Coin slab is a type of holder for a coin. Slabbed coins are typically from one of the coin grading companies. The practice of sending coins to third-party grading companies and then "slabbing" them began in 1986.
When a grading company grades the coin it is sealed in a tamper proof slab with a barcode and a hologram. To prevent counterfeiting, holograms were attached to the graded coin slabs beginning in 1989. The early coin slabs did not have a hologram.
Slabbing coins is a practice which began in 1986. The grading of coins was a way to remove coin grading controversies by having a third party certify the coin's condition. [1] The earliest coin slabs introduced by PCGS were in use from 1986-1989. Collectors refer to these early PCGS slabs as "rattlers". They were nicknamed rattlers because the coin was not firmly positioned in the holder; coins rattled inside the holders. The holder consisted of a thin plastic shell and the specifics about the coin and grade were printed on a dot matrix printer. In September 1989, PCGS introduced a new holder that more firmly held the coin. [2]
There are major coin certification companies that encapsulate coins in an acrylic case after grading the coin. Companies like ANACS, Numismatic Guaranty Company (NGC), Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS), International Coin Certification Service and CAC accept coins which they grade, certify and then slab. Collectors rely on these third party grading companies to certify coins. [3] After the coins are reviewed and certified a holographic label is attached to the slab. [4] [5] The earliest coins that were slabbed by the major coin grading companies did not have holograms. PCGS began adding a hologram to the reverse of their holders in 1989. [6] NGC began adding a hologram to their coin slabs in 1990. [7]
Counterfeiters have duplicated coin slabs from major grading companies. In 2023, CoinWeek reported counterfeit 1881 CC Morgan dollar “PCGS” slabs. [8] [9] In 2018, Coin World numismatic magazine reported that counterfeit PCGS slabs complete with holograms were being sold on the website AliExpress. They reported that the real slabs are "sonically sealed" but fake slabs snap together. [10] The magazine also reported the discovery of a fake South African gold Krugerrand which was in a counterfeit NGC slab with a hologram. [11]
Coin collecting is the collecting of coins or other forms of minted legal tender. Coins of interest to collectors include beautiful, rare, and historically significant pieces. Collectors may be interested, for example, in complete sets of a particular design or denomination, coins that were in circulation for only a brief time, or coins with errors. Coin collecting can be differentiated from numismatics, in that the latter is the systematic study of currency as a whole, though the two disciplines are closely interlinked.
Coin grading is the process of determining the grade or condition of a coin, one of the key factors in determining its collectible value. A coin's grade is generally determined by six criteria: strike, preservation, luster, color, attractiveness, and occasionally the country/state in which it was minted. Several grading systems have been developed. Certification services professionally grade coins for tiered fees.
The Canadian fifty-cent coin is a Canadian coin worth 50 cents. The coin's reverse depicts the coat of arms of Canada. At the opening ceremonies for the Ottawa branch of the Royal Mint, held on January 2, 1908, Governor General Earl Grey struck the Dominion of Canada's first domestically produced coin. It was a silver fifty-cent coin bearing the effigy of King Edward VII.
Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) is an American third-party coin grading, authentication, attribution, and encapsulation service founded in 1985. The intent of its seven founding dealers, including the firm's former president David Hall, was to standardize grading. The firm has divisions in Europe and Asia, and is owned by parent company Collectors Universe. PCGS has graded over 42.5 million coins, medals, and tokens valued at over $36 billion.
Numismatic Guaranty Company (NGC) is an international third-party coin grading and certification service based in Sarasota, Florida. It has certified more than 60 million coins. NGC certification consists of authentication, grading, attribution, and encapsulation in clear plastic holders. NGC is a subsidiary of Certified Collectibles Group (CCG), which owns six collectible certification services and is in turn owned by Blackstone, a multibillion-dollar New York City hedge fund.
A key date is a term used in coin collecting and it refers to a date of a given coin series or coin set that is harder to obtain than other dates in the series. A key date coin is usually one with a lower mintage total and it is more valuable than others in the series. Many coin collectors collect coins to fill out a complete set of a series.
The 1913 Liberty Head nickel is an American five-cent piece which was produced in extremely limited quantities unauthorized by the United States Mint, making it one of the best-known and most coveted rarities in American numismatics. In 1972, one specimen of the five cent coin became the first coin to sell for over US$100,000; in 1996, another specimen became the first to sell for over US$1 million. A specimen was sold for US$3 million in a 2004 private sale, then resold for US$3.7 million at a public auction in 2010.
First strike is a marketing term used by third party coin grading services which refers to coins which were struck first by a mint. The U.S. Mint maintains that there is no widely accepted and standardized numismatic industry definition of First Strike coins. Several coin grading companies have decided that a "first strike" coin is one that shipped from the mint in the first month of the new minting.
Third-party grading (TPG) refers to coin grading & banknote grading authentication, attribution, and encapsulation by independent certification services.
Certified Acceptance Corporation (CAC) is a Far Hills, New Jersey third-party coin certification company started in 2007 by coin dealer John Albanese. The firm evaluates certain numismatically valuable U.S. coins already certified by Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) or Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS).
The 1-yen coin is the smallest denomination of the Japanese yen currency. Historically they were initially made of both silver and gold in the early 1870s. Issues facing the Japanese government at the time included wanting to adopt the gold standard, and competing against the Mexican dollar for use in foreign trade. The decision was made to use silver one yen coins exclusively outside of Japan for trade, while gold coins were minted and used in mainland Japan. Gold and silver coins were eventually allowed to co-circulate in mainland Japan from 1878 to 1897 when they were demonetized. Millions of former one yen silver coins were countermarked by the Japanese government for use outside of the mainland. Silver one yen coins continued to be minted until 1914 for backing up currency.
The Sheldon Coin Grading Scale is a 70-point coin grading scale used in the numismatic assessment of a coin's quality. The American Numismatic Association based its Official ANA Grading Standards in large part on the Sheldon scale. The scale was created by William Herbert Sheldon.
Michael "Miles" Standish was an American businessman, author, rare coin expert, sports memorabilia expert and philanthropist. He was a co-founder of Collectors Universe and served as vice president of the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC).
A coin set, or mint set, is a collection of uncirculated or proof coins, released by a mint. Such sets are usually released annually and often called a year set. They include sets of all the circulating coins of that year, as well as sets of commemorative coins.
The 20 yen coin (二十圓硬貨) is a former denomination of the Japanese yen. These coins were minted in gold, and during their lifespan were the highest denomination of coin that circulated in the country. The first coins were minted in 1870 following the introduction of a decimal currency system. Twenty Yen coins spanned three different Imperial eras before mintage was halted in 1932. Many of these coins were melted down as a result of the wars between 1931 and 1945. These coins no longer circulate, and are instead collected as items of numismatic value, or as investments for their gold content.
Coin cleaning is the controversial process of removing undesirable substances from a coin's surface in order to make it more attractive to potential buyers. The subject is disputed among the numismatic community whether cleaning coins is necessary. Those that argue in favor of cleaning are also in dispute on which methods work best. It was once common practice to clean coins as the method was recommended by experts in the field. Solutions from pencil erasers to wire brushes and potassium cyanide were all used as cleaning agents with the goal to make the coin look brilliant again. When certified grading came into use in the mid 1980s though, the practice of cleaning coins diminished over time. Most coin experts have since come out against cleaning coins, as doing so can negatively affect them both in grade and value. If a potentially valuable coin must be cleaned then professional work is recommended. Commonly found coins are mentioned as ideal candidates for any attempted cleaning experiments.
The Great Kentucky Hoard is a hoard of more than 700 gold coins unearthed in an undisclosed part of Kentucky, United States, in the 2020s by a man on his own land. The finder of the hoard has remained anonymous.
The Redfield Hoard was LaVere Redfield's collection of 407,000 silver Morgan and Peace dollars. The hoard was discovered in Reno, Nevada, at the home of LaVere Redfield after his death in 1974.
The 1893-S Morgan dollar is a United States dollar coin struck in 1893 at the San Francisco Mint. It is the lowest mintage business strike Morgan dollar in the series. The 1893-S is considered to be a key date in the Morgan dollar series: examples of the coin in both mint state and in circulated condition are valuable.
