how many do you buy slabbed vs send in for grading?

[Lastufka Collection]

I just got my grades for my second NGC submission!! I sent in two 1983 proof sets and one each P & D 1983 souvenir mint sets (no "official" mint sets were produced in '83).

 

I'm putting together a 1983 birth year set for myself. Up to this point I've only bought NGC graded coins, but figured "what the hell?" and sent in the OGP sets.

 

I made out okay. One of the dimes was a PF70, and both cents were PF69s (the highest grade for 1983 cents).

 

Most of the circulation strike coins were in the MS65 range, though the Denver dime hit MS67, while the Philadelphia dime was a MS64 FT (the ONLY FT dime graded from the Philadelphia mint in 1983! Ever. Check the census.).

 

Of course, that means the other seven proof coins turned out to be PF69s that weren't top pops, worth a little more than the cost of slabbing.

 

On this batch I came out about $200 ahead in NumisMedia value vs what it cost to buy the proof sets and have them graded (minus that POP 1 full torch dime, not sure how to price that one in my values spreadsheet). This is much better than I would have done buying each of these coins individually, I think.

 

Carrying over that logic, it would seem that buying in government packaging and sending them off to be graded would be the way to go when building any 20th century set, no? The coins that fall short on grades can always be sold off to break even, and the ones that do grade high enough get added to your set at a very reasonable cost.

 

So I'm curious, how much of your collection did you buy "raw" and submit, and how much did you buy already slabbed?

 

(Naturally, this isn't much of a discussion for 19th century sets as there aren't a whole lot of 1876 mint sets sitting around on ebay waiting to be cracked and graded. )

[coinman_23885]

Since I don't make as many coin shows as I would like, I buy most of my coins online. As such, I insist on certification except for one or two dealers that I have dealt with personally. CAC stickers are always nice as well.

[gmarguli]

So I'm curious, how much of your collection did you buy "raw" and submit, and how much did you buy already slabbed?

 

For the US coins I collect, almost all is purchased slabbed. There just isn't a lot of high grade examples sitting around raw. Maybe 10% was purchased raw.

 

For world coins, almost all is purchased raw and slabbed. Most of the slabbed examples I purchase are either purchased from the owners I submitted them for or out of a major auction like Heritage who likes to slab world coins.

[Mozin]

I gave up buying raw coins about fifteen years ago.

[PerryHall]

I gave up buying raw coins about fifteen years ago.

 

Same here. I only buy coins that have already been slabbed.

[Schatzy]

I have also been working on a 1983 Birth year set. I am only doing the mint state coins.

Almost all of the coins in my collection have been hand picked raw and submitted for grading. I have bought well over 25 of the souvenir mint sets. It has been lots of fun building the set this way.

 

Here is my 1983 set so far. Still searching for some more MS67 coins!!

[Lastufka Collection]

Schatzy! Hey man. If I remember correctly I recently won two of your eBay auctions for a pretty decent price, two coins I needed for my Westward Journey set.

 

It'll be fun watching both of our sets compete then. I was just on the registry last night looking at yours... and drooling. =) Can't wait to send a few more sets in for grading.

[James_OldeTowne]

In my entire lifetime, I've sent in fewer than five of my own coins for certification.

 

About 10% of what I buy is certified, 90% is not. I prefer "raw" coins, in general, but own about 300 certified pieces.

 

In terms of value, the ratio is about the same for me. I have far more invested in un-certified coins than certified.

[BillJones]

As a collector I only buy coins in the grades I want that have already been slabbed. As a dealer I often sent in raw coins. Going that route is a mixed bag.

 

As dealer I "made out" many times with coins that got grades that were either what I estimated or higher. The trouble was there were always a few coins that came in lower or got body bags. Sometimes I deserved the body bags; sometimes I didn't IMO. And in a few cases coin got a body bag from one serivce and a grade from the other. It went both ways.

 

As a collector I don't want the hastle of having the "key coin" that I really wanted graded for the registry come back in a lower grade or a body bag. That's why I now almost never send in coins for grading. Besides as someone else said, many of the worthwhile U.S. coins have already been graded. There is not much out there offered in the way of "classic coins" that can be graded that has not alreay been graded.

[ldhair]

I gave up buying raw coins about fifteen years ago.

 

Same here. I only buy coins that have already been slabbed.

Same here as well. I do send in coins bought years ago. Mostly coins that need to be in a good holder for when it's time to sell.

[Jeffrey Cardona]

What I buy from the US Mint gets shipped off to be slabbed. Other purchases are slabbed but recently I have bought a few modern 50c comms raw. They went for about $12...too hard to pass on.

[cpm9ball]

I go both ways which is dictated by the circumstances.

 

Chris

[mkman123]

With so many counterfeit raw coins like morgans, etc I stick with coins that are already graded.

Also I'm not good at cherrypicking great raw coins so I don't bother .

[bsshog40]

I never really buy anything that worth sending in to get slabbed so when I'm looking for a specific coin and grade, I buy already slabbed.

[FishyOne]

90% are purchased slabbed.

 

10% are sent in for fun and learning.