It is "every bit" of what it's cracked up to be. Or should I say what it's "cracked out" to be. But then again, be very careful.

Greetings Collectors,

Most of you that have been collecting coins for over 3 or 4 years have seen, owned or at least heard of slabbed coins in OGH or if you're not familiar with the OGH abbreviation, it stands for a coin that's in a holder that was used early on by PCGS (Professional Coin Grading Service). There are two generations of these OGH's with the 1st generation commonly known as "Rattlers". This term is used for the simple reason that the coin appears loose inside the holder and subsequently rattles when shaken. The 2nd generation OGH is the same shape and size as the clear PCGS holders of present day. These second generation green slabs will also stack perfectly with the newer styled PCGS slabs. The only difference is that these PCGS 2nd gen. slabs have a green paper insert rather than the light blue of the regular ones of today. And actually if one wants to get very technical, there are two different types of these 2nd generation OGH's.

For many years I would look for these 1st & 2nd stage holders from PCGS because more times than not the coins held inside are under-graded, and are sometimes better than the slab indicates by as much as 2 or 3 grades. If you are very familiar with a certain coin series, you can take a close look at any coin and spot whether the coin is solid for the grade or in some cases you will think, "Wow, what kept this MS-64 from making MS-65 or in some cases even an MS-66. Now granted a two point jump is the exception rather than the rule, but many times those of you "in the know" realize what a mere + to the indicated grade would mean "value wise". Much less (or should I say more) a full one grade jump. Value wise, this can be huge.

I was hooked on the crack out of some of these OGH slabbed coins for several years until one submission about a year ago cured me. Believe me, there is a downside that I had never experienced until my last and final time I did this. Before I share the heartbreak, I'll share a couple of the victories. Now it has not only been PCGS OGH's that I have cracked out. I have successfully cracked out the older smaller Anacs holdered coins. PCI was a grader that never really caught on and probably the reason being is, they rarely got the grade right. Of all the graders I have seen, there are more PCI coins graded incorrectly. I've seen more over-grades with PCI, but by the same token, I've seen several that were under-graded. My very best "crack out" ever, came with a $2.50 gold Indian. The coin sat in a PCI holder with a grade of AU-55. I saw it at a coin show and when I asked to look at the coin among a few other various gold coins, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. This coin was as solid a mint state coin as any I'd seen. And for AU-55 money, I knew there was little downside risk. It's all about the risk. But if you know the coin series well, and own a few, and have seen a few more in certain grades, and you know what you're looking for, you have a pretty good chance of hitting "paydirt". Now my series that I feel I know the most about is, the Liberty gold coin series. $2.50 $5.00 $10.00 or $20's, I know what to look for because I own quite a few and have looked at way better than a thousand others. The $2.50 & $5.00 Indian series are ones I'm not near as strong on. But when you spot one that is so outta whack, you gotta take the shot as you really feel there is zero downside risk. At worst the coin comes back still graded AU-55. Well the 1910 $2.50 Indian was cracked out, and sent with a large group of other coins to NGC and they too agreed. This coin now sits in my small $2.50 Indian collection in a nice MS-62 slab by NGC. I actually thought the coin would do better, maybe MS-63, but I graciously accepted the 62. That was a jump of 4 points. That was by far, my best ever "crack-out". But without writing a book here, it's my opinion that for several years in the late 1980's up to the 1st couple years of the 1990's there were some very tough graders at PCGS. Not all of their graders but a few. And like I said, if you know what you're looking for, you may hit a nice one like I just mentioned.

Now without a doubt, not every OGH coin is an under-graded example. If fact I've seen just a "very few" that I doubt would make the same grade again if they were cracked out. Some I think would go down a 1/2 point or so. I'm not sure how the rest of you feel, but I like a coin that has a CAC green bean. Kinda like when a MS-64 getting a green bean is, to me, just a wee bit better than having that 64 re-holder-ed in a 64+ slab. But the last large submission I made was a group of 17 coins. Six were crack out gold coins and two of the six were $20 Liberty gold. This particular time, I was "Pearl Harbored". Of the one old Anacs, two NGC "fat holders" and three OGH from PCGS and one of those being a "rattler", all six came back in purple holders. With 4 of the six having been "improperly cleaned" (3) and the 4th labeled as "obverse improperly cleaned". The other two gold coins, both $20's had one with an obverse scratch (that was there when it resided in the OGH it was originally in and probably had been there since it skipped down the steam conveyor belt at the mint) and the other was labeled as having "residue". I'll tell you, I had my reservations because all were very nice coins and I would have much rather had an MS-62 $20 Liberty in an OGH than getting back an MS-62 in a new NGC slab. But it ended up being, even way worse than that. I was sick. I did the math on what I had, compared to what I thought I would receive, compared to yet again, to what I got. Well let me just say that my greed, for a lack of a better word, cost me well into 5 figures. (about $12,000) I could not believe what had just happened. I was so excited when I signed for that registered mail at the post office. I looked at that heavily taped sturdy box fifty times on the 4 mile trip to the house. Got all set up with a glass of wine at my desk and carefully cut into the box, only to find what I found. That was it for me. Seriously I'll probably never crack out another coin unless it's 4 or 5 points under-graded and that particular dog will never hunt again. It was a fluke the 1st time and highly improbable that it would ever happen again.

Now I don't say I won't be tempted. I have two coins right now that are sitting in 2nd generation old green holders that are screaming "crack-out" at the top of their "high AU & mint state lungs", but "sit they will" in their AU-50 & AU-58 OGH's One is a 1905-S Ten Dollar Liberty and the other is the coin pictured below. First year of issue and from the New Orleans Mint, no less. An AU-50 1892-O Barber Quarter. Which looks AU-55-58 minimum. The scratches you see here are on the old plastic slab.

Tomorrow I am expecting a couple Mercury dimes I bought from a Teletrade auction last Sunday night. The two are for my 1934-1945 Mercury middle set as I call it. Others may call it the expanded "short set". Regardless, I have a few more things to share, in general about these old green holders from PCGS. But,... I will share that, along with pics of the two new Mercury dimes tomorrow or Saturday. And yes, both of these "Merc's" are in OGH from PCGS. (actually 1st generation OGH rattlers)

Happy Collecting!

WKF

P.S. Silver is still doing it's continuous orderly rise and just a few minutes ago it was $42.36 with the silver to gold ratio now having dropped to 34.903 From 62 to 1 in l