To Slab Or Not To Slab

@Kanga

I have never slabbed anything. I do have 4 slabbed coins. The questions are many haha.

The main one I go off about is why people grade modern bullion , such as ASE'S.

@windweaver77:

A few points of clarification:

1. NNC (National Numismatic Certification) is (was?) a lower-tier third-party grading ( TPG) service. It is not recognized as such by ebay, and so coins in NNC holders can not be described as "graded" by a TPG service. Many knowledgeable collectors question the grades assigned by NNC, so it is recommended that their assigned grades not be used to determine market value - gauge the coin itself. (Personally, I have seen over-, under- and accurately-graded coins in NNC holders.)

2. Why do some grade modern bullion coins? A few reasons:

a) Some collectors are more confident in the genuineness of a coin once it has been encapsulated by a reputable TPG Service company. (Unfortunately, counterfeit slabs with counterfeit coins are now a part of the market.)

b) Some collectors strive for "the best" quality and so seek out "Pop Top" coins from a given TPG Service. The PCGS and NGC Registries have fueled this drive with many collectors competing for the highest graded set.

c) Dealers grade them because they can market them at a premium (vs. bullion value) and know that many collectors will pay the premiums asked for the highest-graded coins. Though some question it, many collectors today collect TPG Service labels - it's why many coins are encapsulated with a variety of different labels, the companies are casting as wide a net as possible.


In the video, the narrator (though he admits to being unfamiliar and inexperienced with the TPG Service grading process) questions why someone would pay to grade a coin that has a market value less than the grading fees. One possibility is that the coin was submitted by a dealer as part of a bulk submission to reach a certain number of coins to qualify for a lower rate on all of the coins submitted. Another, the submission might have been free due to a special promo or coupon. I have personal knowledge of both situations.

Regarding ANACS grading fees, I'm not sure of the source of the "$50-70" figure mentioned above. A trip to the ANACS web site will provide accurate pricing information.

I don't slab the generic bullion stuff or even the run of the mill proof eagles in my case. That said I have graded a lot of the "collectable" stuff for 2 reasons.

1. Try to increase its value with a high grade. Usually I don't do this unless the coin is over $200-$300 value to justify the grading fees. It also provides authenticity which would make it easier to sell should I decide to liquidate.

2. Make it easier for family to know what it is and what it's worth should something happen to me. They know if it's graded to look closer into it than something that's in OGP.

One example of a coin I got graded. I obtained an 1890-CC Gold double eagle that was cleaned but in very good shape (still had a good bit of luster). Got it for a good price off Reddit, but wanted to have it slabbed mainly for authentication purposes if down the line should I ever part with it. Came back Cleaned AU. The slabbing alone increased the value several hundred dollars from what I paid.

As a general rule of thumb, from the posts I generally read here in the CCF, the justification to have a coins slabbed or not seems (mostly) based on the potential value after slabbing.
That potential value appears to be above $100.
The potential value has to justify the cost of the grading and shipping fees.

None of the 4,500 or so coins in my collection are slabbed.
The value range is between $1 and $10,000.
I much prefer to do my own grading.
Sometimes I get it slightly wrong, but most of the time I am fairly close to the mark.

The grading techniques and standards for other than modern machine struck coins is quite different, with many more factors that potentially affect the value, may come into play.

@Jbuck

Are Ikes worth slabbing?