I hate slabs, I hate them, I hate them, I hate them
stev32k
Posts: 2,098 ✭✭✭
Indian head pennies are smaller than Morgan dollars so why are the slabs the same size? I can see the date and denomination of the coin - so why is it printed on the front of a slab. If I want to know what the mintage is I can look it up. I don't want holograms catching my attention over the appearance of the coin. I don't want the grading service labels taking precedence over the appearance of the coin. If I look at a coin I don’t want to see distracting information, colored backgrounds or even clear backgrounds. I want to see the coin – I don’t want to see some ad or even the name of the grading service. I only want to see the coin.
In short I think all the grading service slabs are the pits, and I hate all of them.
In my opinion a slab should fit a coin like a glove. It should be no larger in diameter than is needed to enclose the coin. Grading information should be printed to wrap around the edge of the slab. If the print is small – so what – magnify glasses are cheap and I have several already.
Having said all that I like buying coins that have been graded and slabbed – I just don’t like the slabs and all the distracting garbage that comes with them.
End of rant.
In short I think all the grading service slabs are the pits, and I hate all of them.
In my opinion a slab should fit a coin like a glove. It should be no larger in diameter than is needed to enclose the coin. Grading information should be printed to wrap around the edge of the slab. If the print is small – so what – magnify glasses are cheap and I have several already.
Having said all that I like buying coins that have been graded and slabbed – I just don’t like the slabs and all the distracting garbage that comes with them.
End of rant.
Who is General Failure, and why is he reading my hard drive?
0
Comments
<< <i>If I want to know what the mintage is I can look it up. >>
Only PCI does this.
Good rant. Slab message board.....newbie.....Let the popcorn icon begin
Cameron Kiefer
Edited to add, I forgot to welcome you to the forums.
-YN Currently Collecting & Researching Colonial World Coins, Especially Spanish Coins, With a Great Interest in WWII Militaria.
My Ebay!
Tell us how you really feel !
If you find all of that so distracting then how can you look at a coin:
With those big distracting fingers?
Those fingernails are shiny sometimes & light reflects off of them!
If you lay it on a felt pad then there's soooo much color to be distracted by.
Do you put them in albums? How can you concentrate on just one coin when so many are present?
Maybe those empty holes get your brain going about how you're going to fill them & you can't see the coin in front of you!
Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.
Self Indulgence | Holey Coins | Flickr Photostream
They already have this product -- it's called a capsule and lots of Mint products arrive in them. And you know what? Capsules suck. They're way too easy to drop, they jostle around in containers, and myriad sizes means you can't orderly arrange your coins in a safe or in a container. And just imagine a cent capsule -- gee, where did I put that $5K cent the size of a postage stamp?
Slabs are vastly superior, adding some needed heft to small coins like cents and providing stackable protection for all coin sizes.
<< <i>In my opinion a slab should fit a coin like a glove. It should be no larger in diameter than is needed to enclose the coin. Grading information should be printed to wrap around the edge of the slab. If the print is small – so what – magnify glasses are cheap and I have several already. >>
If you're going to post a bizarro extremist view in here then why not go all the way?
Why not suggest that the grade should be written directly on the coin? This would eliminate the need for any annoying glove-like casing and extraneous mini-writing wrapped around the edge.
True, that.
<< <i> Indian head pennies are smaller than Morgan dollars so why are the slabs the same size? >>
So they can be stackable and therefore easier to store.
<< <i>I can see the date and denomination of the coin - so why is it printed on the front of a slab. >>
Some early Bust coinage does not have the denomination on the reverse. Some coins are so worn down you can barely see the date.
<< <i>If I want to know what the mintage is I can look it up. >>
Unless i'm mistaken, only PCI does this.
<< <i>I don't want holograms catching my attention over the appearance of the coin. >>
Are they really that distracting?
<< <i>I don't want the grading service labels taking precedence over the appearance of the coin. If I look at a coin I don’t want to see distracting information, colored backgrounds or even clear backgrounds. I want to see the coin – I don’t want to see some ad or even the name of the grading service. I only want to see the coin. >>
If all slabs were identical, you would not be able to tell what grading service slabbed it. It is a good thing they are all different from each other, as some are known as not being reputable.
<< <i>In my opinion a slab should fit a coin like a glove. >>
The coins do fit in the slab like a glove.
<< <i>It should be no larger in diameter than is needed to enclose the coin. >>
Would you like to have slabs of all different sizes or slabs that can stack with others of different size coins?
<< <i>Grading information should be printed to wrap around the edge of the slab. If the print is small – so what – magnify glasses are cheap and I have several already. >>
That may discourage the elderly and people with eye problems from coin collecting.
<< <i>That may discourage the elderly and people with eye problems from coin collecting >>
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
All in all though... one size holder, means one mold for the TPG, means less money for them to make em, which means less money for us to get our coins slabber... Label... makes it so you can quickly and easilly spot the coins you want... when I'm walking the bourse floor, if I'm looking for a specific date coin, I'm more likely to spot the coin in a slab, then in an unnmarked 2x2 or flip... holograms on the back, coins are usually displayed face up
42/92
<< <i>If you're going to post a bizarro extremist view in here then why not go all the way?
Why not suggest that the grade should be written directly on the coin? This would eliminate the need for any annoying glove-like casing and extraneous mini-writing wrapped around the edge. >>
Excellent idea! A logical progression from my icon coin.
<< <i>Like I said it's just my rant. One man's personal opinion. I do like the protection slabs give coins - I just think it could be improved. There is no need to to put a dime in a holder that is the same size as a Morgan dollar holder except that it's cheaper to order all the holders in one size. >>
The bigger thing for me, is storage... it makes it a lot easier to stack and store them when the slabs are the same time... many times, when I'm imaging multiple slabbed coins at a time, I have to stack them to the side, because I don't have the room to lay them out, and if they didn't stack up together, it'd be easier for one to fall, possibly with out my noticing, behind the desk...
42/92
Because they are all sealed by the same machine. Different size slabs means the encapsilator would either need to be more sophisticated (adding to the bottom line) or there would have to be a different encapsilator for each size slab (adding to the bottom line.)
I can see the date and denomination of the coin - so why is it printed on the front of a slab.
It makes for a better presentation.
If I want to know what the mintage is I can look it up.
Then put a piece of tape over that part of the slab and go look it up.
I don't want holograms catching my attention over the appearance of the coin.
Holigrams are there as a security device. You can put tape over it if you dont like it... or stickers. That way other people could complain about the sticky residue when they take them off.
I don't want the grading service labels taking precedence over the appearance of the coin.
You sit and look at labels? Man... that's a tough one. Cant help you on that one.
If I look at a coin I don’t want to see distracting information, colored backgrounds or even clear backgrounds.
I guess I should have read on before typing the last statment. You do look at coins. I dont think coins have distracting information... well ok, "IN GOD WE TRUST," is a little distracting to some people, but I personally have no problem with it. Most coins have colored backgrounds. I dont think I've seen a clear background on a coin yet.
I want to see the coin – I don’t want to see some ad or even the name of the grading service. I only want to see the coin.
There's always the possibility of collecting raw coins. ...if not, there's tape and stickers.
In short I think all the grading service slabs are the pits, and I hate all of them.
OK
In my opinion a slab should fit a coin like a glove. It should be no larger in diameter than is needed to enclose the coin. Grading information should be printed to wrap around the edge of the slab. If the print is small – so what – magnify glasses are cheap and I have several already.
Are you going to start a new TPG service?
Having said all that I like buying coins that have been graded and slabbed – I just don’t like the slabs and all the distracting garbage that comes with them.
Well put.
David
Karl? Karl is that you?
My posts viewed
since 8/1/6
<< <i>even more important I don't think any service grades as consistently as they should >>
AMEN, and coins develop problems (turn) in slabs. Funny, I've never had one turn in a Museum qualiy Saflip, properly stored.
We pay major bucks to do away with the bickering/ haggling over a grade....to escape the "grading is subjective"
arguement, yet fail miserably when a coin can be cracked out (as was pointed out recently) and went from a certain grade
with a top notch service, was cracked out and body bagged by the same service, cracked out again, sent to another top notch
service and graded it's original grade then sent back to the original service for a successful crossover. Soooo, just exactly what
ARE we paying all our money for when ONE POINT can make the difference in a coin being worth $700 in one grade yet $5000
one grade higher? How many of us have resubmitted a few times and given up only to later see what used to be
our coin in the holder we believed it should have been in all along?
People pay crazy money for a number on a piece of plastic that could be dead wrong. Gives us all something to think about,
doesn't it? The public won't buy raw because they're afraid they're being taken to the cleaners by a rip off artist, yet with all this,
we pay oulandishly crazy money for a Name on plastic and a certain number. Sometimes I think we have all fallen for the "King has
no clothes" fairy tale! 5 pt swings, grade to BB back to grade. Are any of these services as good as they think they are?
<< <i>That may discourage the elderly and people with eye problems from coin collecting. >>
I belive that's about 97% of numismatists....
Jerry
<< <i>
Having said all that I like buying coins that have been graded and slabbed – I just don’t like the slabs and all the distracting garbage that comes with them.
End of rant. >>
Ever tried masking tape to alleviate this compulsion?
I agree with Boom's post.
Our eBay auctions - TRUE auctions: start at $0.01, no reserve, 30 day unconditional return privilege & free shipping!
<< <i>You can always start your own grading service. >>
Bite your tongue!
If it were not for certified, well-encapsulated slabbing I would never have even begun collecting again. Let's face it, once you start buying costly coins, having encapsulization makes it much more commoditized for commerce. There are a fraction of the number of squabbles over grading, it allows one to buy and sell freely, (with buyer's approval), coins that cost up to six-figures, with a mere phone call.
The last thing I would want is to buy a raw coin that was a GEM UNC., only to go to sell it 5 years later and have a dealer or whoever argue with me that it was less than that. It doesn't disappear with certification, but certainly it is reduced by 98%, IMO. To me a slabbed coin, by a major grader, preferably PCGS is like a "passport" for a coin. It is basically an unchallenged asset..and if it is NOT worthy of the grade you know you get a guarantee from the company.
I believe that the "Slab Revolution" is very much a contributor to the huge growth in collecting coins. I remember as a kid and young teen, seeing coin dealers as merchants who just wanted to rip off suckers...I am not referring to the big-coin market, but the middle-class coins. Now slabbing has eliminated the cleaning, dipping, misrepresentation, whatever...and before anyone gets all upset, I am merely stating that whatever percentage actually DID these things, it cast an odor on the entire industry. I now feel 100% confident that what I am buying is accurately graded and easily resold without squabbling. And I am certain that the HUGE amounts of money that is coming into the market is directly correlated to the comfort and integrity achieved by tough standardization.
Undeniably, they DO PROTECT the coins and make them far more storable. How many great coins were trashed prior to slabbing by being stored in reactive holders, chests or wahtever...we will never know, but there hasn't been any outbreak of slab-disease yet.
For those "expert-purists" who only collect raw coins, I say good for you. It takes expertise and a little bit of eccentricism, but if you are that good, and want coins that you can hold, more power to you. But the coin market would not thrive like it is now if that were the standard.
Here's the good news, steve32k...you can buy THOUSANDS of unslabbed coins...but unless you are an expert, Caveat Emptor!!
what i hate is the excessive, ridiculous over-hyped marketing of plastic.
K S
Billions of them available.
I personally believe slabs (reputable ones) increase a buyer's confidence in what they are buying. Increased confidence always leads to increased value and therefore price.
<< <i>If it were not for certified, well-encapsulated slabbing I would never have even begun collecting again. >>
what you fail to realize is that the hobby would be better off w/out you (& those who think like you do).
K S
Dorkkarl - You presume that the hobby is comprised only of people that think like you do.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
SaintGuru - Define "some".
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
<< <i>Dorkkarl - You presume that the hobby is comprised only of people that think like you do. >>
yep, that's right.
note that i make no such claim about the business though.
<< <i>I am a COLLECTOR, but I'll be damned if I would buy top-pop Saints without some degree of security. >>
then maybe you should collect something else.
K S
I also agree that it's crazy that one grade better, say going from MS65 to MS66, can increase a coin's value by a factor of ten. Some people seem to be willing to pay the premium.
I expect the next step up in grading will be more objective measurements of defects, luster/brilliance, and strike. Optical/laser instrumentation can make those kinds of measurements with a great deal of accuracy. Bag marks, scratches, pits and such can be defined as a percent of total surface area. The depth of the pits and scratches can also be determined accurately. Good strikes could be measured by comparing the coin's surface to the profile of a series of standards. Brilliance/luster can be measured by the wave length profile of reflected light. There would still be subjective parameters such as eye appeal, but that should be up to the buyer to determine.
Obviously there would be a lot of tearing of hair, gashing of teeth, and banging of tables before agreement could be reached on what exactly the objective measurements were for an MS-65 coin vs MS-66. But the advantage would be increased uniformity in grading for all coins graded in this manner.
K S
Andy...let's not get caught up in semantics..."some" degree is 98%.
Hehehe, let an independent grading service grade it and there's no question about the grade right? Nothing to argue about right? Hahahahahahahahahaha. Whew, that was good.
I got Dansco folders and I got slabs. I can have it BOTH ways if I want to.
America is kinda one wayed about most things, but you can count on having it your way at
coin collecting and Burger King!
My EBay Store/Auctions
Well, the rest of us like them all being the same size.
-KHayse
I rarely buy raw coins anymore, but I do crack them out of the holder when I receive them. I'm in the process of selling part of my collection now and am going to spend a lot of money getting them re-graded and re-slabbed. The fact that I don't like the slabs does not stop me from buying them or from having them re-slabbed prior to sale.
<< <i>This is a slab-bash, not a collector's-opinion-bash. >>
I grade this thread F-12.
SaintGuru - If you think slabs provide 98% security (whatever that means), then I suspect you may not recognize all of the risks with slabs. Then again, it's no big deal for you. I know that you are a student of your series and I suspect you have a good eye. Those factors will provide adequate security in the long run.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
Slabs provide confidence that your coin is backed by PCGS if it's found to be sub-par, and does carry a certain degree of certainty that the coin has been scrutinized by the best in the biz. Now I know that's not the same as US currency backed by the government, but it's a hell of a lot more than anyone had 20 years ago...and I know that PCGS has done a good job of backing their guarantee. There are no sure things in life but death and taxes, but when it comes to coins, in what I collect, "SLABS, love 'em or leave 'em alone!!"