Perceptions caused by the slab
MidLifeCrisis
Posts: 10,569 ✭✭✭✭✭
In another thread Justacommeman posted three beautiful coins. This thread is not meant to take anything away from his thread or his coins because I think all three are seriously nice!
However, the first coin posted was an NGC coin with a pedigree, a + sign, a star and a CAC sticker. It was graded 65.
The other two coins were both in PCGS and both graded MS 67 CAC.
My quick first impression was that the 65 was the nicest coin because it had all the extra stuff - plus, star, pedigree - on the slab. And it didn't even register to me that the other two were 67 until I started to study the coins more closely. In the end, I decided they were all great and pretty much equals in terms of eye appeal.
Of course, this decision was based on good pictures and was for coins I don't specialize in. Justacommeman may indeed point out that one stands out above the others in hand. Regardless, I think he did well.
But my point is the immediate perception and effect (affect?) slabs can have on your opinion before you study the coin itself.
Isn't marketing great?
However, the first coin posted was an NGC coin with a pedigree, a + sign, a star and a CAC sticker. It was graded 65.
The other two coins were both in PCGS and both graded MS 67 CAC.
My quick first impression was that the 65 was the nicest coin because it had all the extra stuff - plus, star, pedigree - on the slab. And it didn't even register to me that the other two were 67 until I started to study the coins more closely. In the end, I decided they were all great and pretty much equals in terms of eye appeal.
Of course, this decision was based on good pictures and was for coins I don't specialize in. Justacommeman may indeed point out that one stands out above the others in hand. Regardless, I think he did well.
But my point is the immediate perception and effect (affect?) slabs can have on your opinion before you study the coin itself.
Isn't marketing great?
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Comments
I think the thing that comes to mind when I'm looking at prospective acquisitions is that I downgrade NGC's and ANACS's a bit. I try to buy the coin but I am sometimes hesitant to pay 67 money for an NGC slabbed coin, IMHO that is where the green bean comes in handy.
"effect" is correct
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
<< <i>It's funny, the way I examine certified coins is very much opposite to your experience with MJ's thread. In general, I pretty much ignore the text on the slab and evaluate the coin using my eyes only before I look to see how it had been graded. Sometimes there are surprises; sometimes there aren't. >>
Exactly right, and very good advice. It helps train your eye and improve grading skills too.
Often, at a show, I look at the label first because I really can't see the coin well in a dealer's case. But once it is handed over I try to focus on the coin and evaluate it myself.
Lance.
More so then a slab grade or a sticker I feel more comfortable knowing a Bingham or Shepherd previously owned a commem I was buying, or a Snow if I was buying an Indian, a Dale Friend if it was a Barber, a TDN if it were a Trade Dollar etc etc etc....................I feel that those coins wre blessed a little but that's just me. Personally, I find all the extra printing and stickers annoying on slabs truth be told but I have ended up with a lot of pedigreed and star, plus etc coins but not by design. If you buy slabbed coins we all swim in the same pool so it is what it is like it or not. The weird thing is that when I see an entire case of only PCGS graded CAC stickered coins, I tend not to see the coins through the forest of green shrubs. It well may be my ADD and OCD kicking in but in those circumstances I really have to bear down in that case.
As for the 41-S NGC 65*+ CAC Walker..............I have a toned 41-S in PCGS 66 plastic that I feel is one of the best of breed. However, looking at the coins side by side there is very little to choose from technically speaking between the two and rightfully so. "Book value" there is a large difference in price basically due to registry fever and plastic perception. .........MJ
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
My perception would be, when does it go 66. Crack it out and you're out $65. (not a real #, just a ?)
Leo
The more qualities observed in a coin, the more desirable that coin becomes!
My Jefferson Nickel Collection
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My first impression was "effect," too. I am a little rusty, though. Tell you what, conjugate the sentence for me first, and I'll let you know.