A bit of deviatrion form the trade dollars to discuss on market place...
NGC and PCGS coin grading have been around for decades. In the old days, usually only better grades and rarer coins are being slabbed for authentification purpose and also for preservation.I would say it all started with the mania on China Silver coins in the past 2-3 years, where authentification is the prime concern at that time. Many sellers have problems letting go their unslabbed coins and have to settle for a lower dealing price for such coins. From there, the demand for slabbing service picks up locally.
As a result of that a few dealers have started having runners sending coins for slabbing to Singapore (Mavin or Monetorium) or Hong Kong (PCGS) for grading service and a new chapter of events unfolds.
An overview of a grading process can be read at my friend and sifu blog post at:
Slabbing Coins with NGC
The new chapter of events unfolding locally are:
For new generation of collectors who are more affluent, they prefer these slabbed coins. They are less burdened by preserving the coins and they are willing to pay a price for the authentification process. It is in opinion that these coins are easier to sell later on, be it over the coin dealers or internet base platform like ebay, facebook etc.
For more senior coin collectors who have been collecting for many many years, they started to realized that these coins may deteriorate, and over the years some of their collections have become scarce. As such, slabbing these coin is cost effective and a reasonable thing to do. For example, they may have bought some coins for RM 80. But now the price has risen say to RM 600 in the catalogue. By slabbing the coin, it may added a cost of RM200 per coin in the process; but they will be able to sell it easier at the catalogue price of RM600. There will be a lot of argument if these coins are not slabbed, and they may only be able to sell it around RM 400-500 after bargaining process.
A walk in Times Square KL yesterday, I also find lots of new dealers coming into the market. A simple chat with them also revealed their preference for dealing with slabbed coins. To them, it save them the hassles of arguing the grading process with the prospective customers. In addition, the beautifully high grade slabbed coins also added prestige to their newly started shops - be it in presence, or virtually on the internet.
These sellers are extremely friendly and helpful, do visit them if you drop by in Kuala Lumpur. However, over weekends, they are still stationed in Amcorp Mall.
As for you and I...
Are we going to send our coins for slabbing?
Are we going to buy these slabbed coins at higher price?
Are you going to be like some collectors who are only after MS 65-67 coins or you wound settle for MS 62-64 like most seasoned collectors??
What are you going to do with the AU details, UNC details coins - sell them as fast as possible like the MS maniacs, or have the comfort of saying "they are genuine coins, so it is fine" ??
What are you saying on this???
My take it...
We must have the knowledge to deal with these scenarios and coin.
It is the knowledge that will prevent us from buying an overpriced coin.
The old saying from a property investor still hold true... if you are buying for investment
"You make the profit at the point of buying, not when you sell"
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