When does it make sense to have coins slabbed?

[Tomaseus]

I'm thinking of selling some coins, maybe consigning them to an auction house or some other online forum.  I collect Roman imperial and provincial, mostly Marcus Aurelius.

Some of the coins are really nice (VF to EF); some are more mediocre. A friend suggested getting any coins I want to sell graded and slabbed, but for some of them, it doesn't seem worth paying to get them graded.

Is there some rule of thumb (like a dollar value) about when it makes sense to have coins graded?  Does where I sell them make a difference?   

[n.igma]

It makes no sense unless you believe strongly that the cost involved will be recovered by a greater than equivalent uplift of the price of the coin on sale. And remember you have to see an uplift in price equivalent to the cost of slabbing/certification X (1+ commission) to break even.

For me as a collector of ancients slabbed coins are negative because the slab makes the auction image of the coin less detailed and thus more difficult to assess. Even worse is the fact that auction houses image the slab, rather than the coin, the coin frequently little more than an unresolved, out of focus speck in the center of a nicely imaged slab.

As a result, I have never bid on a slabbed coin. I am sure there are quite a few like minded collectors of ancients out there. If so, then the result is likely to be less bidding competition for a slabbed ancient, and thus a lower realized price.

[Altamura]

It makes sense for the slabbing companies, but I don't see any other  .

Regards

Altamura

[SC]

I would never slab.  If I was selling coins worth over $1000 each I might consider paying to having them authenticated, but not slabbed.

SC

[Joe Sermarini]

Here is a good rule of Thumb: Consign them to FORVM.

The only coins we slab are coins I think are probably genuine but want a second opinion, or coins I think are probably fake but my consignor wants a second opinion. I probably send about a dozen coins a year to NGC or David Sear. Our consignment agreement is here:

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/consignment.pdf

[Tomaseus]

Thank you all for the insight; one of my hangups on the slabbing thing is that it takes a lot of the fun out of the coin- glad I’m not the only one who thinks so.

It is really the authentication that I’m interested in.  I’ve been collecting for less than five years and have < 100 coins.  During that time, I’ve managed to acquire two fakes that I know of.  Most of the coins are from the big European auction houses, but I have gotten a few from Ebay as well, and there are one or two in that batch that I’m curious about.

Buying a coin without 100% certainty of its authenticity is one thing, but selling one is a bridge too far.  They’re probably authentic, but… who knows for sure?

Cdr Sermani, thank you for the consignment agreement. I may very well take you up on it. 

[Joe Sermarini]

Thank you all for the insight; one of my hangups on the slabbing thing is that it takes a lot of the fun out of the coin- glad I’m not the only one who thinks so.

It is really the authentication that I’m interested in.  I’ve been collecting for less than five years and have < 100 coins.  During that time, I’ve managed to acquire two fakes that I know of.  Most of the coins are from the big European auction houses, but I have gotten a few from Ebay as well, and there are one or two in that batch that I’m curious about.

Buying a coin without 100% certainty of its authenticity is one thing, but selling one is a bridge too far.  They’re probably authentic, but… who knows for sure?

Cdr Sermani, thank you for the consignment agreement. I may very well take you up on it. 

Thanks for using the correct title but please just call me Joe.

Whomever you consign the coins to will be responsible for authenticating them. Of course, if you sell yourself on eBay, you will be responsible, so different story.