Slabbing in Europe

[Geordie582 18]

They will have an uphill struggle to get a reputation equal to the far from perfect PCGS and ANACS on the other side of the pond.

I take it that remark was tongue in cheek?

[josie 8]

Maybe good timing,there is a info that james taylor left anacs not sure

Well even if you dont work fulltime in slabbing company others can be a part of it especially identifying errors and variety, just read article in the past that they have special previelage for those persons.

Those that will against it will be a watchdog while the comp. make profit also the govt. taxing all expensive slab coins, just learn one term in other site SEINOIRAGE.

If the company still dont exist its all drawing and planning for me,since most european are brotherhood of collector guest it will not affect them that much.

[Chingford 166]

I just got my London Coin Auctions catalogue for the December Auction.

Under English Certified Coins they have introduced a new UK Grading company. CGS.

Coins are graded using a 1 - 100 scale as follows

1-20 VG, 20-40 Fine, 40-60 VF, 60-80 EF abd finaally 80-100 Unc

no images of capsules are included.

[Rob 3,152]

I just got my London Coin Auctions catalogue for the December Auction.

Under English Certified Coins they have introduced a new UK Grading company. CGS.

Coins are graded using a 1 - 100 scale as follows

1-20 VG, 20-40 Fine, 40-60 VF, 60-80 EF abd finaally 80-100 Unc

no images of capsules are included.

Good to see your spelling is as correct as the grades offered by the slabbing companies. Very well put.

Edited November 14, 2006 by Rob

[Chingford 166]

I just got my London Coin Auctions catalogue for the December Auction.

Under English Certified Coins they have introduced a new UK Grading company. CGS.

Coins are graded using a 1 - 100 scale as follows

1-20 VG, 20-40 Fine, 40-60 VF, 60-80 EF abd finaally 80-100 Unc

no images of capsules are included.

Good to see your spelling is as correct as the grades offered by the slabbing companies. Very well put.

I just got my London Coin Auctions catalogue for the December Auction.

Under English Certified Coins they have introduced a new UK Grading company. CGS.

Coins are graded using a 1 - 100 scale as follows

1-20 VG, 20-40 Fine, 40-60 VF, 60-80 EF abd finaally 80-100 Unc

no images of capsules are included.

Good to see your spelling is as correct as the grades offered by the slabbing companies. Very well put.

Me speling is orways bean a strong point.

Did a search on CGS-UK and came up with a recruitment company, glass merchant and a courier, no links found to CGS-UK as a coin grading company also no links on London Coin Auction site apart from the Catalogue mention.

Thought it might be Lockdales but again no links.

[josie 8]

No web site for new slabbing company thats is new.

still on process on recruiting expert,guess the expert turn there back or ignore them.

Hope that the final result will be good.

[Guest Guest]

To my knowledge it's London coins doing the slabbing, they are setting up the grading company.

[josie 8]

Thank you guest it is in the making,Good thing to here there are many slabbing comp. base in US and one in canada if my memory is right.

It is better that GB goes first before any country in europe and the tax that the govt. will earn will help a lot in expense of collector but bring some good for the country and its people.

Hope that other expert will join in for better result.

[Ch2toWm4 0]

The only good thing about a European coin grading company MIGHT BE their grading!

Bill

[Hussulo 6]

I see in this months Coin News there is a now a slabing company in the UK called CGS UK (www.cgs-uk.biz). They will be up and running in december.

[Geordie582 18]

My tiny voice is still crying "Who grades the graders?"

[coin watch 1]

Just had a thought whilst drinking my beer and reading all this {I think better after a beer!}

The one thing I find best about collecting coins {forgetting about its grade, value, type} is the enjoyment it brings to its owner with its visual content, what I mean is to a collector of a certain type it brings great joy to see the detail and design of a coin that one collects, and also, with care to hold that coin.

My point with slabbing is that ok it is great that it is encased and protected from the elements but plastic will scratch and deteriorate over time no matter how well looked after it is, 50 years down the line I think some of the slabbed coins today will not be visible at all, we will just have to keep on slabbing, what is the point in that other than to give a nice profit to the slabbing company.

Having said all that and looking at page 13 of Decembers issue of Coin News I have to say I think the slabbed coin on this page is encased very well. For the first time it looks like it shows the edge of the coin as it looks like it is suspended between 3 points.

But for me slabbing is not the ultimate answer, why should this generation of slabbers argue with hundreds {and in some cases thousands} of years of natural preservation.

Sorry slabbers!

[Red Riley 2]

Just had a thought whilst drinking my beer and reading all this {I think better after a beer!}

The one thing I find best about collecting coins {forgetting about its grade, value, type} is the enjoyment it brings to its owner with its visual content, what I mean is to a collector of a certain type it brings great joy to see the detail and design of a coin that one collects, and also, with care to hold that coin.

My point with slabbing is that ok it is great that it is encased and protected from the elements but plastic will scratch and deteriorate over time no matter how well looked after it is, 50 years down the line I think some of the slabbed coins today will not be visible at all, we will just have to keep on slabbing, what is the point in that other than to give a nice profit to the slabbing company.

Having said all that and looking at page 13 of Decembers issue of Coin News I have to say I think the slabbed coin on this page is encased very well. For the first time it looks like it shows the edge of the coin as it looks like it is suspended between 3 points.

But for me slabbing is not the ultimate answer, why should this generation of slabbers argue with hundreds {and in some cases thousands} of years of natural preservation.

Sorry slabbers!

Who knows, perhaps in a hundred years time the slabs themselves will have acquired a value, someone will invent a grading system (based on the amount of yellowing and number of scratches) and we'll end up by slabbing the slabs. And then someone will say; 'Can't we just collect those funny little round metal things . Let's call it 'coin collecting''.

[TomGoodheart 400]

There you go Chris. Time to start working on 'Collectors Slabs 2009' I have a nice pic of an NCGS MS64 you can have at 300x300.

[Colin G. 147]

The worrying thing for me, is that looking at the website I am not filled with confidence. The wording on the site is poor, and there are a multitude of grammatical errors. Whilst I do not claim to be the master of grammar myself, I do not think I would trust my coin grading with a company who cannot spell or present coherent sentences on their site!!!

The other worrying factor, is that you know this is going to take off in a huge way regardless of how we feel, because it is not aimed at collectors, but at the investor. I just can't see myself searching bags of 2006 pennies to find that grade 100 penny even if someone is willing to pay £100 for it because it says that it is perfect on the slab.

One thing it is certain to do, is increase the price of coins across the board if it is succesful.

Colin G.

[josie 8]

They are many expert watching the new company,to keep on thier toes,

The comp. is for investor cuing and buying coins in the mint,but for me the sum of it all is to the revenue the govt. will have, from the mint to which hands it will end up, the investor can have their slice but the circle of the money will go to the govt. even how many fold or cycle,the revenue is already use for public funding.

For me that is the other side of coin collecting, in expense of thier collection for public funds.

[TomGoodheart 400]

I guess the proof will be in the proverbial pudding. There are plenty of grading services in the US but it's well known that some have rather better reputations than others. The reliability of such a service over here remains to be seen. They haven't said anything at all about who will be doing the grading as far as I can see, nor who these dealers and collectors are. Anyone here want to admit to being involved?

The whole thing seems to rely on someone providing coins for them to slab. This is presumably where the dealers will come in, since I can't see a real rush of collectors who want their coins slabbed going to an untested set up like this when PCGS or NGC could do it. Particularly as they have also introduced a brand new grading scale which is different from both the accepted US and UK standards! Who's going to want that?!

Finally, Colin makes an interesting point...

I just can't see myself searching bags of 2006 pennies to find that grade 100 penny even if someone is willing to pay £100 for it because it says that it is perfect on the slab.

Colin G.

If slabbing existing coins doesn't take off, what's the betting we see attempts to create an artificial market (in that one doesn't exist in the UK, unlike in the US) for 'perfect' modern coins? If they can create a demand for something only they can provide maybe they might just make money after all!

.

[Rob 3,152]

I guess the proof will be in the proverbial pudding. There are plenty of grading services in the US but it's well known that some have rather better reputations than others. The reliability of such a service over here remains to be seen. They haven't said anything at all about who will be doing the grading as far as I can see, nor who these dealers and collectors are. Anyone here want to admit to being involved?

The whole thing seems to rely on someone providing coins for them to slab. This is presumably where the dealers will come in, since I can't see a real rush of collectors who want their coins slabbed going to an untested set up like this when PCGS or NGC could do it. Particularly as they have also introduced a brand new grading scale which is different from both the accepted US and UK standards! Who's going to want that?!

Finally, Colin makes an interesting point...

I just can't see myself searching bags of 2006 pennies to find that grade 100 penny even if someone is willing to pay £100 for it because it says that it is perfect on the slab.

Colin G.

If slabbing existing coins doesn't take off, what's the betting we see attempts to create an artificial market (in that one doesn't exist in the UK, unlike in the US) for 'perfect' modern coins? If they can create a demand for something only they can provide maybe they might just make money after all!

.

You can already make money with the perfect coin as the "best known piece" market bears out. It has always been the case. The only difference is that you can personally verify it is the perfect coin when it isn't encased in plastic, because there ain't no way I'm going to trust any grading company which by default has a vested interest in keeping it's customers happy. These by definition are the people supplying the coins for slabbing and not the buyers of slabbed coins.

[Sylvester 15]

Of course slabbing brings price rises but if people want it it'll happen, it all depends upon how good they are at advertising the product.

If slabbing does take off i'll set up business as a professional slab cracker. £10 to have a coin professionally cracked out and £5 for every subsequent coin sent with it, each customer recieves an exclusive gold trimmed certificate of authenticy with every purchase. Feel the history not the plastic!

[Rob 3,152]

Apparently the person behind it is Alex Anderson, obviously in association with London Coins. Had a good chat with him about it today at the auction and bought a few pieces. Although I hate the idea of slabs, the assigned grades for what was on offer today was more accurate than the usual fare. I'll still break them out though.

[Sylvester 15]

I'll still break them out though.

I hope you told him so!

[Rob 3,152]

I'll still break them out though.

I hope you told him so!

Certainly did

[Sylvester 15]

Has anyone brought up the other point here? I presume London Coins sell coins, and they're slabbing them?

Now to get the best reults out of slabbing shouldn't it be done by someone without a vested interest in the end grade? What do they do with borderline grade coins? I suppose they mark them up, if they bought them from you though would they say 'sorry the grades wrong on that?'.

Now of course yeah they do that without slabbing, but with slabbing part of the advertising gimmick is that 'it protects the buyer from dealers over grading coins', the question is does it though? Now i'm not saying London coins do that, but you can bet your bottom penny that if this grading company take off there will be others and they'll be a boom of grading companies all trying to out do each other and some practices of future grading companies mightr be less than ethical. Thus to quote another member 'who grades the graders?'

The only way slabbing would be hugely beneficial to the collectors market would be if it was totally neutral and probably a nationalised company that's not allowed to make a profit, so they couldn't care less what grade the coin came out. A private firm will always do what is in the best interest of it's customers to ensure they come back again, which is the people sending the coins in that pay for the grading service. They're not going to send them to XYY service if they know XYZ will give them a higher albeit less accurate grade. Hence the crack out and resubmission culture that follows slabbing around.

Excuse me if i'm cynical but i don't think it's in the hobby's best interests in the long run. It's in investor interests and investors are something the hobby is better off without as they put the prices up on nice collectable pieces that other collectors need for date sets etc.

[Rob 3,152]

I couldn't agree more.

[scottishmoney 29]

There is also Lockdale Coins, they advert on fleaBay a lot. I believe they are using the 70 pt grading scale that the USians use. I bought a banknote from one of their fleaBay auctions eons ago, and have forever gotten spam emails from them about this and that.