Suggestions for a slab newbie?

ChrisMiller

I plan to submit a few coins off to PCGS for grading some day, and would love to hear any advice you all could offer. Whats the best way to ship? Should I ship multiple at one time? What type of packaging? Should I sign up for one of their paid services, or keep my free membership and pay a premium per submission?

I would imagine in the next year, I *may* submit 10 coins at most. Also, what should I look for to keep from getting body bagged? I am really on a limited budget here so I am looking for the cheapest, most effective solution.

Also, I would love to hear your comments on grading in general. The coin shops in my area sell only raw coins, and in all honesty I don't see a point in using a 3rd party grading service. Coins on ebay bring a premium if they are in a PCGS slab, but what if PCGS was no more? From looking at PCGS's parent company in the stock market, that may just be the case soon lol.

If / when I do submit it will be only to satisfy my own curiosity.

Any info would be much appeciated.

kranky

Being on a limited budget, is there really a benefit to spending the money on slabs?

prooflike

Why are you slabbing? What are the coins worth? Are they even worth slabbing? Many coins can be had for about the slab cost + cost of coin on ebay and you take no body bag risk.

dorkkarl

uh, you aren't chris miller the ex-quarterback, are ya? what coins are you thinking of submitting?

K S

ChrisMiller

I have a few morgans and some kennedy's I would like to submit. I guess my reasoning behind it would be to sell them online. It seems like noone respects a coin being sold on the net unless its in a slab.

BAJJERFAN

If PCGS slabbed coins are considered to be accurately grade now (most of them likely are) that wouldn't change if they somehow went belly up. In fact they might become even more desirable and thus increase in value. At the worst you would lose the benefit of the warranty/guarantee that comes with the slab.

Twowood

Chris; Great questions.I too, am a newbie and I was committed to collecting ONLY slabs.However, one of the veteran collectors on this board suggested that grading raw coins is where the fun and challange is in collecting.
I took his advice. I've now got 3 Peace dollars that look really good and I'm anxious to run them past a grading service but,like you, I need some guidance..Good Luck!.

ChrisMiller

So assuming I will be submitting some coins to PCGS.. what type of advice can the pros give? How to package? What PCGS plan should I sign up for? Whats the best way to ship?

Any info you can give me on submitting to PCGS would be much appreciated

Thanks

TheNumish

When you sign up for PCGS they send a packet of info telling you how to send coins in.

There is a section of questions board members asked Rick Montgomery that gives some tips about how to send coins in.

If grading a coin gives it added value in the market place than it's worth sending in. Otherwise it's a waste of money. The key is to figure out which ones are worth sending in and which aren't. I'm still trying to figure it out.

DHeath

Chris et al,

Go to the submissions page and print out the form. If you buy the membership, you get a few free gradings and can submit Moderns for $10 apiece. As for packaging, I always use crunchy saf-flips (Stantons) without a polybag. I bundle all of the coins in bubblewrap and put in a padded mailer. I then put the padded mailer in a regular large manilla envelop and staple the end several times. The post office won't mail registered insured in a padded mailer. Then I send the package REGISTERED INSURED. That is the only way to achieve any level of safety when shipping (I've lost 2 packages that weren't registered and none that were). Then, wait 15 days and start checking the website for results. It usually takes between 15-30 days.

As for slabbing, there are several reasons why I think it is worth the $10 and the hassle. Primary is liquidity, and secondary are the authentication, protection, guarantee of grade, and a neutral grading opinion. I collect lots of coins raw, but I slab most that are valuable, knowing it would be easier should I or my family ever have to sell them. Not bad for $10. IMHO

ursabear

ChrisMiller - here's what I do:
I get out my crunchy flips, a nice clean soft t-shirt, and cotton gloves. I place the coins on the t-shirt laid out nicely.
I put each coin in a 2.5x2.5 by squeezing the edges together a little bit.
I go to PCGS and print out a submission form to get the invoice number, then I research my coins to get the coin numbers.
I write the invoice number, the line number, and the type on the little white pieces of paper that come with the crunchy SaFlips and insert them upside down and backwards in the top part of the flip and carefully fold and crease the flip (this makes the paper read right-side-up).
I take bubble-wrap paper that I've cut in 4" wide strips and fold the flips into the strips, no more than two or three per strip, with at least one turn between the coins. I tape each packet closed, tightly wrapped flat on the flips and bubble wrap with easy-to tear Scotch tape. (It always helps to make it easy for them to get them into the packets.)
I then put all my little bundles in bubble sealer envelopes and mark the invoice number and my name on the envelopes.
When I'm ready and I've filled out the submission form to the T, I place the form and the envelopes in a reasonably sized box, fill it with foam peanuts or wadded paper for padding and I seal them with that reinforced, gummed, paper tape (I get mine at Staples, the only place that has it around here.)
I then send my coins to PCGS registered and insured. This is more than other types of mail, but it keeps the theives away from the box at the other end before it gets to PCGS. I haven't lost any registered packages yet.

So far as the club is concerned, I've signed up for the year(gold) membership. This saves me two dollars per submission (for the types of coins I submit), which pays itself back for me in a few months. If I were only to submit 10 or 20 coins a year, I would stay Silver, it would be cheaper.

Hope this helps in some way!