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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Bart9349, post: 1618125, member: 5682&quot;]Let me weigh in on plastobolsaphobia (fear of plastic containers):</p><p><br /></p><p>Some coin collectors feel that when any ancient coin is slabbed, they lose the tactile joy of holding a two thousand year piece of history in their hands. Also, some ancient coin collectors fear that once their cherished ancient coins are slabbed, they become a commodity which is no longer admired and treasured, but is flipped like some stock in the heartless coin market.&nbsp; Finally, to the surprise of many novice collectors, most ancient coins are relatively inexpensive, making any added fee for authentication an unnecessary expense. And I understand and agree with all these points.</p><p><br /></p><p>Personally, I view slabs as akin to a menu translated into English at a foreign restaurant. It is sometimes helpful, but it can also be an unnecessary and incomplete added expense. For someone more experienced, it can either be a help or a hindrance.</p><p><br /></p><p>(Remember, it is not hard to &quot;free&quot; these coins from their plastic tomb.)</p><p><br /></p><p>That said, I appreciate the work by David Vagi and the folks at NGC.&nbsp; I respect his integrity, experience, and knowledge. If I were to buy an expensive ancient, I would want someone like a Vagi to render his opinion on a coin&#039;s authenticity.</p><p><br /></p><p>I enjoyed this article&#039;s discussion about the difficulties involving authentification:</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="color: #ff4d4d">[Moderator edit [USER=5682]@Bart9349[/USER], this link led to spam, please check links before posting] </span></p><p><br /></p><p>As mentioned previously, buy the coin and not the slab. Buy from reputable dealers. And if buying from an unknown dealer, either know your stuff or have a respected authentication (like NGC&#039;s).</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>guy[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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