU58!

My slider was actually resubmitted and graded MS62 the second time around.

 

Here is another example of a slider:

 

As you can see, there are a couple of commonly accepted definitions of the term. Here's an interesting page that lists definitions from many different sources:

http://en.mimi.hu/numismatic/slider.html

Most of them have to do with coins being on the verge of a higher grade, or coins that have been cleaned to seem like they are a higher grade.

I don't know which one the first dealer had in mind when selling you those coins, but the second dealer obviously seemed to subscribe to the latter.

 

A definition given to me by a very elderly coin person when I was young, said a slider was a term from when coin cabinet drawers lined with felt or similar would produce small hairlines when the coin moved a little by use of the cabinet. But the modern terminology is probably correct by now.

 

I'll add one more definition from the ANA Grading Standard "Dictionary of Grading Terms". "Slang term once popular, now rarely used, designating a coin that is About Uncirculated and that, were it not for some friction, (perhaps from sliding on a bar top or counter), would qualify as Mint State".

 

A slider, as Lehigh has shown, is basically a coin that is or should be graded a high About Uncirculated, having the slightest friction wear. But so slight that for many people who don't know the grading well will see it as a BU coin (Brilliant Uncirculated, meaning about a MS60-MS63 in general) and will pay BU price for it if it is presented as a BU. Some dealers do that, and their BU coins are many times sliders. You have to be really knowledgeable about the differences to spot some.
The important thing is to recognise when something has been represented as fully uncirculated (MS numbers) as opposed to an AU coin being passed as an UNC. Don't pay BU money for AU coins. But do pay AU prices for BU coins if you can get them.

I think the term 'slider' is being defined differently now, so also you have to find out what the person means by slider. It looks like the dealer you bought from at least was honest and told you they were 'about uncirculated' instead of representing them as BU and being barely there.

 

A slider is a breaking ball pitch that breaks laterally and down, with a speed between that of a curveball and a fastball, but the break on the pitch is shorter than that of a curveball. Sorry the baseball HOF coins are getting to me. It is generally accepted that an AU58 is a slider. TC

 

And often an AU58 is considered better than an MS62.

 

I was paying $40-$45 to both dealers.

 

Wow! You could make 25% gain after costs selling them on ebay. You could put them in 100 coin lots and make $400 - $500 per lot. You could make a modest living that way. Do you have names and addresses for these dealers?

 

When did they invent the slider? I can't remember anyone having one when I was playing high school baseball in 1968-71.

 

I don't agree that cleaning or other forms of man-made modifications factor into a coin being called a slider. A slider is simply an AU-58, which for me is a very desirable grade for coins that are very expensive in UNC grades. Some sliders look like MS64s but with a bit less luster. And most AU58s (though not all) look better than MS 60-62, but generally cost significantly less.

One story I heard as to the derivation of the term slider was a coin that had very minimal circulation wear, but a seller might try to "slide it in" as an UNC coin.

 

It was around but usually just called a curve ball or a breaking ball. Ever hear of the nickel curve:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Bender