Snopes wrote:
Quote:
Encapsulation has been the rage in modern coins for some time now, but only in the past 5-7 years has encapsulation of ancient and medieval coins become popular. Now, encapsulated coins sell for much more than the same coin not slabbed.
Heritage practically insists that consignors slab their consigned ancients, for investors, but most collectors of ancients don't want them that way, and for good reason. Slabs often interfere with seeing as much detail as is needed for full recognition of a type. Recently I did a $20K consignment group of ancients, and without my knowledge or consent they contracted to have most of them slabbed and then billed me $3K for the "privilege." Why? Investors need slabs. Steve Ivy (founder of Heritage) has always given primary attention to collectibles as investment vehicles. Coin investors pay to make sure a coin sells according to grade, but they are not prime buyers for specialized varieties. In general these big bucks market leaders don't study the material they buy, they horde it. And as I was told, they don't want it "raw" they want it slabbed.
Back in the 1980s Ivy had set up Charles Shreve to do philatelic auctions for him. Back then Ivy was spearheading the push for stamp grading. Encapsulating stamps would have been the next move after professional grading, but that never caught the hearts of the dominant stamp buying public. That resistance was and is so deep, that by 2007 or so, Ivy got out of philately altogether. That is why Heritage does not have a stamp division today. I hope that never changes, but only time will tell.
Posted 06/07/2025 1:55 pm
