Who hates slabs more than me?

Okay you'all here I am fooling around in "Coin Talk" when I should be putting up Lincoln Cents but,
Who hates slabs more than me???
1. I hate slabs because they look stupid and take up to much space!
2. I hate slabs because they give the impression we are idiots and don't know how to grade!
3. I hate slabs because they are more expensive and really should be a "discounted coin" IMO!
4. I hate slabs because so many think that it gives them some unneeded experience "from on high"! - kind of like the coin has been blessed or something!
5. I hate slabs because you cannot see the coin as well!
6. I hate slabs because they get scratched and marred easily!
7. I hate slabs because you cannot really feel like you are holding a rare object, ie: the coin is entombed!
8. I hate slabs because they think they are right about the grade - how many times have you seen a slabbed coin incorrectly graded??
9. I hate slabs because, (unlike many believe) a slabbed coin can still tone and ruin - ie: they are not as protective as you may be led to believe!
10. And finally, (as I am sure you all will glad by now) I hate slabs because I firmly believe that one day, and maybe sooner than later modern coins, commemoratives and bullion that has been slabbed will command less value than the same stuff in original holders.

Just my opinion, and this is for fun guys/gals, don't get upset.
Ben "I hate slabs" Peters, signing off now and will not be back until Sunday as I am sure that makes some of you very happy indeed.

 

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:vanish:Then just don't slab.
Why i like slabbed coins
I like slabbed coins because they are certified and you are protected
I like slabbed coins because you could store them better:thumb:
I like slabbed coins because if there slabbed right the coin is protected from envirormental damage:rolling:
I like slabbed coins because usually they are graded acurately dd:
i like slabbed coins because you could hold the case and view the coin without possible blemishing the coin
I like slabbed coins because they look cool in the case and there fast asleep tucked in there bed.
JAZZCOINS JOE

 

jazzcoins, you missed that they are guaranteed - at least to some extent.

 

I love slabs, and the fakes should be the hugest reason you should fear RAW coins. If Fakes can fool the TPG they certainly can fool me. I am not saying I won't buy raw, I buy from my dealer cause he only buys from people he knows. I am not skilled enough to tell a fake from the real. Susan Headley wrote a great article where most dealers at a big show could not tell. I second all of Jazz/RLM's reasons. Sorry bhp3rd. Not with you on this one at all.

 

Thank you, Ben! I'm with you.

Addendum:
I hate slabs because they drive the prices up through imaginary things like MS grade points.

 

Well, I got upset.

I was going to do what GD did but he just saved me the time and covered it well.

Slabs can be polished and scratches removed. If it's bad enough, send it in and get it reholdered!

Most people DON'T know how to grade! I think that may be the BEST aspect of them. They're being paid as a third party to get it right most of the time. IMO, a third party with no financial interests on whether something's a 64 or 65, needs to be and should be involved.

Dealers listing raw coins on ebay are many times easily off by 2 or 3 grades in their descriptions and trying to rip off the uneducated! The slabs at least cut that B.S. out. Just look at the bad AT'd coins that sell on ebay. It's pathetic. Rainbow state quarters? Really?

The new NGC slabs protect coins from UV and hold them by the edges. Since they're not completely air-tite, you can stick them in an Intercept Shield slab cover and then stick them in an IS box so they won't tone! What else are you going to use besides a vacuum to accomplish this?

Seriously, what's a better alternative? Cardboard 2x2s in a shoe box in the attic? No holder at all? You have to at least provide us with a better alternative.

Why should they be discounted when a minimum of two people who grade and authenticate coins for a living have spent their time to grade the coin and then somebody was paid to encapsulate it in their property? A raw coin that could be fake did not receive this treatment. Don't understand.

With all the excellent, appropriate metal content, fakes the Chinese are cranking out, I just wouldn't buy a high end coin that wasn't at the least slabbed by one of the top 3. For at least SOME piece of mind other than a dealer's (who I don't know) word.

Yes, theres always a chance that the TPG could have missed it and slabbed a fake. But I'll do my homework, understand characteristics, colors, etc.. and at least start out with the percentages in my favor, evaluating a slabbed coin.

 

I like slabbed coins , I'm not a bad grader probably average for the people on CT who are probably better than the average collector , so I like the added security slabs give for their grading , I like them for their protection and how they look , but I also store them in Intercept Shield boxes and with desiccants for the added protection , also in this day of high quaulity counterfeits it's almost mandatory to have certain types slabbed , like Trade Dollars . I just like them , even though only about a third of my coins are slabbed .
rzage

 

I'd have to agree with Jazz up to a point, that being you got to be careful on which grading company you go through, Personally I'll stick with PCGS and NGC, with backup option of ANACS or ICG. I've gotten some slabs that are horrible- the ones from SGS that you get from buying coins on EBay from Abon for example- the slab is worthless, all you have to do is break the golden tape they have and then you can easily get the coin out of the slab- but from what i've seen they're all WAY over graded!
That being said, I will only buy coins in NGC or PCGS slabs, and I'll consider buying coins in ANACS or ICG slabs- but that's my limit on slabbing companies.

 

What do you use? I've heard that automotive headlight cleaner/scratch remover works well.

 

I can make that same statement about most human beings!

There is an old saying in poker "if after 30 minutes at the table you can't figure out who the sucker is, it's you." Now imagine a table full NGC and PCGS graders and one CT collector. If you had a coin that needed to be graded and could choose anyone at the table, who would you choose?

Yeah, authentication isn't worth a damn. Search the word counterfeit in this forum and you won't find one thread on the subject.

Not sure I even understand this one unless you are saying that people blindly accept the opinion of the TPG. Better that than an unscrupulous dealer I say!

I agree and they are harder to photograph!

Better the slab than the coin.

IMO it makes it feel more rare, so rare that someone had to protect and label its contents.

The reason so many people think coins are graded incorrectly is because they are using a different standard of grading than the TPG that graded the coin. I will say that I wish the TPG's would divulge how they arrived at their assigned grade with regards to the elements of grading.

If stored properly, newer slabs are very corrosion resistant.

I don't collect modern stuff so I don't care!

On the contrary, I wish more members would post baiting material like this more often. Gives me something to do.

 

I like paying an insane premium for a 50 cent piece of plastic. It gives me piece of mind.

All joking aside I really do have a thing for slabs. hya:

 

Haha. I will try to find things for you to do lol.
Here, do this if you are bored.
http://www.armoredpenguin.com/wordsearch/Data/2009.02/0516/05165750.444.html

 

Garrett , did you just make that for Lehigh , nice .
rzage:thumb:

 

I have to agree with you Ben

 

It's very obvious so many have not yet been exposed to the now common faked slabs. Fake coins in fake slabs are becoming as common as the real thing you know.

 

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[/SIZE] Killed a few minutes. Thanks!

 

If you mean by common, extraordinarily rare, then I agree. Have you ever seen a fake slab?

 

I don't particularly like slabs, in so far as I wouldn't shell out a rediculous amount of cash to have someone else give me a supposedly professional opinion on my own coin and then entomb it in an ugly piece of cheap plastic. But, I have bought many coins before that are slabbed only because I wanted the coin, not because they resided in plastic.

I do think TPG's serve a great purpose and the benefits outweigh the cons. It all boils down to personal likes and experiences.
Guy~

 

I haven't seen a faked slab , yet , except in pictures showing how to tell they're fake , and I've seen many thousands of slabs .
rzage