when going to a small or medium size coin show......

bosco5041

what are the chances of buying a fake slab??? Are they all over the place or do you rarely see them? Where are they mostly found at??????? Thank you for any replies..

bosco5041

Anybody!!!If this is a big problem I would like to know so I can maybe start buying off of reputable internet dealers and just forget all the hassle of going to small and med. shows.

ricko

When I lived in Seattle (up to three years ago) I went to many shows.. small and medium - no super large shows there. In the twenty years I lived there and went to shows, I never knowingly saw a fake slab. Now, there are many here who are more expert than I, and certainly there could be more fake slabs on the market now. However, I have heard on coin forums of more fake slabs being encountered on the internet than at coin shows. FWIW. Cheers, RickO

Jinx86

At a show I think a dealer would be less likely to knowingly put out a fake slab than some internet only dealer posting a fake slab on their site. Online is less personable and easier to lie then face to face over a table. That atleast is my small point of view, and also depends on that dealers (online or show) return policy and reputation.

*edited to add*

Ive never found a fake slab at a show yet but have seen dozens on ebay. Also to help you out PCGS has a cert verification app for mobile devices.

johnny9434

ive seen some here on the east coast but nothing to get excited about. the dealers who had them pulled them right off and the ones that kept it up are no longer in business at the coin shows.

richescoin

The chances of buying a fake slab are low. But when buying coins, you should always buy the coin inside the holder, and not just for the grade of the slab

Shamika

<< <i>what are the chances of buying a fake slab??? >>


Do you mean counterfeit slab? And are you referring to PCGS / NGC / ANACS or are you referring to third world slabs?

bosco5041

<< <i>

<< <i>what are the chances of buying a fake slab??? >>


Do you mean counterfeit slab? And are you referring to PCGS / NGC / ANACS or are you referring to third world slabs? >>

Yes, I am referring to PCGS and NGC slabs, that is all I buy over $50 or so.Anybody else? Thanks for the replies.

shorecoll

Most of the fake slabs I've heard about or seen were from eBay. I suppse it depends on where you live and how close you are to the fronts for the Chinese factories. The easiest thing to do (and sad) is to try to familiarize yourself with the current PCGS and NGC fonts and if anything looks funky, don't buy it. Also, do check the registries to make sure it's the same coin, or at least the pics look close.

BillJones

Most all of the bad slabs that I have seen were on eBay, but once the things are sold via the Internet, the chances of them cropping up "down the food chain" are higher.

As for the size of the show, I don't know that that really makes a difference. Counterfeit coins show up at large shows too. Sadly some of the dealers who work the large shows get fooled by counterfeit coins too. A couple of years ago, Coin World editor Beth Deisher offered some Chinese counterfeit coins to dealers on the floor of the Winter FUN show. Some of them were ready to buy the bad coins until she informed them of their source of manufacture.

IrishMikey

The only sources I have encountered with fake PCGS slabs are eBay and Craig's List. Most of the
dealers at small and medium coin shows are very reliable.

BillJones

One thing about coin shows large and small is that the show promoters ride herd over dealers when it comes problems like counterfeit coins and slabs. Most of show promoters I knew when I was setting up at shows would give a dealer the boot if he showed up with counterfeit coins on a regular basis.

stealer

I think the newer PCGS slabs are slightly heavier than the older non-rattler ones.

If you have any doubt just ask the dealer for any other slab of the same TPG in his case and compare the slabs...just pretend to examine the other coin.