Your thoughts needed...PCI Slab..

millennium

I recently posted a message about a PCI slab I thought had been compromised. I have enclosed pics of the coin/slab in question. What do you think? I apologize for the large pics...
Thanks!

BigE

Whay grade does the slab say?----------BigE

millennium

It says AU 58 on the green label

littlewicher

May I ask why you think the slab has been compromised? If it's because the coin is tilted forward in the slab, then that doesn't mean that the slab has been compromised.

millennium

On the sides of the slab ( it is hard to see) the plastic looks like it was resealed. It is a lot "fatter" in some spots, like it was opened, and resealed with a hot knife, for lack of a better description. Or I could just be paranoid.....

theboz11

My PCI holders have reeding around the outside with no flat spots.

BigE

It does appear that the slab has been cracked open, I would just take the coin out and send it for grading elsewhere since it appears to be AU-you just have to be sure that it is genuine-------BigE

Russ

millennium,

I'd suggest that you read this article to help you determine if it's genuine or not.

It was written by a forum member here, and is probably the best piece of work ever done on the topic.

Russ, NCNE

ksteelheader

Russ, I gave that same link to this fellow earlier this afternoon. It is well worth reading. By the way, the coin in the article used to be mine..............Ken

millennium

Whew!.........That is a good article..and going by what I saw there and comparison checks, my coin is genuine. It is really noticable in the date and the facial clarity. Thanks for the help here guy! It is really appreciated!

Draco

Can't say anything about the seal since I don't own enough PCI slabs, but the way the coin is sitting in the slab will happen if someone drops it. I found that out the hard way with two NGC slabs

K6AZ

The slab looks like it has been opened and resealed to me. I can't help you much on the coin since I am not a copper guy. I did drop a line to Ira Stein, hopefully he can give you some opinions on the coin itself.

Barry

The best diagnostic for authenticity is the 2 die polish lines in an X shape just under the horiz. line and to the left of the vertical line of the T in CENT. It's often hard to see. You'll need at least 10X and tilt the coin in the light just the right way. If you have the PCGS grading/counterfeiting book, there's a pic in there.
I went through this same dilemma with an ANACS slab a few months ago. I thought it had been cracked and resealed, but the coin was graded properly and was authentic. I pulled out a bunch of other ANACS slabs to compare, and they all had some excess material at the seam. Can't comment on PCI as I only have 1 or 2 of those slabs.

Conder101

I don't think it has been compromised. The edges of the slab as shown in your pictures is consistant with the edges on the PCI slabs in my reference set.

K6AZ

I received an email back from Ira Stein, who is a noted expert in 55/55 Lincoln Cents. He said it is probably genuine, and commented that the diagnostic page is an excellent reference. For some reason, Ira has a problem posting and couldn't post himself.

Conder- PCI slabs can be split perfectly in half and resealed and there is no way to tell. They are not sonically sealed. I have one here without the coin if you would like to see pictures of it.

K6AZ

Here is the empty PCI slab I have. This had an Oregon half in it, which I sumitted to NGC.

Conder101

They are SUPPOSED to be sonic welded. All of the examples in my reference set show edges like millennium's. (And these are low value items that would not be worth tampering with.) I agree though it looks like the one in you pictures shows no sign of welding.

rd5425

The coin looks genuine to me, but there are some really good counterfeit 55 double dies out there, so you probably better send it into pcgs just to make sure

K6AZ

Conder, I have found about one in three PCI slabs will crack perfectly in half without any signs of tampering. I strongly advise people not to buy high dollar coins in any PCI slab, unless the buyer knows how to grade/authenticate the coin. I have cracked over 60 PCI slabs, and have found over 20 that separated this way. I have destroyed all but this one to keep as an example. I have never been able to crack a PCGS, NGC, or ANACS slab in this manner.

Conder101

Interesting. Have you noticed any relationship between the ease of cracking and the generation of the holder? Or in other words is there any particular PCI slab variety that opens even and cleanly more often than the others?

K6AZ

Actually, I have found the slabs to crack in half for all four versions- old font 10 digit, new font 14 digit, new font 9 digit, and gold label 9 digit. This particular slab was a new font 14 digit.

One other interesting note about the old PCI 10 digit slabs, and that is their first insert causes PVC. At some point, they changed the insert to a more ridgid material. Apparently the amount of PVC in the old insert wasn't too high, I have safely removed the PVC film on those coins with an overnight soak in acetone.