For those who will admit that you don't know how to grade like a pro...

MrEureka

If the TPG's magically and instantaneously vanished from the face of the earth, would you continue collect the same types of coins that you now collect? Please explain.

airplanenut

Yes--there are still plenty of coins in slabs to go around

Coinosaurus

Would not. I spend too much dough to not get things authenticated.

Aside from the authentication I would probably collect the same stuff but be pickier about the dealers I buy from.

relayer

Yes, but everyone would consult dorkkarl before buying a coin

UncleJoe

Absolutely.

For me, while I have bought and sold slabs, they do nothing for me.

I do not do MS coins because I have already come to the conclusion that MS grading IMO is much too subjective and fluctuating. I do not have the eye to grade a coin based on market grading.

IMO most MS coins are overgraded, so MS for me is a frustrating experience. Thank goodness I love and collect circulated coins.

Joe.

Edit: grammar

IrishMike

I am a terrible grader, always have been and I've been working hard at being awful since the mid-fifties. It wouldn't phase my collecting habits one iota if they all went bye bye (TPG's i.e.). I am not anti slabbing companies, I prefer my coins unentombed (not sure if that is a word).

I mostly collect errors, varieties, copper coins, IHC's, lincoln cents, foreign copper and occasional tokens. It's never given me a kick to own expensive coins, for that matter expensive anything for collecting purposes. I collect pocket knives and books too and none of them are slabbed. It's just never tripped my trigger. I honestly don't know better to describe it other than none of its going with me anyway. I can enjoy a BU or Au or XF coin as much as a 64 or a 68 etc. Owning the best never appealed to me nor having the highest graded, etc.

nwcs

I can't grade like a pro. I know one thing, I'd be very cautious.

XpipedreamR

Interesting question.

I would probably be comfortable enough with the stuff I collect most, but the more esoteric (at least to me) or pricey stuff would give me pause. I think the TPG's definitely give a leg up to the collector who may have a very casual interest in a series, but is far from expert.

kranky

I guess I'm a decent grader except for Buffalos, thanks to the ANA Summer Seminars and the instructors. I don't seem to get better, but that's mostly because I hate doing it. That makes it tough to get better through practice!

I wouldn't change what I collect if TPGs went away, but I would most likely buy from only a couple of dealers in that event.

coinkat

I am not a pro... and mostlikely never will be. I enjoy the coins I buy and fun I get from all the different coins I have bought over the years. That will not change...

clw54

I'd be more concerned about buying a counterfeit than gettting the grade wrong. Stuff like gold and key dates.

Russ

<< <i>would you continue collect the same types of coins that you now collect? >>



Yes. I stick to collecting coins I do know how to grade - which ain't very damned many.

Russ, NCNE

mgoodm3

Yeah.

cosmicdebris

See sig picture

Barry

Yes. I don't chase numbers.

stman

Only if I can see big blown up images about 10-20x the size of the coin..... and have everyone on here help me critique it down to the most minute mark we can find. Oh, and at sheet prices too.

stujoe

Yes. I don't buy expensive enough coins for them to usually be slabbed anyway so it would not affect my collecting much, if at all.

BaronVonBaugh

I have an IHC set still missing 68,71,76,78 in AU or better all raw except for the 77. Since the 1877 is so expensive I felt it should be graded already when I bought it. Yes I would continue buying raw coins. I own less than fifty coins that are TPG.

LanLord

I don;t know if I can grade like a pro, but I know what I like and I'm completely happy collecting mostly raw coins. I believe I do just fine, but what's more important to me is, I collect what makes me happy. Of course this is a hobby to me, not a business.

mirabela

Wouldn't change things much for me. The bulk of what I collect is cheap and raw anyway.

ursabear

Yes, I would continue to collect the same types of coins.

Fairlaneman

Always have collected what catches my eye. Did this before TPG's and probably could do the same if they went poof. The only problem I see is that most of the stuff I collect and like to get is already slabbed. The only exception is that a bunch of Dark Side stuff is still out there for the pickings. Its cheap also.

A person with the basic grading knowledge would do just fine without TPG's and probably have more enjoyment when purchasing a coin.

Ken

coynclecter

I did prefer the days when you could buy a 65 Morgan coin from the bidboard for 15 bucks. The TPGs have leveled the field and taken away a lot of the craziness of the early eighties. Its so much easier to buy and sell coins at a reasonable spread today. I did buy what I liked then and still would, it just seems to cost a whole lot more.

pursuitofliberty

definately ... and I'd probably get better deals too ... I was buying raw many years ago and those do well when I have them graded, so I would keep on it if the services disappeared

I think I would want to learn how to authenticate better however, as if the services didn't exist, counterfiets might go up

mojorizn

I'm reasonably confident in my grading skills as far as what I collect. I would probably deviate less from my comfort zone though. Could be a good thing! Keep me more focused!

mojo

DHeath

Yes. For us modern guys, it would be loads of fun.

sliderider

Doesn't matter to me. I prefer slabbed, because more often than not, you know what you're buying, but it wouldn't drive me out of the hobby if slabs disappeared forever. These damn Roosie dimes I'm into now are a killer though. You need to be able to shoot the balls off a mosquito at 100 yards to tell the difference between mint state grades. It's even worse for Mercury collectors.

Myqqy

I feel pretty comfortable with my grading skills with morgans and bust half dollars, so my buying habits probably wouldn't change with them. With cameo franklins, I would get more cautious, and would probably only buy at shows where I could evaluate them in hand......

MrEureka

Interesting. I was expecting at least a couple of people to say something like they would shift from gem proof type coins to circ Bust halves.

SethChandler

Yes, I would without a doubt buy the same coins. Although regarding the TPG, it is still always nice to have a "confirmation" that I was right on the mark with the grade.

Seth

ccex

Absolutely. I may not grade like a pro, but I'm fairly knowledgeable in the series I collect, which are all housed in Dansco albums. I have no great grade rarities, so I would continue to have fun (perhaps even more fun) if every TPG went belly-up.

lava

Let's not kid each other. For the kind of money I spend on coins, I am not a collector, I am an investor. TPG is a big part of that. Eliminate that and I go back to collecting, not coins, but something where money plays little part. Hmmmm, twigs on my lawn .... wonder how long that would hold my interest.

291fifth

The primary value of the TPG's is actually authentication rather than grading. Their grading simply isn't that accurate. Truth is, I would like to return to collecting using albums like the old Library of Coins types.

DeepCoin

For me the TPGs create liquidity that did not exist before. There is far less argument as to grade now. It is not eliminated, but it is substantially reduced and that is their greatest benefit to me. It would change my collecting in that I would probably be less inclined to buy more expensive coins as the probability of getting my money out of them would be less if I changed my collecting focus.

I am not the big bucks investor collector, just a small guy trying to get value.

EvilMCT

My collecting wouldn't change but where I buy from would. No more eBay if this ever happened. I have few slabbed coins, and the only reason they are, is because they were bought on the internet.

Ken

dorkkarl

my answer's predictiable, plastic co's have zero impact on me deciding what i'll collect.

K S

Gonfunko

<< <i>If the TPG's magically and instantaneously vanished from the face of the earth, would you continue collect the same types of coins that you now collect? Please explain. >>


Question - do all the already-slabbed coins also get instantaneously cracked out? To answer your question, I would continue to collect the same thing since what I collect is rarely valued above $50, and I am not concerned with the grade - more how the coin looks.

khayse

If all slabs instantly disappeared I would not finish my Walking Liberty collection. The coins remaining are too expensive and the jumps
between grades are too great. The grade guarantee and the liquidity provided are just too important to me.

Maybe I would put in the time to convince myself that I was a pro grader and could continue but I doubt it.

-KHayse
ps Think of all the dealers (that you trust) that advertise a coin saying they've sent it in 3 times and just don't know why it doesn't '66. They honestly believe the coin is a '66 and with no TPG they will be selling them to you as a '66. Then add in all the less than honest dealers.

dimples

Andy Your absolutely right . No way I would collect 66 or 67 coins Without grading services to back me up. I do remember
the pre-grading era and what a horror it was to sell coins back then. Since I'm a collector at heart, I would go back to
collecting circulated coins under a $100 .

Dan

ziggy29

<< <i>Andy Your absolutely right . No way I would collect 66 or 67 coins Without grading services to back me up. >>

Then again, without the TPGs there may not be the enormous, exponential price growth from 65 to 66 to 67 to 68...since very few people would be good at regularly telling the difference, and without some trusted source upon which to assign a grade, I don't think people pay 10x MS-66 money for an MS-67 and 10x that for a 68 -- for the same reasons few of us would do that raw. In short, I think the TPGs have given many buyers the courage and confidence to bid the uber-gems up into VERY strong (some might say "stupid") money.

Sure, we'd certainly have better mint state coins than others -- we had that before the TPGs -- but without some market-accepted numerical assignment, there would be far more uncertainty in a buyer's mind about the value of a choice coin, I think, and thus, I think the very high end mint state coins would go to a more sane price structure.

ccrdragon

Wouldn't change my buying habits at all. I am reasonably confident in my grading skills and since most of what I collecting right now isn't slabbed any way (world copper), it really doesn't matter....

FrattLaw

Grades schmades.....I'm not sure if I can the tell the difference between 65-66-67 anyway nor am I sure that TPGs can either. There are certainly identifiable differences between 63s and 65s but for the most part I wouldn't change my buying habits. I always try to find the coin that is just under the price break anyway.

Michael

JrGMan2004

Yes and No... Mercury Dimes... No... CBHDs... yes, I buy raw as it is, and prefer them raw anyways, so TPGs mean nothing in regards to my collecting, just as it is with most serious Bust collectors...

Pistareen

My collection wouldn't change one iota, since I don't own a single certified coin. But my job should sure be more difficult and time consuming.

FC57Coins

Yes I would - I've learned that TPG's offer an opinion, so you have to be able to grade your own series - so I would feel much more comforable doing so now.

aem4162

<< <i>If the TPG's magically and instantaneously vanished from the face of the earth, would you continue collect the same types of coins that you now collect? Please explain. >>



what's a tpg?