On Sun, 01 Feb 2004 20:45:27 +0000, note.boy
wrote:

Slabbing serves one purpose only, to make money for the slabbers.

That is too cynical a view for me,

Europeans have managed to collect unslabbed coins for 1,500? years.

Come now, 1500 years ago our ancestors were likely illterate savages,
still waiting for conversion and lucky to live past 30. I doubt they were
actively collecting coins. Even as little as 100 years ago the coin
collecting hobby was a very small community. It was probably not unitl
the 50's and 60's that more average people here started collecting. Once
silver was removed the market see,ed to stagnate eventually leading to
slabs and coin "investments". While that bubble burst the value of slabs
to ordinary collectors is withstanding the test of time. I will be
surprised is some sort of slabbing/authentication dosen't take hold in
Europe in the next 10-20 years.

Americans need them slabbed, sad. Billy