What slabs should be avoided completely???

TerrapinWill

First, thank you to everyone on here who always takes time to answer my questions. Everyone here has helped me so much, and the help provided here is, well, just amazing. I just love the CU Forum.

Now to my question....I tend to look on Ebay for coins slabbed by TPG's other than PCGS or NGC, hoping to find a good value in a cetified Morgan. I havent bought any yet, and am wondering if there are any TPG's that should always be avoided?

ajc

I have had good luck with ANACS but I will never touch another ICG.

DennisH

You should avoid all slabs whose coins are not priced at a level that YOU believe reflects at least their actual value.

I personally have had the most satisfaction and success with (in order)

PCGS
NGC
ANACS (big falloff from the first two)
ICG-SEGS-PCI (huge falloff from the first three)

I ignore all others.

airplanenut

<< <i>You should avoid all slabs whose coins are not priced at a level that YOU believe reflects at least their actual value. >>

Bingo! Online, I might avoid most slabs (except PCGS, NGC, ANACS, and ICG), but in person, anything is fair game, because I can see the coin for myself. When you see what you're getting, it's coins, not slabs, that you should avoid.

Jeremy

CarlWohlforth

If you are looking at the coins in person with good lighting and no pressure and you are an expert grader then the slabs are irrelevant. If you are looking at coins on eBay and are not an expert grader and are not familiar with looking at coin photos I would avoid everything except PCGS and NGC.

DNADave

I would avoid certain coins more specifically. If you can't judge the quality of the coin, no matter what kind of holder its in, then pass on the auction. Having said that, I would look VERY closely at anything that isn't ANACS, PCGS, or NGC. You will get many other opinions I'm sure.

Sequitur

Avoid these:

TerrapinWill

Thanks so much......I will be sure to be careful...So far I've only bought NGC, PCGS coins, as I feel confident with them. Are any of the other lower tier TPG's known for being way over graded?

bgrice

I would think you might find most of the NTC slabs 2-3 levels overgraded from my experience. When I first started collecting walkers I thought I could bargain hunt raw MS looking coins and low priced slabs and send them to NGC for grading after I cracked them out. I got what I deserved.... low graded MS coins in slabs coming back that I eventually dumped on eBay.

KurtHorn

PCGS, NGC, ANACS, ICG. Nothing for me after that, unless you can buy for 3 or more grade levels below the stated grade. Stay away from ICG modern stuff in high grade. But, if you can find circ. stuff in ICG holders they are usually undergraded.

Deadhorse

KurtHorn,

keets

hey Will

i think that if you spend some time learning how to grade whetever coins it is that you're interested in, you won't avoid any slabs but you will avoid many coins in all company holders.

al h.

TerrapinWill

thanks...you guys are the best....

LincolnCentMan

I bought ONE ACG "certified" coin. I will never buy another out of principal.

David

GAT

I avoid any and all foreign sellers. The risks are high along with additional mail theft.

roadrunner

If you do consider ANACS or ICG coins via ebay you must consider a price deduction. ICG coins are often 1 point lower than PCGS or NGC. ANACS coins, even if nearly of identical quality to similar PCGS/NGC coins, will be ignored by 95% of the dealers out there because of the lowered liquidity.

I only buy PCGS and NGC coins on ebay. The others aren't usually worth the risk on ebay unless you can get a big discount. For that one score you might eventually find, you'll have multiple losers to remind you of what you did wrong.

roadrunner

ER

Chinese garbage.

astrorat

Avoid "Crap-U-Slab"? What's the matter, no sense of humor?

Jeremy hit it on the nose. In person, buy the coin, regardless of the slab.

Lane

jdimmick

If you know what your doing, then any slab can contain a decent coin, but for someone who is not up on grading , and buying off the bay, I would stick with PCGS, NGC, and possibly even newer ANACS for early copper.

ICG on occasion has decent graded circ stuff, but on the higher end of the spectrum, tend to get loose.

Very rarely do I ever purchase and off brand slab, usually the coins are junk, but on ocassion, I will see one that makes the grade or close enough. However, when I go to re-sell, I do not offer them on the bay in thier current holder. I either break them out and sell raw, or send them to a reputable TPG. I refuse to list for sale on e-bay several of the off brand slabbed coins for fear off creating a bad reputation for my self.

jim

PhillyJoe

Keep in mind there are slabbing companies that assign a grade and then there are companies that grade a coin before it's slabbed. If you don't see many "xyz" slabs at a coin show in a reputable dealer's case, that should tell you something.

Joe

Colorfulcoins

Slabs that have been opened and reglued together.........<grin> and especially slabs that have been opened and NOT reglued!

majorbigtime

SEGS sucks IMO

Prethen

You've obviously not handled much with ICG (please, don't take into account their modern high-grade stuff, that stuff has not done wonders for their reputation). Their classic grading is pretty good. I have several ICG slabs. A number of fellow collectors/dealers have looked at them and like them. They've even suggested busting them out so they could be worth more to other eyes (again, because of the ICG reputation among some). I've heard of a number of stories now where ICG classic stuff has upgraded in NGC/PCGS holders. Every decent service (PCGS,NGC,ANACS,ICG,PCI-?) has slabbed crap or overgraded or undergraded. Buy the coin not the slab. And, give ICG a chance.



<< <i>I have had good luck with ANACS but I will never touch another ICG. >>

ibzman350

I avoid all slabs by this company, except I had to have this one.

The money I paid for this AU58 dime has to be a record

It seem they don't have the spelling or the grading part figured out just yet.

I may be wrong, unless itza weak strike, the dime looks like a 58 to me.








Herb

RYK

What slabs should be avoided completely???

Any holder with a crummy* coin inside.

*crummy defined as anything from low-end for the assigned grade/price to downright ugly.