New NGC Redesigned Slab

[physics-fan3.14]

I don't know if any of you have noticed, but NGC has changed their slab inserts without telling anyone. The new prongs are noticeably thinner, by about half, and allow much more of the rim to be seen. I just noticed this while looking through some coins today - a Franklin that I've had for a while has significantly thicker prongs than the Franklin I had slabbed at the FUN show last month.

 

I'm not sure you would notice a difference between two different sizes, but the difference is considerable (and a big improvement) on coins of the same size:

 

Old Prongs:

 

 

New Prongs:

 

[Kenneth F]

I like the new ones better..

[cpm9ball]

I think I saw some on some smaller denominations (Schatzy's?). It also looks like the tabs don't extend as far over the rim as they used to.

 

Hey, Conder! Does this qualify as a nex-gen slab?

 

Chris

[noow]

I saw a lot of feebay ones for dimes.

[bsshog40]

I like the smaller tabs also!

[jom]

Yes, any kind of slabs that show off the edge better I'm all for it. I think PCGS has a bit of an advantage with the clear plastic but what-are-ya-gonna-do?

 

jom

[johnny9434]

the small ones look neat. either one works as long as it works

[brg5658]

Yes, any kind of slabs that show off the edge better I'm all for it. I think PCGS has a bit of an advantage with the clear plastic but what-are-ya-gonna-do?

 

jom

 

I like the idea of clear plastic, but the PCGS tabs are WAY too wide. They may be "clear" but you can't see anything through them. I would personally like to see a plastic tab with a much smaller footprint even smaller than that of the new narrower NGC ones. As long as the tabs have a bit of a lip to hold the coin in place, and there are four of them placed 90 degrees apart, the tabs could be engineered/molded to probably a width of 1mm or even less.

[cpm9ball]

Yes, any kind of slabs that show off the edge better I'm all for it. I think PCGS has a bit of an advantage with the clear plastic but what-are-ya-gonna-do?

 

jom

 

I like the idea of clear plastic, but the PCGS tabs are WAY too wide. They may be "clear" but you can't see anything through them. I would personally like to see a plastic tab with a much smaller footprint even smaller than that of the new narrower NGC ones. As long as the tabs have a bit of a lip to hold the coin in place, and there are four of them placed 90 degrees apart, the tabs could be engineered/molded to probably a width of 1mm or even less.

 

I would think that if it were too narrow, any kind of jolt could cause the coin to come loose.

 

Chris

[FishyOne]

This will be a big improvement on smaller coins. For coins under 20mm the current prongs are too big.

 

The current prongs don't bother me a bit on larger coins.

[DunderChief-migration]

You picked a nice coin for the example. I like the smaller tabs also.

[Conder101]

The early edge view holders that only had three tabs used narrow tabs. The first post 2002 version of the edge views only had three tabs and were narrower than the later four tab version. (NGC told me that these three prong slabs were not an early version but merely what NGC uses for small size coins. But I have only seen them used on gold coins and up to half eagle size which is not a small coin, and I have never seen them used on the small silver coins such as the 3C silver or the half dime. On the other hand I have seen the four prong slabs used for $1 gold coins and even California fractionals which are very small coins.) Since the early three prong edge views used narrow tabs I would have to wonder if the narrow tab Franklin might be an early edge view as well and then they later went to the current wider tabs. Sounds like something worth researching. I'll try checking a few things and let you know what I find out.

 

OK, I've done some checking with some coins that I KNOW were some of the earliest four prong edge view slabs issued and they do use wide prongs. The first use I have found so far for the narrow prongs seems to be in early October of 2011.

[Mokiechan]

Just perfect, any thinner and they might start sagging on the bottom prongs while stored in their box.

[michael]

I don't know if any of you have noticed, but NGC has changed their slab inserts without telling anyone. The new prongs are noticeably thinner, by about half, and allow much more of the rim to be seen. I just noticed this while looking through some coins today - a Franklin that I've had for a while has significantly thicker prongs than the Franklin I had slabbed at the FUN show last month.

 

I'm not sure you would notice a difference between two different sizes, but the difference is considerable (and a big improvement) on coins of the same size:

 

Old Prongs:

 

 

New Prongs:

 

 

you can see more of the rims around the coin

 

sexy

[physics-fan3.14]

OK, I've done some checking with some coins that I KNOW were some of the earliest four prong edge view slabs issued and they do use wide prongs. The first use I have found so far for the narrow prongs seems to be in early October of 2011.

 

Just checked the submission I sent in of World coins last fall - I sent it in late July, received it back in September. 3 of the coins have small prongs, two have the old wide prongs. Thus, September seems to be a pretty good estimate for the transition.

[Coincrazed74]

Wow.. that's nice, thanks for sharing. I love NGC Slabs WAAY better than PCGS.

 

CC

[DWLange]

Conder,

NGC uses the three-prong holders for Indian Head $2.50 and $5, because the four-prong version covers up the mintmarks on those coins.

[Conder101]

That makes more sense than being told they were for small coins. Thanks David.

 

And I can move the narrow prongs back a bit further, The first day of issue Hayes dollars come with the narrow prongs and they were released August 18th.

[Houston Investor]

Yes its a great improvement; thanks for sharing. Nice looking Franklins too.

 

This should be a great help on small coins like $2.50 Gold.

[coinman1794]

Yes, any kind of slabs that show off the edge better I'm all for it. I think PCGS has a bit of an advantage with the clear plastic but what-are-ya-gonna-do?

 

jom

 

I like the idea of clear plastic, but the PCGS tabs are WAY too wide. They may be "clear" but you can't see anything through them. I would personally like to see a plastic tab with a much smaller footprint even smaller than that of the new narrower NGC ones. As long as the tabs have a bit of a lip to hold the coin in place, and there are four of them placed 90 degrees apart, the tabs could be engineered/molded to probably a width of 1mm or even less.

 

I would think that if it were too narrow, any kind of jolt could cause the coin to come loose.

 

Chris

 

This design has been standard for a few months now. I have not had this happen, though you have to be careful when cracking a coin out, as it will come loose.