KevinFlynn

When I got into precious metals I quickly realized that the coin in it's form calls out the collector in us. Something seems to click and whisper it's not merely an ounce of metal, it's a collectible. Even more so with historicals (say Sovereigns, 20 Francs), even though most are just a regular n grams of... This mentality makes us want to encapsulate even mundane pieces, use gloves and want to slab things. And the more slabs do command a higher price, the more this will become investment mechanic. At it's pinnacle it may lead to slabbing being needed to produce trust for selling?
I am viewing this tendency from Germany where stacking graded coins is a novelty, with few NGC or PCGS grading services available. I am reading opinions of German international sellers however who say they can make huge profits by grading for the US and Chinese markets.
Personally, I'm a fond toucher of my metals, I am enjoying a good gold or silver ping, and the jingle of coins in a bag - I remember reading about Nazi gold and seeing historical photos of rough bags of 20 Mark coins thrown in by the hundreds - what a glorious image 😙  I'm feeling guilty however whenever I'm reading about slabbing initiatives. I'm feeling like an amateur then 😗 even though I'm always sure that the dealers I buy from will have sorted the numismatically valuable coins from those they offer as bullion grade. And yes, even I place joy in completing series like Queen's Beasts and cannot think of these pieces as bullion. And I'm happy to try to complete date runs. So it is inside all of us 😳 let's not forget: everything worth doing is worth overdoing 😁
I do hope graded coins will not become the stacking standard.

Received these absolutely stunning additions today, photos don't do them justice. Fantastic condition as usual
Thanks  @DuncanWylieWilson

HI All
 
English Guy currently residing in Taiwan, New to the Forum, and reasonably new to Gold & Silver Stacking
Hope to be able to participate both in International discussions/trades, and UK-based ones too (UK Address/Account)
 
Very nice to meet you all, would also be great to learn if there are any other members here from Taiwan too

Very nice coin.  My LCS has one in the shop that I have been seriously considering picking up.  For anyone who has not seen one in person, they are ridiculously tiny.
My personal opinion on the raw vs slab debate, I prefer raw coins.  I love handling raw coins (with appropriate care), and putting coins in albums.  For display purposes, I find it much more satisfying to see coins in albums in close proximity to each other, rather then slabs racked in a slab box or in bulky 3-ring binder slab pages that only hold 6 to 9 slabs per page.  I can appreciate the confidence that graded coins give to buyers that either don't have the necessary experience to grade coins accurately themselves, or have to seek their coins thru online purchasing.  
But part of me regrets the irreversible impact grading services have had on the hobby.  I'm attempting to complete a U.S. Type Set which I want to display in an album.  My goal is to buy coins in XF to MS condition (based on budget constraints) to complete a set with very nice eye appeal.  Here in the U.S. grading is so pervasive, that it is extremely difficult to find older problem free higher grade raw coins.  Most all such coins are sent in for grading, and what raw coins you can find in store inventories are those deemed unworthy that would get a details grade because of cleaning, scratches, other problems, etc.  I also think the explosive rise in prices for higher graded coins has been due in large part to deep pocket collectors who are simply looking to raise their registry scores a fraction of a point, regardless of quality of strike or eye appeal of the coin.  The score is all that matters.
But that is what the hobby is now, and railing against is as effective as pissing into the wind.  Grading services have good points and bad points.  But coin shopping just seemed a more personal affair 30 or 40 years ago, and I miss that.

When I got into precious metals I quickly realized that the coin in it's form calls out the collector in us. Something seems to click and whisper it's not merely an ounce of metal, it's a collectible. Even more so with historicals (say Sovereigns, 20 Francs), even though most are just a regular n grams of... This mentality makes us want to encapsulate even mundane pieces, use gloves and want to slab things. And the more slabs do command a higher price, the more this will become investment mechanic. At it's pinnacle it may lead to slabbing being needed to produce trust for selling?
I am viewing this tendency from Germany where stacking graded coins is a novelty, with few NGC or PCGS grading services available. I am reading opinions of German international sellers however who say they can make huge profits by grading for the US and Chinese markets.
Personally, I'm a fond toucher of my metals, I am enjoying a good gold or silver ping, and the jingle of coins in a bag - I remember reading about Nazi gold and seeing historical photos of rough bags of 20 Mark coins thrown in by the hundreds - what a glorious image 😙  I'm feeling guilty however whenever I'm reading about slabbing initiatives. I'm feeling like an amateur then 😗 even though I'm always sure that the dealers I buy from will have sorted the numismatically valuable coins from those they offer as bullion grade. And yes, even I place joy in completing series like Queen's Beasts and cannot think of these pieces as bullion. And I'm happy to try to complete date runs. So it is inside all of us 😳 let's not forget: everything worth doing is worth overdoing 😁
I do hope graded coins will not become the stacking standard.

Same reason I slabbed this and the only reason is because its the second finest known example. Of a cali gold fractional in the world of that year 
It's the size of a little finger nail so grading helps storage and authenticity for me nothing more nothing less 
Just gave me peace of mind 
 

Who encapsulates the capsule? 😉 

I liked your comment/book...we all have our own opinions..which is the way it should be..I have my opinion like many others..you also have your opinions..neither of us is right or wrong....ITS JUST INDIVIDUAL OPIONS SIR....

Welcome to the forums 🤗
Nice beginnings, leave a photo of a Britannia or two.
And we love to answer questions.

*Newbie alert*
Evening everyone, greetings from Lincolnshire (the slightly less flat bit....yes, there is a less flat bit!)
Just starting getting interested in building up some silver, I've recently bought a couple of Britannia's and I think it's the beginning of a bug! 🙂
Initially I'm just wanting to start to build a portfolio with a view of holding it for the long term.
I'll apologise now for all the daft questions I will ask (although I will be checking if they've been asked before I ask)
Be gentle 🙂
Dave

My own coins will remain unslabbed and ungraded so that I can enjoy the pleasure of ownership (for me) to the full and I will always take good care of them.  But each to their own.
I did once buy a slabbed predecimal penny - at an auction, cheaply, because no-one else bid on it (£18 including all fees for an 1889 penny, slabbed and graded AU58 by NGC - EF in UK old grade-speak) but I carefully broke it out of the slab when I got home and it now sits gloriously raw alongside its predecimal penny brothers and sisters.
 

Me too! Touchers unite! 
The pleasure of owning coins is both visual and tactile, 'holding history in your hand', to quote an oft' used phrase. You won't get that (shouldn't?) with a modern proof, so grade away I say!
The dilemma with older coins, I feel, is the collector's paranoia that he/she has bought a fake/counterfeit coin. One should be able to spot a fake, I hear from the back, but these forgers were clever buggers and can fool even the experts at times. Buying a fake 1887 quintuple for example is going to hurt. So I can understand a preference for graded coins where the possibility of fakes are concerned, assuming of course the graders will stand by their evaluation.

When I got into precious metals I quickly realized that the coin in it's form calls out the collector in us. Something seems to click and whisper it's not merely an ounce of metal, it's a collectible. Even more so with historicals (say Sovereigns, 20 Francs), even though most are just a regular n grams of... This mentality makes us want to encapsulate even mundane pieces, use gloves and want to slab things. And the more slabs do command a higher price, the more this will become investment mechanic. At it's pinnacle it may lead to slabbing being needed to produce trust for selling?
I am viewing this tendency from Germany where stacking graded coins is a novelty, with few NGC or PCGS grading services available. I am reading opinions of German international sellers however who say they can make huge profits by grading for the US and Chinese markets.
Personally, I'm a fond toucher of my metals, I am enjoying a good gold or silver ping, and the jingle of coins in a bag - I remember reading about Nazi gold and seeing historical photos of rough bags of 20 Mark coins thrown in by the hundreds - what a glorious image 😙  I'm feeling guilty however whenever I'm reading about slabbing initiatives. I'm feeling like an amateur then 😗 even though I'm always sure that the dealers I buy from will have sorted the numismatically valuable coins from those they offer as bullion grade. And yes, even I place joy in completing series like Queen's Beasts and cannot think of these pieces as bullion. And I'm happy to try to complete date runs. So it is inside all of us 😳 let's not forget: everything worth doing is worth overdoing 😁
I do hope graded coins will not become the stacking standard.

@dicker Yeah there are pros & cons here pal. I'm not a fan of grading per se &  only about 5% of my collection is graded but the reason I bought for example my Queens beasts 1oz proofs graded is as BB they are easier to look at slabbed & I like the GB labelled slabs which most of mine are, they frame the coins perfectly.
I bought  the 2oz QBs slabbed for a different reason, a lot of the raw coins I saw for sale had some minor imperfections spots/scratches so I went down the route of only buying MS 69/70 coins with no spots & I've seen loads of slabbed QB 2 oz coins on ebay with spots sell very well in the US, for some reason they are more tolerant of spotting. In the 2 cases I'm talking about grading can & does add significant value compared to the raw coin.
But on the other side of the coin so to speak graded lunar series 1 proofs 1oz & 2oz in particular sell for less than the raw coins so grading is not always the best thing to do.
 
Its horses for courses whatever you do with your coins is the right thing to do graded or not we're all different.

When I got into precious metals I quickly realized that the coin in it's form calls out the collector in us. Something seems to click and whisper it's not merely an ounce of metal, it's a collectible. Even more so with historicals (say Sovereigns, 20 Francs), even though most are just a regular n grams of... This mentality makes us want to encapsulate even mundane pieces, use gloves and want to slab things. And the more slabs do command a higher price, the more this will become investment mechanic. At it's pinnacle it may lead to slabbing being needed to produce trust for selling?
I am viewing this tendency from Germany where stacking graded coins is a novelty, with few NGC or PCGS grading services available. I am reading opinions of German international sellers however who say they can make huge profits by grading for the US and Chinese markets.
Personally, I'm a fond toucher of my metals, I am enjoying a good gold or silver ping, and the jingle of coins in a bag - I remember reading about Nazi gold and seeing historical photos of rough bags of 20 Mark coins thrown in by the hundreds - what a glorious image 😙  I'm feeling guilty however whenever I'm reading about slabbing initiatives. I'm feeling like an amateur then 😗 even though I'm always sure that the dealers I buy from will have sorted the numismatically valuable coins from those they offer as bullion grade. And yes, even I place joy in completing series like Queen's Beasts and cannot think of these pieces as bullion. And I'm happy to try to complete date runs. So it is inside all of us 😳 let's not forget: everything worth doing is worth overdoing 😁
I do hope graded coins will not become the stacking standard.

I received a marketing mail from a U.K. grader this evening (Not a forum sponsor).
The tone of the marketing mail is along the lines of:
“you must grade to get the best prices”
”the best coins in the US are already graded”
etc
I personally dislike grading, and the “industry” that grading has created.  This is both because I think it is lazy to leave another person to decide a grade and also because so many people grade simply to achieve a PF70 and a top price for a grade.
We are a broad church and I know Many here grade and sell, but It’s just not for me.  
 
The more grading becomes commercialised, the more I dislike it.  I wonder if it will eventually become a “tax” on selling coins.  
 
Best
Dicker

Hey all, just wanted to provide a quick update to this thread. I managed to compare it with 2 other eagles today and now thankfully feel sure it's genuine. Examined them all closely they all have that 'grainy' finish when viewed through a loupe. Weight, size and ping sound/pitch all identical so I'm relieved and happy. Once again appreciate the comments and help!

Got these 2 stuning coins today among some others.
1 Oz Libertad 1981 and 20 Pesos 1920
 
 

Big BIG arrival today!
The 2000 mirror ring.
But... it is graded... and none of my other pandas are.... I got it brought in for me from China and it's hard to find a 2000 at the best of times, let alone a mirror, let alone OMP or good condition in capsule. So I just got a graded one and will probably end up taking it out of the slab at some point, but ridiculously nervous about doing so!!
There's one thing that the panda series is not, and that is consistent... So maybe this might be the inconsistent member of my collection.

Back from grade 🙂 looks fabulous, it was conserved.
 

Nice key date on this one, thanks @DuncanWylieWilson
 
 

Thanks @Alunfor getting this 11 slot Queens Beast box out to Spain for me the coins look so much better now🤩

I bought this when  under the influence of the amber nectar , to say it was a shock when it arrived is an understatement lol. I thought it was the cheapest 1oz I’d ever seen . 🤣

Been following the page for a year and buying slowly since the end of last year (both gold and silver UK coins).  Still a real beginner but enjoy reading others opinions on what to buy and why.  I hope to start buying on this site but am being  a little cautious as of now.  
So far 90% of my monthly purchases have been from "Bullion by Post", or auction sites - just because I am trying to be careful.
Obviously welcome any free advice and am reading lots of post trying to learn from those with more experience.

Two low mintage sovereign alternatives.quite pleased to add both to my sovereign varieties collection