same coin-value slabbed or unslabbed

laurentyvan

I post primarily on the Darkside forum, but I've been reading the posts on grading on your forum and I have a simple question:
should a raw coin (authenticated and graded by a responsible, knowledgeable dealer) have the same value as a coin slabbed by the big three- PCGS, NGC, ANACS? If not, why? If yes, why? Again, a raw coin whose status we are sure of...

Placid

No, I would have to supply my own storage method.

mgoodm3

Theoretically yes. they should be the same price. But your assuming the buyer and seller know how to grade coins. People are willing to pay more for the assurance that the slab helps provide (whether true or not).

Except for the cost of the holder.

jhar

To me yes. If I agree with the grade, and the price is right I will buy the coin. I don't worry about the holder. I will not pay more for a coin because of the holder it's in.

gemtone65

It really doesn't matter much whether they should or shouldn't. In practice they never will.

dorkkarl

unslabbed is worth more, because you get to supply your own storage method.

K S

nwcs

No. A slabbed coin's price/value is comprised of:

1. Coin's value
2. Slab plastic cost
3. Slab's insurance value (for certified grade)
4. Extra value given to coin because of the "precision" of the grade -- less room for argument

Raw coin is subject to:

1. Potential wider divergence of grade by buyer/seller
2. Wider divergence in handling methods

Lakesammman

If a high grade proof/MS coin, more value slabbed. If low grade circ, not much difference but still has a small premium slabbed.

Shamika

mgoodm3 says it well.

Barry

For me, the difference is an intangible value, i.e. authenticity. The value of the coin doesn't change, and the slab itself does not add to that value.
In the case of high grade MS coins, the value is imaginary, because the differences between high MS grades are not real, but just marketing and registry hype.

FatMan

Most of the time a slabbed coin by a major TPG is worth more. The reason is the simple economics of supply and demand. In todays marketplace their are many, many, many collectors that do not have the grading skills necessary to successfully collect raw coins without getting burned. These collectors do not contribute to the demand side for a raw coin. However, place that coin in a major TPG slab and they actively participate adding to the demand side of the equation. Greater Demand, Equal Supply brings higher price. Not magic, just fact.

michael

for me it is magical

if the raw coin can be bought for a few dollars or less and then in the right slab with the right grade is $ 100 to hundreds of dollars to even a thousand or more and then again if broken out of the slab it is a few dollars or less coin that can be found by the tens or hundreds


and the coin if even still in the slab you can get other raw coins by the hundreds if not more that come really very close

michael

michael

and even more magical

if you send in the exact same coin by the tens or even hundreds

looking for a certain percENTAGE to grade out a certain way in the right holders


the key here is certain coins exact same coins by the tens or hundreds

and looking for a certain percentage to grade out a certain way then if this does not happen you refuse the coins BACK from the service and scream and yell and cleverly threaten until you get your way( your percentage of coins that grade out the way you want them to)

michael

lordmarcovan

Theoretically yes, though as Placid mentioned, there's at least the price of the plastic to consider. Not all of the slabbing game is about grading. I myself switched to slabs as much to protect my coins from the environment as to protect myself from sight-unseen grading shenanigans. (At the time I had no computer and bought from the ads in hobby magazines.)

The coin is the primary concern, but the plastic counts, too.

Most say "buy the coin and not the holder", which is good advice, but I say "buy the coin AND the holder".

This is less important on the Darkside.

jdimmick

I believe what Lakes was refering too In higher mintstate and proof grades as well as key-dates even in circulated grades, is that having a coin slabbed by a third party such as PCGS/NGC increases the marketability of the coin in question. More buyers will preffer to have this coin over a raw piece, it gives the buyer assurance of authenticity, cofidence that the coin is what it is, etc. Therefore, the increase in marketability increases the value per say. This is especially true for the higher $ value pieces.

jim

jhar

I think that I will add to my previous reply.


I have only bought slabbed coins over the internet. I cannot hold the coins, I'm considering over the internet, in my hand. I have to trust the third party grading service that slabbed the coins that the grade is accurate. That's why I only consider coins housed in PCGS, NGC, and ANACS holders, when I am buying over the internet.

When I go to a dealer's shop or I go to a coin show, I can hold the coins I'm looking at in my hand. I consider all coins, Slabbed or Raw, when I'm at a show/shop. I feel confident enough in my own grading abilities to choose a correctly graded coin. I will buy slabbed or raw from a shop/show

In both cases I look at the various price guides, greysheet, CW trends, & PCGS on-line Price guides. I get a feel for how much a coin is worth. If I feel the coin I'm looking at is worth the price, I buy it. The cost of grading for the dealer doesn't come into the equation.

I am buying coins for my own personal enjoyment so I really don't think I'll try to sell any of them anytime soon. I generally look at Lower valued items. The most I've ever paid for a single coin was just under $400. Most of the time I spend $100 or less per coin. So to me a markup of $15-$30 for the cost of the slab is significant.

To sum everything up, I buy coins not plastic. In my opinion, the cost of the slab is part of the costs of doing business for a coin dealer, just as the Lease for his shop, the cost of electricity, etc.


edited for grammer.