As a coin collector, I think about ways of creating sets or albums on my own. Going beyond government Proof and Mint Sets, I decide on doing a new type of set. Using NGC graded slabbed coins, I create my own Slabbed Coin Set.
First Slabbed Coin Set – Wartime Silver Nickels
You can read my post about Jefferson Silver Nickels here.
Back in the late 1990s, I start purchasing Silver Jefferson Nickels between 1942 and 1945. Each of them are graded and slabbed by NGC. I’ll explain slab coins later. There are a total of 11 Wartime Nickels. There are three from each mint (Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco) between 1943 and 1945 and two (Philadelphia and San Francisco) in 1942. By the time I was laid off in 2001, I have nine of them. At that point, I will put them away in an NGC box for 15 years.
In 2016, I start looking at them again and go on a quest to find the final two nickels I need. The first one, the 1942-S, is easy to find on Ebay. The second one, the 1945-P, is tougher to find with NGC only grading between 400 and 500 in Mint State 67. At that time, some have it valued at $500. That’s more than I will pay for the other ten nickels combined. Fortunately, I am able to find one from a reliable dealer for half the price.
Now, I have all 11, but my friend suggests adding the proof 1942-P Silver Jefferson Nickel
to make the set complete. I find this at a coin show one month after finding the 1945-P.
By the end of 2016, I have 12 Wartime Nickels, but how will I house them? Shall I keep them in the NGC box. I can, but I want to put them together so I can show them like a coin album. So, I will build my Slabbed Coin Set, but before I talk about that, let’s talk about slabbed coins.
What Is A Slabbed Coin?
A slabbed coin is a coin graded by a third party and encapsulated in plastic to protect it. Besides being able to see the obverse and reverse, the slab will contain the date, mint mark, grade, and an id number given by the company that certifies it. More recently, some include an image, what collection it comes from, and even a signature.
Two of the most popular third party services certifying coins are the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) and the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC). I currently have over 100 slabbed coins from NGC, though I haven’t sent any coins to be certified yet. I think it costs between $15 and $30 to slab a coin. So, if you want to certify your coins, make sure its worth it.
Most collectors prefer getting slab coins versus ones not slabbed. In fact, some send their slab coins back to the third party service hoping they will give it a better grade, but it’s a gamble. My friend showed me some You Tube videos of a guy who return some of his high end slab coins in an effort to get a better grade. For example, he has a coin with a grade of Mint State 63 hoping they will upgrade it to Mint State 64. It turns out they grades it Mint State 65 which of course makes him very happy. Unfortunately, he isn’t always lucky. Another Mint State 63 coin he sends to them is down graded to Mint State 62. Boo!
Be Careful When Purchasing Slabbed Coins
There have been counterfeit slab coins that have come from China and some of them look real close to the ones from one of the third party services. The best thing to do is to purchase slab coins from a reliable coin dealer. The only problem with purchasing from a dealer is some may overprice you. Do your homework and find out what the coin’s value might be. NGC’s website, ngccoin.com, has a price guide to assist you. I’m sure PCGS’s website has something similar.
Building A Slabbed Album
Now, let’s get back to my 12 slabbed Wartime Nickels. NGC boxes hold 20 coins which are convenient if you are planning on holding or selling them. I want to create an album so I can show them easily without having to continuously taking them out of the box, then putting them back in there. So, I found a way.
First, I buy a binder that you can get at Walmart or an office supply store. Then I purchase 2 slab pages to hold the slabs. Each page can hold 9 regular sized slabs. I’m not sure if there are any out there for the slabs with multiple coins yet. The first page has the Proof-67 1942-P as well as the 9 Mint State 67 silver nickels from 1942 to 1944. The second page contains the three nickels from 1945. I wish I still had my three 1943 steel pennies because I can then call it my World War II Album. Nevertheless, I’m happy with my Slabbed Coin Set. The only thing I may want to do is create a cover like Whitman and Dansco Albums. Someday…
NOTE: As I write this post, I have a 1943-S Steel Cent in Mint State 67. So I may go for the 1943 and 1943-D in the future.
Will You Consider Building A Slabbed Coin Set?
My next Slabbed Coin Set is a short set of Walking Liberty Half Dollars
from 1941 to 1947. There are 20 in total which means I will need 3 pages. When I collect all 20, should I do my own slab album again, or get an actual slab album? What would you build a Slabbed Coin Set of?