Resolving the Toning Controversy -- How About Introducing Quarantine?

Higashiyama

Here is a suggestion for PCGS and NGC!

The certification of Anaconda's Roanoke, reasonable as it may be, leads to a somewhat odd dilemma -- you could in theory start with two coins that are empirically indentical -- indistinguishable by inspection -- with one coin being "slabbable" because it has a documented history, the other destined to body bags because it does not. The slabbed coin will be viewed as considerably more desirable than the raw coin.

Assuming that it is really not the pedigree that is being sold, the only "rational" explanation is that the slabbed coin's color has greater assurance of stability. If the raw coin was the recent work of a doctor, it's color may turn in time.

To solve this dilemma, for a coin with toning that appears natural, but elicits some concern, PCGS should issue a provisional grade, and house the coin in a "quarantine slab". This slab would be dated. After some period of time (5 years?), if the toning has proven to be stable, the coin could be removed from quarantine and reslabbed in a standard slab.

stman

Sounds like a very reasonable idea, but we know it will never happen. Imagine how many would be in quarantine.

RegistryCoin

This sounds great, but in practice, it may come down to WHO submits the coin. Doesn't that sound crazy? Yes, but perhaps true??? Is it the PERSON who submits the coin, or the pedigree of the coin, or is it common knowledge? Is it common knowledge now, or before it was upgraded? Was it common knowledge before it was upgraded this time, or the time before? These may be good questions.

braddick

Some coins are doctored where time does not play a roll in exposing them as AT.

No, I'm waiting for the day when a coin can be exposed, per the coin's DNA, as to its validity of toning, or not.

RegistryCoin

You do have something there. Sports cards are now (soon) "sporting" dna of the signer these days, just to prove its validity. Hmmm. Maybe we can learn something from the sports card guys???

braddick

<< <i>You do have something there. Sports cards are now (soon) "sporting" dna of the signer these days, just to prove its validity. Hmmm. Maybe we can learn something from the sports card guys??? >>



No- we have nothing to learn from them.
I doubt the Sports Card Guys are the ones wearing the lab coats.

jom

Braddick: Even if you tried it you still have the problem describing the definition of AT. I don't know anyone that has come up with a satisfying version everyone agrees with.

jom

supercoin

This doesn't apply just to toned coins -- freshly dipped coins could benefit as well. Sometimes a coin is dipped, graded, and only later goes bad.

Same with fingerprints... might be invisible and show up later.

Which is why I think it would be useful to have the date graded printed on the label (on the back, in small letters, before PCGS gets any ideas about cluttering the obverse even more than it is...)

If you were concerned about the stability of a coin for any reason, buying one that was slabbed a couple years back would help ease your mind.

It would also have the benefit of reducing multiple crackouts, because cracking out a coin would lose its desirable older label date.

Hmm... now that I think about it, that's a reason the grading services would never go for it.

prooflike

I like the idea of dating the slab or at least making the slab date available with the cert. info. It would be best to have at least the slab month and year on the label, a small 10/02 shouldn't be that difficult to add. I am sure in a hundred years, the slabs will have at least changed label colors to avoid any confusion between centuries.

BillJones

You will never see dates on slabs. More than 20 years ago the ANA ruined themselves when they placed dates on their certificates. Then they announced that they were changing their grading standards and every coin that had been graded before the standards were tightened nose dived in value. It was the beginning of the end for the ANA grading service.

I'd second the motion about how one can get burned on dipped coins that go bad later. Attached is a Arkansas in PCGS MS-64 that turned really ugly. When I bought this coin it was bright white, almost a proof-like. Now it's junk.

roadrunner

If dating holders were really that big an issue then you have to wonder why both services have made it relatively easy to determine when a coin was graded by the type of holder and colored insert/bar code/hologram it has. Certainly once resubmitted you can't say if it was ever graded before. PCGS and NGC have in fact done the same thing ANACS did years ago and changed their standard. They did it in smaller steps but they did it nontheless. Both have continued to succeed.

roadrunner