Attended Ohio Coin Expo Today...New Opinions on the Hobby

ChuckC

My brother and I attended the Ohio Coin Show in Cleveland this afternoon. We got there with two hours to close, but unfortunately, half the dealers were closing up shop. Not to fret, we still had plenty of coins to peep. I noticed that about 80% of the stuff was raw. I even spoke to one guy who said he did not deal in slabs because the buyers of slabs are INVESTORS and not COLLECTORS, i.e. people are buying the plastic, not the coin. He even said he cracks coins out and slaps his own grade on them. He said "why should you let a third party do the grading for you?"

The next guy I spoke with didn't have quite an extreme position; he said slabs are good for the people that do not know how to grade. This same guy helped me to understand why buying coins on the Internet has its limits. The main reason is you can't handle the coin and make judgments for yourself about a grade. Well duh, that's why I said that if you can set a price range for slabbed coins (e.g. using data from past auctions), you can make fair transactions. Just then, he said that you still can't handle the coin and make judgments about the quality. In other words, sure it may be graded MS66, but it may not have that luster or toning of the next MS66 and even online pictures have their limits and can be doctored. That's when the guy pulls out a tray of gem mercury dimes...my knees went weak. Early in the show, I bought a magnifying glass, so I wiped it out and got a close look at these raw beauties. I ended up buying a frosty blazer 1937-S that has a few hairlines in peripheral areas. The dealer marketed it as MS67...my honest opinion having seen my own MS66 PCGS slabs is that it has a shot at 67, but is a shoe-in at 66. At any rate, the dealer sold it to me at an MS66 price. Wow, I thought, I never imagined paying big bucks for a raw coin, but holding that beauty in my hand and making my own judgments led my in that direction, and I'm glad I walked out of their with such an amazing coin. I also never thought I'd buy a non full-band merc, but the dealer convinced me that if you have the cash and you like what you see, don't hesitate because you'll regret it in the long run. Just like I regret not buying that 16-D merc back when they worth half as valuable.

I can't wait till the show returns in November; I may have to give ebay a rest for a while.

btw, cheers to Robert from W.I. Numismatics for the great convo and coin.

GaCoinGuy

Nice thoughts. Me personally, I'm kinda torn about slabs these days. I think they serve a good purpose to protect the higher grade and rarer coins, but I like the circ stuff I can handle(properly) without worrying too much about my fingers hitting them.

kieferscoins

<< <i>I even spoke to one guy who said he did not deal in slabs because the buyers of slabs are INVESTORS and not COLLECTORS, i.e. people are buying the plastic, not the coin. He even said he cracks coins out and slaps his own grade on them. He said "why should you let a third party do the grading for you?" >>



Stay away from this guy. He has no clue.

Cameron Kiefer

Shamika

<< <i>The dealer marketed it as MS67...my honest opinion having seen my own MS66 PCGS slabs is that it has a shot at 67, but is a shoe-in at 66. >>


Chuck, please let us know what PCGS thinks.

KUCH

Maybe 80% of the coins were not slabbed because 80% of the COLLECTORS are buying slabbed coins, big demand, no supply. As a newbie, I'll stay with slabbed certified, by a third party. let's party celebrating your purchase. Congrats.

coynclecter

The coin doesn't change when you put it in a slab. If its worth more than $100 and its not in a slab chances are good that the dealer is overgrading it. Slabbed coins are hard to sell at huge markups. Selling a 64 at a 67 price is a lot easier with raw coins. Not to mention the little things an untrained eye might not spot, like cleaning.

Shamika

<< <i>Selling a 64 at a 67 price is a lot easier with raw coins. Not to mention the little things an untrained eye might not spot, like cleaning. >>



Yep, that sounds just about right!

ajia

Chuck,

Nice story, and I agree to a point.
Moderns.....why the heck would you slab moderns except for the registry? People are looking for grade rarities. And others are buying into that! Heck, I buy slabbed moderns that have a decent grade to play the registry game, although I won't spend crazy money for any newer (post 1990) coins, just too many out there to be made (IMO).

When I started collecting I exclusively collected raw coins. But I got to a point were I was trying to upgrade MS coins & eBay was NOT where I should have been being. Overgraded coins were killing me. The local shop deals in lower grade coins, a few nice ones here & there, but not much. Now it's (nearly) only PCGS coins. I feel confident about the grade (a few questionable grades), that they're not counterfeit & have not been cleaned. Plus they insure what they slab.

Maybe the dealer meant 'raw' is for collectors that fill albums & care more about the 'look' than the condition (i.e. cleaned coins).

Let me ask you this, what are you going to do with that Merc?
Put it in an album or send it off to be graded?

ChuckC

You could tell these guys at the coin show were old school and don't want to have anything to do with the Internet and ebay. Some are resistant to other marketing channels because it is time consuming/costly to sell at shows, at a store front, and the Internet. Ebay takes a serious commitment to please customers because as we all know, ebay customers are VERY sensitive to negative feedback. Also, some are not tech savvy. Others believe that coin collecting is in the eye of the beholder and that Internet or ebay sales is limited (like I discussed in the first post). It is plain to see that the users of this forum are very Internet oriented.




<< <i>Maybe the dealer meant 'raw' is for collectors that fill albums & care more about the 'look' than the condition (i.e. cleaned coins). >>



Ya, I think that was the main argument with the notion that slab collectors set their coins aside only to be sold at a later date for a return on investment (i.e the INVESTOR not COLLECTOR theory)



<< <i>Let me ask you this, what are you going to do with that Merc?
Put it in an album or send it off to be graded? >>



I will keep it in a secure place for a while...a month, a year, i dunno yet, but I plan to send it off for grading at some point to PCGS. Based on average "prices realized" prices from heritage auctions, PCGS MS66 brings in $55; PCGS MS67 brings in $155, NGC MS67 brings in $79. I paid $55.