Best Of

@JWP said:

I often can’t make out those damn things either. Those photo thingys are even worse.

Thefts happen with all the services. I don't think there is any evidence that USPS is worse.

Actually ebay should still charge full fees to offending seller including the final sale fee so that offending seller will think twice about trying to list countefeit coins again. Ebay did perform their service.

@seatedlib3991 said:
My informal answer. The small white ANAC holders are the best. The "safety" yellow ANAC holders are the worst. The larger the coin the more I like PCGS. The smaller the coin the more I like NGC. Have yet to see in person a CACG holder. The old green style ICG holders were attractive. The new baby blue ICG holders are less attractive but not a deal breaker. James

I agree 100% about the old solid white ANACS Slabs ... Especially for the larger size denominations and large cents. They handle well, you see more of the coin and not distracted by the slab and label plus they stored very well. More fit in the safe or SD Box. For small pieces Like 3 C trimes ... they get lost in the large holders especially those NGC. the prongs help improve this. The old Rattlers (if they did not rattle) are great if they are not scratch. Otherwise, to me it is like holding the coin in your hand verses holding a large slab

@Sanddollar said:

@Morgan13 said:
I call having to come up with $15 grand for a boiler a disaster then having the package go out of state when it didn't have to.

Bro, you called it a "shipping disaster." It wasn't and it isn't.

I guess that depends on whether the contents were insured and/or if it reaches the final destination

I buy from overseas frequently. If you think going to the wrong state is bad, wait til a package goes to the wrong country! Nevertheless most stuff makes it eventually.

I’ve had three packages go missing in about a dozen years with several hundred purchases. In each case, the package was stolen/lost at US customs, not in transit. Despite the bad press and some irksome delays, the USPS is quite reliable.

Thinking about this... how offend had you look at a piece to bid on and you find it has been in auctions 3 or 4 times in the recent past ( say in the last 5 - 7 years). The net result is that the auction houses fees have now approach 100% of value of the coin.

Greed.

The huge bump in the vigorish during my few years of peak buying and selling is one of the primary reasons I decided to quit the hobby. It really doesn't matter what you call it or who you think pays it. Pretty much every auction house did it more or less simultaneously. If I was a big shareholder in the big auction houses, I'd see it differently, no doubt. The bottom line is that it increases the transaction cost of buying and selling coins. This changed dramatically. It affects everyone too and one way or another it gets passed on to collectors. Dealers with their own websites have to get inventory from somewhere and they need a place to liquidate coins that aren't moving.

It's a great hobby, but I enjoyed the chase and acquisition more than the owning and examining. Doing it that way is fun in a rising market with cheap transaction cots (easy to liquidate mistakes). Pulling 20% of the value out of a coin each time it changes hands makes it much harder. Yeah, I know most auction houses negotiate a percent higher than hammer, at least if you bring a good quantity to auction, but that isn't the only expense. Don't forget shipping, regrades, stickers, and photography. There are other ways to sell, of course, but every other method competes with the auction houses.

It also rubbed me the wrong way that gradeflation made it important to resubmit almost everything (unless in certain desirable plastic) a time or two to avoid leaving money on the table. Figure in the time it takes to fill out forms, package, drive to the PO, sit around for a third of a year to get the coins back, then do it all again for the sticker people. After all of that you send off the stuff and trust the auction house to put it in a favorable auction and to take quality photos.

At the end of the day there are a tremendous number of people working very hard and very smartly to extract money from coin collectors. It's the market, it's legal, and it's part of capitalism, but eventually, it just took some of the fun out of it.

There, I said it, but I'm not sure I was devoid of cynicism. Sorry.

For silver and gold coins a black insert really sets the coin off unless very darkly toned/circulated. For copper or very darkly toned/circulated a white or clear insert works best. Currently the CACG slab has some of the best optical clarity, time will tell if that level of clarity can be maintained after those slabs have been handled and shuffled around.