Coin in slabs graded by 3rd party grading companies.
This is an area you need to be very careful of and consider whether money is an issue or not.
If money is not the issue, enjoy yourself, have a good time.
If you are treating them as an "investment" consider this:
Many slabbed coins I have seen appear to be overgraded and way, way overpriced. They are a truly lousy investment.
High grade Australian coins pre 1940 or proof pre-decimal Australian coins - I can see some logic behind collecting slabbed examples of these, however, 3rd party grading companies seem to overgrade Australian pre-decimal coins.
The American Numerical or Sheldon system, a number is assigned to the coin, in most cases it seems, WITHOUT taking into account the overall APPEARANCE!
So, you have the ridiculous situation of let's say, a 1939 sixpence with 15 carbon spots all over it, grades MS64 and priced at $1250.
Or a 1927 Canberra florin, almost black in colour, downright ugly, graded MS 64 and priced at $400.
No one who knows about coins would pay more than $10 each for such coins.
Technically they might be a 64 or whatever number is given to them, but the carbon spots or black tone totally ruin the appearance, making them next to worthless to anyone with half a brain and a pair of eyes.
This failure to discount the grade because of the appearance is a BIG problem with this area, in my opinion.
Australian coins after 1940 as an investment, in slabs, just forget it, most of them are reasonably common, even in high grades, not worth getting them slabbed (unless you are re-selling them) or paying the prices that dealers of slabbed coins charge, remember, just to get the coin slabbed costs $30 or more, which is the realistic value of many later high grade pre-decimal coins after 1940.
Here a few of examples of truly idiotic prices paid for slabbed coins recently.
1964 Penny MS 67 $1200 - it is a very common 50c to $20 coin no matter what the grade
1943S MS 67 6d $11,000. Are you joking?? It is a $20 to $100 coin tops, often comes along in high grade.
1951 PL 6d $8000. More money than sense, a $50 coin at best, anyone with any knowledge knows this coin often comes along in high grade.
1958 MS 67 Penny $1500! And not even a proof. Forget it, it is a $50 coin tops.
1970 Cook 50c Specimen (you can buy them for $5 to $10) for $1500
There are strange people out there on ego trips with more money than common sense.
Still, good luck to them, if you have got the money, someone will take it from you..
Good times for a few dealers who are making a lot of money out of it, they buy 3 million dollar houses and call them "the house that slabbed coins built".
Good times for the coin grading companies, who are making a lot of money out of it.
The American coin grading system from MS 62 through MS70 is a ridiculous exercise in hair splitting, pandering to a bunch of morons on an ego trip.
I challenge anyone to show me the difference in coins graded MS 65 or above.
There is virtually none, certainly nothing a normal person could notice, but their is a big, big price difference.
As more coins are slabbed, as they are being rapidly, the price will drop, especially for the more common dates after the 1930s.
Also and most importantly, try taking your slabbed coins back to where you bought them and getting most of your money back, absolutely no chance...
NO dealers who sell slabbed coins want to buy them back. They want to buy raw coins they can get slabbed and charge a big margin on.
The dealer/s will not be interested in your slabbed coins at anything like what you paid for them, or will say they are not buying at this time.
You bet they won't be interested, not at idiotic prices such as those mentioned above, when anyone with any knowledge can buy them for the prices I stated.
I cannot in good conscience, try to hang people with slabbed examples of common date pre-decimal coins or decimal coins, even though they obviously have much more money than they need and yes, I am both jealous and fascinated by how some people can be parted with their money... Example. 1978 proof 1c in a slab at $75. You can buy the ENTIRE 1978 proof set, still sealed in its case for $30, so why buy individual coins at 10 times as much? Just crazy.
I can see the value in a historical gold sovereign at $450 or so, it is backed by a gold value and also has a collector interest.
Or, say, for $400 you can get at least 15 ounces of silver for that, at the current fairly low prices.
A couple of years back, silver was $49 US for a little while, if it has been there before, it might go there again..
A 1951 PL Australian sixpence for $8000? Yeah, right! Maybe, I am just not rich enough, or maybe, coming from a working class background, I appreciate the value of money.. The dealer who sold this coin for $8000, bought an exactly similar slabbed and graded one a year or so later in a Nobles auction for $500. What does that tell you about what it is really "worth" ?
The ONLY benefit I can see to slabbed coins is authenticity. Whilst this may be important for commonly faked coins (1934-35 Melb florin, 1932 florin, 1923 halfpenny, 1930 penny, 1933 shilling etc) it is not so important for other coins. Remember, a grade is just an OPINION, it is not always gospel truth, even if it was done by a grading company.
