Anyone know what these PCGS "Trader Bea" holders are (promotional item, dealer bulk sub, ....)?
U1chicago
Posts: 6,880 ✭✭✭✭✭
I recall seeing one of these at the ANA show and now ran across a few on eBay.
There is some sort of colorful slab insert and it says "Trader Bea" on the label.
Anyone have any info on what these are or where they came from?
Edit: I see there are also NGC versions. Is it some YouTube or other social media platform seller that got special slabs made?
https://www.pcgs.com/cert/49618573
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Update: I looked on Instagram and there is a person with that name that sells on Whatnot.
So that seems to answer the question.
It is interesting that PCGS and NGC did custom slabs for someone (but maybe that is a new revenue stream).
Yes, TraderBea (aka Bjorn) is one of the biggest coin / currency / bullion sellers on WN. I'd imagine he would have had to just spend enough $$ with PCGS to be able to get custom labels on a basic bulk submission. It's no different than Rick Tomaska or someone else in a similar position doing it.
I guess count me as not a fan.
Official PCGS account of:
www.TallahasseeCoinClub.com
So they aren't event giving a number grade on the Morgans? Wonder what the cost is for a custom holder and deeming it "Brilliant Uncirculated"?
Outside of that, I don't mind the holder for the Morgan but hat 1760 1/2P looks hideous.
That has nothing to do with Trader Bea. It's an option for large bulk submissions if you don't want to pay for actual grading. You will also see grades like "genuine" on ancients and other gradeless labels.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
I will be updating the Sample Slabs white paper to clarify. These are technically samples - it says so on the label, which is the primary criteria.
In the 3rd Edition of the book, we have two TraderBea samples - the flood of purpose-built ones wasn't clear until after my cutoff. These are NGC-010-5-4, NGC-050-9-8, and the newer ones will be consolidated into a PCGS-Various-9-# number.
More generally, and because they are purpose-made for sale, I am treating these like the FASTCOIN samples from Joel.
Because of the variety of objects and the purposeful creation, I have just consolidated to a single Schwager#.
For FastCoin, this is PCGS-Various-5-1. (Note that we also have the copper FastCoin business tokens as PCGS-Token-9-1 and PCGS-TOKEN-9-2 ).
There is a series of purpose-made "PCGS Sample" EU coins in editions of 3 or fewer pieces. As we find out about more people having samples made for sale, we'll do the same in the taxonomy.
ANA 50+ year/Life Member (now "Emeritus")
Author: 3rd Edition of the SampleSlabs book, https://sampleslabs.info/
This is a promotional slab design negotiated between a dealer and PCGS. I find it hideous and would have to discount the coin by the reholdering fee. I imagine there are also dealers who would do the same, since they probably don't want to use their inventory to advertise competing dealers.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
Junk
Proud follower of Christ! I love the USA! Land of the Bright and Beautiful! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
+1
Just awful looking.
"She comes out of the sun in a silk dress,
running like a water color in the rain...."
Proud follower of Christ! I love the USA! Land of the Bright and Beautiful! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Just ran across these. I think they are hideous. Won't buy anything slabbed in one. Frankly I think it diminishes the PCGS brand. If he is so high volume, how do i know he isn't getting 'favorable' grading as well.
PCGS's unrelentingly customer unfriendly behavior over the last several has been WAY worse for the brand than some stupid promo holder (which NGC, CACG, and ANACS also do).
To paraphrase a joke I enjoy, the only thing I have against PCGS is who they are as a company.
(And yet, I still pay for their services often so joke's on me I guess.)
chopmarkedtradedollars.com
Oh, no. . .
Tell me that CAC holder is A.I. and not real . . . . PLEASE!
Drunner
It's real.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
One word: Cheesy
Dave
Just found this. Just spit coffee all over the Keyboard. Thanks for that.
I would have to absolutely LOVE a coin to consider buying it in one of those holders... and then it would be reholdered. A pretty nice coin? I'd probably pass because of how bad the holder is, unless the price were so good I could still be doing well after reholdering.
Not just the cost of having the coin re-holdered, but factor in more for the time and effort, as well. These holders are horrible.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
Same goes for any other slab that promotes some company or product (other than the grading service itself, of course), including Vault Box, Witter Brick, and whatever other pigs in pokes are out there, although Trader Bea is by far the most heinous. It's the "Kars-4-Kids" jingle of promotional slabs.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
I've added "Samples for Profit" to my What's In / What's Out for the Sample Slab book.
ANA 50+ year/Life Member (now "Emeritus")
Author: 3rd Edition of the SampleSlabs book, https://sampleslabs.info/
Of course... the key is, unless I MUST have the coin or it's a screaming deal, the holder is so terrible I just wouldn't bother.
I only agree to an extent. If it's the same slab but there are a few extra words on the label, I don't really care, since that doesn't really distract me. To that end, NGC even has some labels with graphics on them that I'm not a fan of, but if the coin were right, I'd probably still get it because they aren't that bad. But once it goes from being a label that's not idea to anything distracting that takes away from the coin, it's a whole different issue. The Trader Bea holder is so awful because you can't possibly look at a coin in that holder without the holder taking prominence. What a disaster.
How long until we find out that it's known to the state of California to cause cancer?
These holders are so garish, they distract from the coins inside.
I know they say any advertising is good advertising. But surely most collectors avoid these.
Well I’m probably gonna take heat for this but I’m going to be the dissenting vote here and say I think there’s a place for these. Think of it this way, most on this forum are already serious collectors - they’re NOT meant for you.
I think the colors are fun, and maybe draw some fresh eyes. Do we want new collectors or not lol?
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
I’ve only purchased one. Bit down hard when I did so, but the coin was worth dealing with reholdering (to me), so I sucked it up.
“Buy the coin, not the holder” they told me over and over again as I was learning my way through the hobby.
I agree, but these purple monstrosities test my limits for sure.
Lol. I knew that was coming and still failed to edit it out of my post.
I feel the same way. I'm discounting any of these if I ever buy one. > @DRUNNER said:
The holder looks real. At least it's just a label and not the whole damn slab and insert.
CAC is starting to do the same thing as PCGS with its holders:
So if they want to put dime a dozen starter coins in those slabs, I’ll still say the holders are ugly, but fine, I’m not buying those coins. There’s a voce populi at the top of this thread. I’ll venture a bet that there’s next to no overlap between the new collectors we’re trying to entice with that slab and those who need a gimmick to be interested in colonial copper or other coins where we’d say buy the book before the coin.
As to favorable grading or not, I don’t have enough to say. I do know that this coin failed cross from an ugly purple TraderBea PCGS slab to a plain Jane NGC slab. So for a sample size of 1, it’s a possibility.