Poll: Who benefits most from coin slabbing?

RYK

A la Mr. Eureka, no wiggle room, hemming and hawing, or hedging. (Obviously, the TPGs benefit the most.)

291fifth

Hem...Haw...

ziggy29

Tough call. Novice collectors benefit a lot, I think...but knowledgeable and experienced collectors don't benefit much at all, and in some ways the advanced collectors and specialists can be hurt by it.

RYK

Tough call.

Very tough. I have not yet decided, but I am leaning toward dealers.

Pistareen

I voted for dealers.

For dealers, it makes a coin that might otherwise be impossible to sell into an easily sold product.

Slabbing does not help a collector finish a set, learn about numismatics, or learn to grade. Nor does it make a collector money in most cases.

Barry

I said Collectors, given the two options. It did help collectors in that it removed a lot of the sleaze factor from unethical dealers, but the best answer is:
expert graders/crackout artists

goose3

<< <i>Tough call.

Very tough. I have not yet decided, but I am leaning toward dealers. >>




Dealers? They are the first to ignore what plastic says. I know that virtually every coin I see or ask to see is "Undergraded" which could also be construed as a lame excuse to justify a ridiculous price. If the coin isn't undergraded it's definitely "PQ", "Upgrade candidate", etc.......

Besides lining the pockets of the TPG services I would say collectors benefit the most. The plastic adds a bit of protection to collectors in that they are likely not buying a counterfeit or a problem piece (unless it's an ANACS "Details" coin) or having these coins passed off to them unscrupulously.

The plastic also aids both the collector and the dealer because it makes many coins more saleable.

Louis

Slabbers.

Longacre

Definitely dealers. They are the ones that can tell whether a coin is solid for the grade, or high end or low end. Collectors (in general), just look at the number.

DHeath

Slabs are a seller's tool.

PerryHall

I remember when the ANA first started grading coins and issuing certificates. Dealers hated them!!! How can you buy at one grade and then sell the same coin at a higher grade when the coin is certified?

RYK

I finally responded and chose "dealers". The increased liquidity of the coin market has probably enriched dealers (and sellers, more generally) to a greater degree than the slab has protected the collector. There are still ways for unscrupous dealers to hose newbies with slabs especially in concert with the lower rungs of the TPG food chain. Both dealers and sellers have benfited to varying degrees. Perhaps, the advanced collector does not benefit nearly as much as the neophyte.

TheRaven

collectors without question to me.....

OKbustchaser

<< <i>I remember when the ANA first started grading coins and issuing certificates. Dealers hated them!!! How can you buy at one grade and then sell the same coin at a higher grade when the coin is certified? >>



They still do buy at one grade and sell at another. Only now it is a case of either buy the holder grade and sell as an "obviously undergraded resubmission candidate" or it is a case of buy the coin in an overgraded holder at its actual grade and then sell the holder grade.

Russ

If I were a cynical person I'd say that collectors benefit the most because reputable slabs make it harder for dealers to rip the unwary.

Of course, again if I were a cynical person, I'd say that the dealers benefit the most because disreputable slabs make it easier to rip the unwary.

That's if I were a cynical person.

Russ, NCNE

topstuf

Of the two choices, dealers. GENERALLY speaking, slabs verify the market and instill confidence in the product.

Collectors don't DEPEND on coins for income.

Unless maybe they're cynical.

BillJones

In the long run collectors benefit more. Although slabs are not perfect they are better weeding out the really bad traps that plagued the business in the old days.

dbldie55

Collectors should. The collectors who live by the number printed on the label will not, but the smart ones will.

cape

thats easy, dealers to the novice collector and collectors only if they know how to grade!

tjkillian

To even ask this question makes me wonder if the pollster even remembers the bad ol' days before slabbing. Slabbing is not perfect, but it is a whole lot better than the way it was. Today, you can have a high confidence if the coin says MS-64, it is genuine, not overly tampered with, and probably uncirculated.

When selling, it is very hard for a dealer to call a MS-64 coin a "slider" and offer XF money.

Clearly, the collector benefits the most.

Tom

Shamika

Collectors!

FatMan

Dealers!

DHeath

Did anybody ever submit a coin because it would sell for less in a holder.

ER

Deallectors