I have been putting together a set of Lincolns. Because many coins in this series are plentiful and not expensive, and there is often little price premium between grades, it is not cost-effective for most people to have them slabbed. It's pretty easy to find raw examples of most dates. Last night I messed up. All my raw Lincolns have been put into 2x2 plastic and are in display trays (... there are a few exceptions). I bid on a graded coin and won. Now I have a coin coming that won't fit. It joins about 8 others that are also graded and also are too big to fit my trays. Why don't the TPGs offer some options on the slabbing? For small coins, you could grade it and place it into a 2x2 size format, with room for a label. For Lincolns, where it is easy to end up with a mix of slabs and raw, it would really help to have them all the same size. Now I have a year set in trays with gaps - where the 1909, 1921, 1923, 1928, and 1929-D are in slabs and don't fit. (I have six NGC and two small ANACS. They are mostly MS65 or MS66, with one an MS66/CAC.) The other (about) 230 holders are 2x2. What would you do? Would you break them out and sacrifice the certification, or leave them slabbed and leave them out of the display? Should I try to sell them and find raw coins instead? I just can't decide. (And don't even get me started on my 1950 proof set - why can't I get that graded AND keep it in one holder, so it never gets separated? )
From my own viewpoint? I won't pay a penny more for a slabbed coin than for a raw coin of equal quality. It's wasted plastic to me, and the only justification for having one answers the question "How can I make the most money the easiest when I sell it?" And if that was the most important question to me, I'd be buying something more liquid in the market than coins.
Obviously you need to have everything slabbed. You can use Coin World slabs as suggested above if you don't want to pay for a TPG submission.
There have been many others who have faced the same dilemma as you. Have you considered taking images of the coin that would fit in your current display with a note included that it is certified? The only other choice would be to crack it out of the slab. There are a lot of EAC collectors who don't think twice when doing this. Chris
Option 4: It may require some reconfiguring, but maybe have something where the slabs are featured in the collection. I agree with you on the proof set, I one to I want graded together but can't do it. [emoji35] Sent from my A463BG using Tapatalk
I have a set from 1909-2016. I have the Premium coins in slabs in a Eagle Type Binder, the rest in non-PVC flips in a different binder.
These are some good ideas. I have actually put some coins, like my lone SLQ, into a slab-sized holder so it fits in a box that has vertical dividers for slabs. So that works for a mix of graded and raw type coins. They are all in a 25-holder box. Since I have about 250 Lincolns (they just keep making the darned things!) space is an issue. Some were in a Dansco album, which allows for a lot of coins in a minimal volume. But I just don't trust that to protect them. I just don't trust vinyl flips to be inert, and the coins can slide around in them, so they're out. Cardboard 2x2's are the next most compact method, but they have to be sealed with staples, so they don't fit in a box very smoothly. They could go in trays, but I think they are ugly. This brings us to plastic 2x2s. They are more compact than slabs, look good, don't have staples to snag or scratch, and allow both sides to be seen easily. And they are protective. I have merged together all the ideas. I see there are trays (and also pages that fit into 3-ring binders) for both sizes. If I give up on strictly ordering the coins by date, I can mix these types of trays or binder pages to at least keep them close to each other. So the 2x2 air-tights are in one tray (say 1909 VDB-1920), and under that is a tray with slabbed 1909, 1921, 1923, 1928, and 1929-D, then another tray with more 2x2's. I also think I'll break out the MS64's, at least, and probably the two ANACS holders (their small size doesn't fit anywhere!!). And anything that I would not send to be graded in the first place, because of low value or a low price jump between grades - well, I may as well break those out too. Now, where's my hammer?
I highly recommend looking into the Coin World holders before you consider crackouts. They really frame the coin well, have spots for nice labels, and are reusable.
Looking at them now. I forgot the brand name, but it looks like what I used for my raw type coins. For them, I was comfortable with going larger because I have a storage box to match. I am afraid to label them, though. How do you ensure that the paper and the ink of the label does not affect the coin? This is a picture from the web so we know if I found the right holder.
Yes that's the one. The inserts come in different colors too. I prefer white for mine since most of my slabbed coins are NGC and it matches better. I'm not sure about the labels. You can order ones for them, and they will say they are safe. How safe are they, I don't know, but that dividing line you see above the coin is a plastic wall within the holder that slots into the insert, so it should keep the coin separate from the label. However, if you don't like this you could always just buy a package of blank address label stickers and write (or print) the labels yourself to stick on the outside of the holder.
Sort of a real-world hyperlink? Chris - I have seen posts from the EAC guys. They do seem to have a different, and maybe more evolved, view of slabbing coins. I got the feeling that the slabbing is good for getting the coin safely into their hands; after that it's just a wrapper that gets discarded. They also seem to give no more credence to the opinion of the graders over their own attribution and grading. I'm confident enough to de-certify some coins, as I have no plan to ever part with them. Maybe if I get it down to 8 slabs I can reserve one tray for them and all the other trays for 2x2s.
I think this is perfectly valid logic to use with a collection of half cents and large cents. With a collection of Lincolns, liquidity may be a concern (though it seems it isn't in this case).
