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Anyone collect strictly raw coins?

stinkinlincolnstinkinlincoln Posts: 2,733 ✭
in U.S. Coin Forum
And if so, what are some of the advantages and disadvantages? Do you buy slabbed and then crackem out?

Issues with storage and safety?

Thanks for any input.

Comments

  • Boothill40Boothill40 Posts: 780
    Not strictly raw but I crack out numerous coins for my Dansco albums, I just like having the albums as they are much easier to look at and enjoy. Besides set in a book case they just look like books.
    Support your local gunslinger, you never know when you'll need him
  • stinkinlincolnstinkinlincoln Posts: 2,733 ✭
    I was thinking that the other day with another thread. The library coin books look like a great security idea for enjoying your stuff at home and not worrying.

    Thanks for the advice and info.image
  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I buy coins... and if the coin is one I like, the container - or lack thereof - is not part of the decision. Cheers, RickO
  • seemyauctionseemyauction Posts: 3,655 ✭


    I collect Capped Bust Half Dollars, they are all raw. You can not see the lettered edge in the slab, well you can see most of it in the NGC Prong holders, but I can't stand that holder when it comes to photographing the coin.

    I do have coins in TPG's slabs, but I buy them mostly for resale.



    imageCoinZip.com
  • JJMJJM Posts: 8,030 ✭✭✭✭✭
    99% of my collection is raw in danscos,....probably 30-40% of them were crackouts
    👍BST's erickso1,cone10,MICHAELDIXON,TennesseeDave,p8nt,jmdm1194,RWW,robkool,Ahrensdad,Timbuk3,Downtown1974,bigjpst,mustanggt,Yorkshireman,idratherbgardening,SurfinxHI,derryb,masscrew,Walkerguy21D,MJ1927,sniocsu,Coll3tor,doubleeagle07,luciobar1980,PerryHall,SNMAM,mbcoin,liefgold,keyman64,maprince230,TorinoCobra71,RB1026,Weiss,LukeMarshall,Wingsrule,Silveryfire, pointfivezero,IKE1964,AL410, Tdec1000, AnkurJ,guitarwes,Type2,Bp777,jfoot113,JWP,mattniss,dantheman984,jclovescoins,Collectorcoins,Weather11am,Namvet69,kansasman,Bruce7789,ADG,Larrob37
  • DorkGirlDorkGirl Posts: 9,994 ✭✭✭
    I like raw in Danscos too.image
    Becky
  • crypto79crypto79 Posts: 8,623 ✭
    I have 2 collections that are raw, My AU peace dollar and I have a cabinet of foreign trade/chopmarked dollars and odd silver pieces. I maintain a collection that doesn't need to be rushed to the lock box and raw that enables me to stay connected to the hobby while having it at my finger tips. I think that most state quarter collectors collections are raw and I am sure that makes up a large % of the hobby in total. Most beginner collectors start raw, get burned while transitioning to rarer coins then come running to PCGS and the likes.
  • RYKRYK Posts: 35,796 ✭✭✭✭✭
    The more expensive the coin, the more likely the coin is to be counterfeit, the more likely you are to sell your coins, the more likely you are to buy and hold slabbed coins. The less expensive the coin, the less likely it is to be counterfeit, the less likely you are to sell coins, the more likely you are to buy and keep raw coins.

    A Saint set in gem condition that you plan to sell in five years? Slabbed. A collection of circulated buffalo nickels that you expect to keep forever? Raw.

    Many collect raw and slabbed.

    Exceptions: Early copper (many advanced collectors like them raw), commems (many collectors like them slabbed), coins purchased from the US Mint (the exception works both ways), and others.
    My Box of 20: https://pcgs.com/setregistry/collectors-showcase/box-20/ryks-gold-box-20/17132
  • RTSRTS Posts: 1,408 ✭
    I understand and appreciate the advantages of slabbed coins especially when selling though I'm unable to understand
    enjoying coins that are slabbed, I guess people do but I'm bewildered as to how; but to each his own...

    image
    image
  • BAJJERFANBAJJERFAN Posts: 31,065 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>I understand and appreciate the advantages of slabbed coins especially when selling though I'm unable to understand
    enjoying coins that are slabbed, I guess people do but I'm bewildered as to how; but to each his own...

    image >>



    Unless you plan to fondle them and fingerprint the chit out of them, why are they more enjoyable raw than slabbed? I was talking to a local collector yesterday who somehow seems more fulfilled because he can handle his raw coins.

    A point to keep in mind is the distinction between buying raw vs slabbed and collecting raw vs slabbed.

    To each his/her/their own, tho I have never felt compelled to crack out a slabbed coin just so I can hold it.
    theknowitalltroll;
  • RTSRTS Posts: 1,408 ✭
    Unless you plan to fondle them and fingerprint the chit [sic] out of them, why are they more enjoyable raw than slabbed?

    I don't have a rational answer to the above; I just enjoy my coins naked, maybe just a quirk on my part.
    image
  • lkeneficlkenefic Posts: 8,156 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>I buy coins... and if the coin is one I like, the container - or lack thereof - is not part of the decision. Cheers, RickO >>



    image
    Collecting: Dansco 7070; Middle Date Large Cents (VF-AU); Box of 20;

    Successful BST transactions with: SilverEagles92; Ahrensdad; Smitty; GregHansen; Lablade; Mercury10c; copperflopper; whatsup; KISHU1; scrapman1077, crispy, canadanz, smallchange, robkool, Mission16, ranshdow, ibzman350, Fallguy, Collectorcoins, SurfinxHI, jwitten, Walkerguy21D, dsessom.
  • AUandAGAUandAG Posts: 24,723 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I only did raw for the first 40+ years. Then when I decided to sell a few I quickly
    realized that PCGS slabs = more money.
    Now it's still raw on the smaller priced stuff but have slabbed all the good stuff. I
    did find that storage is a problem with the plastic taking up so much room. Everything
    I had fit quite comfortably in my safe....now I had to get a huge SDB!
    No problems with raw storage for me and I've lived in Nevada (most of the time), Missouri,
    and Colorado twice. Nothing has ever changed as far as condition.

    I don't know what you mean by safety. I think you meant changes to the look of the coin
    from not being slabbed (toning, haze, etc). Otherwise just put some in the bank.
    bob
    Registry: CC lowballs (boblindstrom), bobinvegas1989@yahoo.com
  • crazyhounddogcrazyhounddog Posts: 13,953 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I buy both, if the coin looks right it doesnt matter if it's raw or slabbed.
    The bitterness of "Poor Quality" is remembered long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.
  • DropdaflagDropdaflag Posts: 801 ✭✭✭✭✭
    From a buyers perspective it really does not matter. There are nice coins both ways. Once you become a seller, it matters a great deal. Slabs are where the money is and the crooks can not say "Well I think that coin is not a 65. It's 63 at best.".

    https://www.smallcopperguy.com

  • Billet7Billet7 Posts: 4,923 ✭✭✭


    << <i>Unless you plan to fondle them and fingerprint the chit [sic] out of them, why are they more enjoyable raw than slabbed?

    I don't have a rational answer to the above; I just enjoy my coins naked, maybe just a quirk on my part. >>



    My coins usually end up in slabs, except my raw counterstamp collection, and a few odds and ends. The only thing I am OK with having raw is early copper (even though most of mine is slabbed too...for resale reasons.) It seems to need the freedom. I'm not sure how else to say it. I think holding copper with your "greasy" fingers and storing it in a nice cloth bag actually helps keep the coin conditioned. Granted, my stuff is lower grade, I think I would prefer a nice red early half cent to be slabbed...in a rattler for that matter!
  • keetskeets Posts: 25,351 ✭✭✭✭✭
    certainly we are each free to do as we please with our coins, i'd just hope that those members who crack out expensive coins and place them in a Dansco have read some of the threads about the experiences others have had. despite what you might think, it could happen to you.
  • OKbustchaserOKbustchaser Posts: 5,477 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>From a buyers perspective it really does not matter. There are nice coins both ways. Once you become a seller, it matters a great deal. Slabs are where the money is and the crooks can not say "Well I think that coin is not a 65. It's 63 at best.". >>



    Sure they can...and do! Not only that, but occasionally they are even right.

    A question to those who keep harping on "You gotta have 'em slabbed before you can sell 'em." Why? If YOU bought them raw then it is obvious that they don't have to be slabbed to sell. Don't give me that old worn-out line, "They sell for more money slabbed.". So what--if so, you must have paid less for them in the first place, right? In other words, if a raw coin sells for a 20% premium in a slab then what difference does it make whether or not you receive that premium if you didn't pay it in the first place--especially if as on a lot of coins I see the cost of getting the coin slabbed is more then that premium adds?

    By the way, to answer the OP...I buy coins. If the coin I want happens to be raw--great; if it happens to be slabbed then I buy it, crack it out, it returns to its natural state--great.
    Just because I'm old doesn't mean I don't love to look at a pretty bust.
  • JamesMurrayJamesMurray Posts: 4,036 ✭
    I only have Raw coins , ive had slabbed ones but cant get excited about that , being encased in a plastic tomb.I sold all my slabbed and use danscos.
    Oh...i did keep one slabbed PCGS MS68 commenwealth game privy mark kookaburra..hey..i like kookaburras image
  • BarryBarry Posts: 10,100 ✭✭✭
    Many of my coins were slabbed and are now raw. They are stored in Dansco albums. If and when I decide to sell, I'd probably reslab some of them.
  • kurtdogkurtdog Posts: 1,456


    << <i>I understand and appreciate the advantages of slabbed coins especially when selling though I'm unable to understand
    enjoying coins that are slabbed, I guess people do but I'm bewildered as to how; but to each his own...

    image >>



    I hear you. Although, I have to say, I'd have been scared to death to take those beauties out of the slabs...
  • kurtdogkurtdog Posts: 1,456


    << <i>Unless you plan to fondle them and fingerprint the chit out of them, why are they more enjoyable raw than slabbed? >>


    The sensations are dulled some when they're in the condoms (...I don't believe I just said that!).
  • TwoSides2aCoinTwoSides2aCoin Posts: 44,207 ✭✭✭✭✭
    With every coin I submit I think : "this little piggy went to market, this little piggy stayed home..."

    HE>I

  • RYKRYK Posts: 35,796 ✭✭✭✭✭
    A question to those who keep harping on "You gotta have 'em slabbed before you can sell 'em." Why? If YOU bought them raw then it is obvious that they don't have to be slabbed to sell. Don't give me that old worn-out line, "They sell for more money slabbed.". So what--if so, you must have paid less for them in the first place, right? In other words, if a raw coin sells for a 20% premium in a slab then what difference does it make whether or not you receive that premium if you didn't pay it in the first place--especially if as on a lot of coins I see the cost of getting the coin slabbed is more then that premium adds?

    The market is fairly efficient in that regard. If you buy it raw, chances are that you can sell it optimally raw. If you buy it slabbed, that is often the best way to sell it. If you buy a Gem 1930 Saint in PCGS MS-65, crack it out to enjoy it, and then try to sell it raw, you might be very disappointed with your offers. Similarly, if you buy a 26-S Buffalo nickel in F raw and slab it before you sell it (assuming that it is accurately graded), there probably is little or no upside to having it slabbed.
    My Box of 20: https://pcgs.com/setregistry/collectors-showcase/box-20/ryks-gold-box-20/17132
  • RYKRYK Posts: 35,796 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>

    << <i>Unless you plan to fondle them and fingerprint the chit out of them, why are they more enjoyable raw than slabbed? >>


    The sensations are dulled some when they're in the condoms (...I don't believe I just said that!). >>


    I do not know what you do with your coins, but I know that I will not be buying any from you. image
    My Box of 20: https://pcgs.com/setregistry/collectors-showcase/box-20/ryks-gold-box-20/17132
  • tahoe98tahoe98 Posts: 11,388 ✭✭✭
    .....is it wrong of me when i buy slabbed coins, break them out for an album, THEN, ready to sell, i put them back

    in their slab!? image
    "government is not reason, it is not eloquence-it is a force! like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master; never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action." George Washington
  • kurtdogkurtdog Posts: 1,456


    << <i>I do not know what you do with your coins, but I know that I will not be buying any from you. image >>


    I deserved that! image
  • carlcarl Posts: 2,054 ✭
    I hate slabbed coins. I've purchased some in the past and just break out the coins for my Albums. Presently have over 100 Whitman Albums and all in Zip Lock plastic bags. All coins are raw I guess if that is ment as not in those plastic things.
    Carl
  • BarryBarry Posts: 10,100 ✭✭✭


    << <i>.....is it wrong of me when i buy slabbed coins, break them out for an album, THEN, ready to sell, i put them back

    in their slab!? image >>


    Depends on the type of glue you use image
  • RWBRWB Posts: 8,082 ✭
    Lots of people collect coins, not expensive plastic slabs.
  • FlatwoodsFlatwoods Posts: 4,122 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Unless you plan to fondle them and fingerprint the chit out of them, why are they more enjoyable raw than slabbed? I was talking to a local collector yesterday who somehow seems more fulfilled because he can handle his raw coins.


    Most of my collection is slabbed. Mainly because I sometimes " get a wild hair" and decide to sell nearly everything.
    As I am in the process of now. The slab makes it much easier to get the coins true value.

    I will say though, after looking at slabs forever, it's great to actually hold a coin.
    The collection I am in the process of helping with is all raw. It's great to hold each and every one with no worries whatsoever.

    Before anyone answers. The reason I have no worries about handling them is every one is headed for a bath. image
  • BAJJERFANBAJJERFAN Posts: 31,065 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>

    << <i>

    << <i>Unless you plan to fondle them and fingerprint the chit out of them, why are they more enjoyable raw than slabbed? >>


    The sensations are dulled some when they're in the condoms (...I don't believe I just said that!). >>


    I do not know what you do with your coins, but I know that I will not be buying any from you. image >>



    Rubber/latex gloves could be considered condoms for the finger/s no?
    theknowitalltroll;
  • bronze6827bronze6827 Posts: 525 ✭✭✭
    This topic came up a couple weeks ago.

    I encourage collectors to collect raw to at least some degree. Slabbing certainly has it's place and importance for various reasons, but I really feel it is preventing the true enjoyment of the hobby from many people - and without them ever even knowing it.
  • tahoe98tahoe98 Posts: 11,388 ✭✭✭


    << <i>

    << <i>.....is it wrong of me when i buy slabbed coins, break them out for an album, THEN, ready to sell, i put them back

    in their slab!? image >>


    Depends on the type of glue you use image >>



    ....no glue, scotch tape! image
    "government is not reason, it is not eloquence-it is a force! like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master; never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action." George Washington

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