Opinions on graded ancient coins?

I was curious what everyone’s opinions were about grading ancient coins? Do you believe they should be graded or left alone? Is it worth the money of grading a ancient coin?

 

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The general consensus is to leave them alone. You'll find that out very quickly.

 

There are a large number of threads and posts on this site dealing with collectors' general opinion about grading (and slabbing) ancient coins. They're too numerous to list here, but you can use the search function on this site to find them.

In general, most knowledgeable collectors of ancient coins on this site don't believe that grading ancient coins is worth the cost, but you're better off taking a few hours to read the hundreds of opinions and make up your own mind.

 

Ok, thank you!

 

Generally, I'd advise no. It's not really worth it.

 

Ditto. However, I will emphasize that there are times when it is desired to have a coin authenticated where the cost is not prohibitive vs the cost of the coin.

 

You asked if it it is worth the money to “grade” an ancient coin. I think you mean having a coin slabbed and graded by NGC Ancients. The fee is $40 plus shipping for standard grading. NGC also has something called “bulk” for $20 per coin if you have 50 coins of similar type.

To be “worth” the fee the slab must save you or earn you more than it costs.

You will notice that few ancient coin dealers slab their wares. These dealers are mostly rational, and have concluded that they will not make back their slabbing fee.

If you live in a part of the country where people only collect slabbed US coins you could probably do OK slabbing a few beginner coins like Window’s Mites and selling them to the US crowd.

I have also seen slabbed coins sell well if they grade MS 5/5.

Most ancient coins grade F or VF. A VF ancient coin can be very nice. But many collectors have been told to buy the best coins they can afford. These collectors will avoid nice coins that have been slabbed below Ch XF. It will be hard to recoup the slabbing cost with F graded coins unless you have something popular, rare and commonly faked.

 

This tendency also means that one can sometimes get a great bargain on those less than vf slabbed coins. Of course then the slab will have a short and decisive meeting with my hammer.

 

NGC does NOT guarantee authenticity. It grades the coin. Of course, if they find you have sent an obvious fake, they will not grade it. There are some very high quality fakes out there. If NGC does not guarantee authenticity, what's to say one of these quality fakes makes it into a slab?

 

BGC = Bing Grading Company?

 

Ask NGC what happens if you find that your slabbed coin is a well made fake. Spoiler alert: they won't help you at all. Unlike with moderns and seemingly in opposition to the "Guaranty" portion of their name, NGC does not in any meaningful way guarantee authenticity of the ancients they slab.

 

Not worth it. Slabbing ancients at this point in time is just a gimmick.

 

Bulky fingers! I should proof read before I post (lazy I suppose).

 

I thought it was a good idea, all you need is some plastic and a little glue.

 

Can I charge $50 plus postage?

 

Most members know that I am new to ancients but have collected US coins for over 50 years. Having said that I do not want the ancient coins I own to be cased in plastic. They a such a neat and interesting piece of history. Who knows who touched them? You're better off leaving them as is. Happy collecting.

 

Looks like there's a new ancient slabbing service on the block so maybe I should revise my opinion. These guys will give you a grade, price and put more info on the ticket than NGC.

 

My opinion of slabbed ancients:

 

They have it graded VF+, I guess the + is for wear.

 

Just cracked one out this morning!