When PCGS listed certification dates on slabs!
Zoins
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A number of people over the years have expressed a desire to know when a coin was slabbed.
I just saw this PCGS insert where the slabbing date is printed on the reverse of the insert.
How often was this done and how long did it last? And why did it go. away?
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The "FIRST STRIKE" labeled coins can be dated as to what year they were graded and slabbed.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
Was that the date of the sale?
Good point. That was probably the date of the sale rather than the date it was slabbed.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
Well they should go closely hand in hand!
Most can be told (range) by the generation of slab the coin is in. They never (to my knowledge) put the grade date on the slab.
It doesn't always work that way when an old slab with damage is sent in to be reholdered. For example, a coin that was graded in 1986 that's in a heavily scratched rattler slab is sent in for reholdering and is now in a new current slab with a coin that was graded 34 years ago.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
Like with camera serial numbers, there could be a project to approximate times. If someone wanted to do the project anyway.
Assuming PCGS issues cert numbers sequentially people could add their cert numbers for items they submitted and when it was slabbed. Over time you’d be able to extrapolate the time for other certs.
TurtleCat Gold Dollars
Obviously the Pogue coin is a special case. It would be nice if a date of grading would be included somewhere on the holder.
When buying coins relying only on photos, this can be useful since there are some variation in grading standards over time.
The certification numbers are not sequential.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
They aren’t random, though. So there must be some predictive algorithm with numbers getting progressively larger over time. One way to see is to find several orders from different people done within the same period of time.
TurtleCat Gold Dollars
Yes, that was the date of the sale, and all the coins were re-holdeedr from all their previous holders I think
They don't get progressively larger over time.
Seems that way to me based on the 7 digit certs being on older slabs and each time I’ve submitted the numbers get larger and larger. But baring a statement from PCGS all we have is speculation. If someone wanted to document numbers and times volunteered then over time we would likely understand how they are issued.
TurtleCat Gold Dollars
Not necessarily so. As long as a sealed box can be documented to have been delivered within the first 30 days it could still get the FS 10 years later. I think it's from the date that they go on sale and not the date struck.
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It's true the 7 digit certs came before the 8s, but that's it to the "progressively larger" pattern.
In general, trying to discover the function PCGS uses to cycle through cert numbers is a very difficult problem.
It is equivalent to trying to identify a hash function.
These functions are made complex for a reason - PCGS does not want people to discover this info.
There has to be some predictability given in an order the numbers are sequential. It certainly isn’t as complex as a hash function given the small number ranges involved and the possibilities of collision. If I ever have enough desire maybe I’ll research it. I’ve certainly done enough with crypto algorithms to see patterns.
TurtleCat Gold Dollars
Well, recently some cert numbers are starting with a 3 and others are starting with an 8!