Have you ever seen this type of slab before?

Topdollarpaid

Have you ever seen this type of slab before?

U1chicago

Little info on them:
“NNCS (National Numismatic Certification Service) I know nothing about this service other than that it was reported to me to have been located in Marlboro, Massachusetts and produced a rectangular slab beginning in 1986”

“They were active in 1986 and seem to have disappeared around 1988. Most of the pieces I have seen are registered to Whittman-Burke which isn't a good sign as that could potentially indicate a self slabber. I haven't tried the phone number on the back of the slab lately. Last time I did it went to the Eagle Creek Ranch”

(Cited from Conder’s posts.... https://www.cointalk.com/threads/national-numismatic-certification-service-good-or-bad.305144/)

U1chicago

Personally I thought these were scarce a few years back. However, I have seen multiple examples show up for sale over the last year (over 20). The holders still can bring a premium though.

CCDollar

Interesting. It appears that the owner was quite proud of that '82-S in MS64+ for $640.

CC

JBK

An interesting remnant of early slabbing history.

I am not sure what their business model was, putting the declared value (and date) on the slab.

CCDollar

And a "plus" grade in 1986...

CC

1630Boston

One thing I see on the back of the slab is :

"Grading is an art and not a science"

How True

U1chicago

@CCDollar said:
Interesting. It appears that the owner was quite proud of that '82-S in MS64+ for $640.

CC

The late 1980s were when some Morgans saw their peak prices. It might not have been that high, but MS 65 prices for generics were multiple of today’s sheet price.

U1chicago

@JBK said:
An interesting remnant of early slabbing history.

I am not sure what their business model was, putting the declared value (and date) on the slab.

NCI and some others did it too. It appears to be for insurance purposes (just like one would declare a value on a PCGS submission form today).

JBK

@U1chicago said:

@JBK said:
An interesting remnant of early slabbing history.

I am not sure what their business model was, putting the declared value (and date) on the slab.

NCI and some others did it too. It appears to be for insurance purposes (just like one would declare a value on a PCGS submission form today).

Interesting. Seems they were targeting a certain market (grading and valuation) and missed the larger picture - longer-term liquidity of the graded coin in the marketplace.

shorecoll

Some of the early self-slabbers served boiler room telemarketing operations, but I have no idea about this one.

Kkathyl

thanks for sharing. Interesting looking slab

Wabbit2313

I have owned a few and they were always over-graded. This one is no exception.

blitzdude

@Wabbit2313 said:
I have owned a few and they were always over-graded. This one is no exception.

Yup 62, 63 at best. It's a $30-$35 coin, not sure where they are coming up with $640, even back in the morgan bubble of the mid 80s.

jtlee321

@CCDollar said:
And a "plus" grade in 1986...

CC

I caught that too. Is this the first company to assign a + grade in a slab? That alone would have grabbed my attention when thinking about purchasing it.

astrorat

@Wabbit2313 said:
I have owned a few and they were always over-graded. This one is no exception.

Yep ... so many were/are overgraded ... but not all of them. ;:

Sometimes you can find a gem. The PCGS Morgans formally resided in the NNCS holders.

Wabbit2313

@astrorat said:

@Wabbit2313 said:
I have owned a few and they were always over-graded. This one is no exception.

Yep ... so many were/are overgraded ... but not all of them. ;:

Sometimes you can find a gem. The PCGS Morgans formally resided in the NNCS holders.

I remember the post about these. In fact, that is when I bought a few from bad pics. Either the person is making it up that those coins were in those holders, or he is one lucky sucker. The ones I bought were all 2-3 grades higher than they should have been.

astrorat

@Wabbit2313 said:

@astrorat said:

@Wabbit2313 said:
I have owned a few and they were always over-graded. This one is no exception.

Yep ... so many were/are overgraded ... but not all of them. ;:

Sometimes you can find a gem. The PCGS Morgans formally resided in the NNCS holders.

I remember the post about these. In fact, that is when I bought a few from bad pics. Either the person is making it up that those coins were in those holders, or he is one lucky sucker. The ones I bought were all 2-3 grades higher than they should have been.

Well ... I don't think the story is made up since I am the person who made them. So ... looks like it's a vote for "lucky sucker."

U1chicago

@blitzdude said:

@Wabbit2313 said:
I have owned a few and they were always over-graded. This one is no exception.

Yup 62, 63 at best. It's a $30-$35 coin, not sure where they are coming up with $640, even back in the morgan bubble of the mid 80s.

It did come close; take a look at this blurb from Scott A. Travers' book:

On May 26, 1989, the Bluesheet assigned a value of
$555 to an 1880-S Morgan silver dollar certified as Mint
State-65 by the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation of America
(NGC)

http://www.usgoldexpert.com/articles/selling-those-investment-coins/

That is sight unseen prices. Sure the $640 was high, but like I mentioned earlier it wasn't as out there of a number as it sounds today (especially if the submitter was valuing it as a 65 or 66 coin for insurance purposes).

Also, that coin would easily sell for more than $30-$35 today. There is a holder premium and it would be bid up in most ebay auctions between $50-$70.

U1chicago

@jtlee321 said:

@CCDollar said:
And a "plus" grade in 1986...

CC

I caught that too. Is this the first company to assign a + grade in a slab? That alone would have grabbed my attention when thinking about purchasing it.

I don't know if it's the first, but it is one of the earliest that I have seen.
Some early Accugrade slabs have decimal grading (0.5), but no plus (that I have seen yet).

Wabbit2313

@astrorat said:

@Wabbit2313 said:

@astrorat said:

@Wabbit2313 said:
I have owned a few and they were always over-graded. This one is no exception.

Yep ... so many were/are overgraded ... but not all of them. ;:

Sometimes you can find a gem. The PCGS Morgans formally resided in the NNCS holders.

I remember the post about these. In fact, that is when I bought a few from bad pics. Either the person is making it up that those coins were in those holders, or he is one lucky sucker. The ones I bought were all 2-3 grades higher than they should have been.

Well ... I don't think the story is made up since I am the person who made them. So ... looks like it's a vote for "lucky sucker."

So after that outcome, have you ever found more? I would be doomed to buy every one I ever heard about.

coinkat

Grading is an art and not a science...

Seems one gets art with the grade.

Bold royal blue stripes which progressively become larger over a pewter backdrop highlight the coin which adds to the artistic composition and the collector experience. Best observed with a glass of a deep and rich Cabernet.

astrorat

@Wabbit2313 said:

So after that outcome, have you ever found more? I would be doomed to buy every one I ever heard about.

I wish I did! I have picked up a dozen or so (for the holder, not the coin) and have submitted four to PCGS. The two above and then two others that were nice ... but not that nice. As you have observed, most are optimistically graded. I got lucky with the above two. They came from the same seller and, IIRC, were "hidden away" and not shopped around.

ricko

That is a slab I have not seen at shows.... Interesting how they included all the 'legalese' information on the back of the slab... Although I am not a slab collector, I would consider one of these due to how unique it is.... Cheers, RickO

blu62vette

I have imaged some pretty amazing toners in those holders.