Conder: Question about the current PCGS slab

Mark

Conder:

The current style of PCGS slab does not seem to have changed in the last couple of years. What is the longest period of time that PCGS has gone without changing their slab? Is the current slab the longest lived slab?

The reason I ask is that I prefer more frequent changes in slab types. I like "white" coins and am well aware of the fact that virtually all old, non-Morgan dollar, white coins likely have been dipped. If I buy a coin in a holder I recognize as old, then I am confident that if the coin was going to change in the holder, it would already have done so. But if I buy a newly slabbed coin, who knows--maybe the dip was rinsed improperly and in a few months the coin will be UGLY. So, everything else the same, I like a holder that I can identify as older so that I know the coin has had a chance to change.

I presume toned-coin loving numismatists also ought to like older holders for a similar reason: If the coin is AT and the AT is temporary, a coin in an older holder has a greater likelihood of already going bad.

Does anyone else have a similar view or am I imagining things?

Anyway, thanks in advance.

Mark

P.S.: Conder, what is the ETA for your slab book? I presume all board members get a substantial discount???

littlewicher

A few months ago, PCGS moved the barcode to the front of the holder.

airplanenut

Yes- the shape hasn't changed, but the label has, many times.

Conder101

The current PCGS labels date from March of 2002 when they moved the barcode. Actually it is getting very hard to keep up with all of the recent PCGS labels. There have been at least eight since November of 1998.

Longest period with no change was the PCGS 4 slabs from 1990 to some time in 1995. Thoses are the green labeled one s that weren't color stable so they can be found in over a dozen shade from yellow to light blue.

On the book The last picture that I have been waiting on arrived in the mail yesterday. I ned to scan it and insert it in the file then print out the final corrected pages for the master manuscript and take it to the printers. I have an hyperlinked CD-ROM version finished in Corel WordPerfect finished and ready to burn copies of, and I am finishing up a hyperlinked Microsoft Word version on CD-ROM as well. It will hopefully be ready within the week. I should then be able to produce a CD-ROM that has both formats of the book plus all of the JPG files of each variety on it. So the CD should be available well before the book. So unless something unforseen happens I should be able to start producing CD's within two weeks.

I wanted to do a PDF version as well but I can't get the Acrobat software to work.

coinut1799

Mark;
I am also interested in the age of the holder. If it is a recent PCGS or NGC holder I usually pass on the coin, because I have concerns about "recent" doctoring efforts. I have a personal reason for this. A few years ago I bought what looked like a gorgeous reflective $10 gold coin from a dealer who was discussed in great detail recently in this forum. The coin was in a 64 PCGS holder, and I paid a strong premium for the coin. Within 6 months the coin looked like crap, with hairlines exposed. Clearly the coin had been sprayed or doctored in another manner. So now I won't buy an expensive coin unless it has been in a holder for at least a year.

eagle7

It would be nice if PCGS would give the date slabbed when you check the cert number for verification. That way anyone with access to a computer and the cert # could check the date slabbed. It may be on the report, I dont know I havent checked a cert lately.

nwcs

No certifier will show you the date of the certification. It's to discourage the notion that standards change over time and doesn't always track the coin due to crackouts.