What the ??????

[bill]

So, I am following my interests on Ebay as this listing appears:

 

Mad Marty medal?

 

The listing is closed, but it is a common pewter medal struck by the US mint in 1976. It is in a NCG holder (maybe it is a fake???) with the tag from the world famous Mad Marty Collection???? No grade. If this is not a fake, it makes a sham out of slabbing anything in my opinion. It just says, send us money and we will add value(??????) to your collection.

 

Is this for real?

[LostDutchman]

i have seen mad marty coins before..... i think its the real deal... i think they are from an employee of ngc... but i could be wrong

[bill]

Mad Marty has an excellent collection of graded, slabbed so-called dollars on the web at the holyland site mentioned on the slab, but slabbing pieces as a self promo just seems to cheapen the whole idea of slabbing in my mind. Slabbing to my mind is for the rare pieces (such as the Dutchman's countermarked English/Spanish piece discussed elsewhere on Coin People) to help give the buyer piece of mind--at least that was always the original intent when it started. As slabs move from protecting the consumer to becoming a collectible or promotional piece in and of itself, they defeat their own purpose. Once you cheapen your own product, how can the consumer trust the value of any of your products. I believe this practice makes a joke out of all slabs.

[bill]

Oops, hiccup and a double post, so I will edit the second.

 

Perhaps this is meant to be a business card? If so, they could have left their seal off the reverse and done something to distinguish it from a legitimate slab.

[henare]

Oops, hiccup and a double post, so I will edit the second.

 

Perhaps this is meant to be a business card? If so, they could have left their seal off the reverse and done something to distinguish it from a legitimate slab.

 

i don't see a s/n on the slab

[bill]

i don't see a s/n on the slab

 

That is kind of what I mean. So NCG is using slabs to promote collectors? He may be an employee, but still. If the label on the back is supposed to be a mark of quality, but I can buy what I want on the front, how can I trust that a grade is not bought. At some point, if your marque is a marque of quality, you want to protect it by limiting its use, not expanding it. If this were a calling card for NCG and its service, then it might make some sense and I believe one slab business has distributed graded cents to promote their slabs, genuine grades, but basically a freebie. I think making slabs into a general promotional tool for something that is not your business is a bad idea. It says, yes, as some people believe, the use of our product to promote whatever is for sale if the price is right.

[Scottishmoney]

Yesterday I saw a 1924 $20 that was in some TPG slab that stated it was graded at MS-67, uh huh. I told the dealer it was at very tops a really nice 65, and that would be all I would pay for it. The coin had minimal chatter on the obv, and none on the reverse, a nice coin but definitely not a 65. If more people would complain and stay away from these things, then slabs can be a thing of the past.

[Brett]

I find it truly amazing that people will waste tons of money to slab a coin that is common.

 

For example the new 2008 SAE. $30 for the cost of the coin + shipping, $10 FS(first strike), $14 economy grading = $54 per coin + shipping to and from ($5 per coin).

And all the while the submitter must be praying heavily to get it as a 70. And when it gets a 69 it ends up on fleabay for $20 + shipping

[Scottishmoney]

I think it is phenomenal what people will pay for a stupid piece of plastic that says something is better than it really is. I buy my coins to please me. I couldn't give a rodents bum what someone somewhere else thought about the coin.

[Dockwalliper]

A rodents bum?

 

I agree

[YeOldeCollector]

Yeah, if it's my coin in my collection then why should I care what someone else thinks about it? Slabs are only useful for authenticity in my opinion. But what with the slabs being faked, well...

 

Clive.

[worldcoinguy]

I might be mistaken, but I recall seeing some of those slabs across the street at the collectors universe forum. I believe that they were put together for a charity auction. With that said, I think the points you made about watering down the brand is correct. I give him credit for his charity work, but dont think it is wise brand management on the corporation's (NGC) behalf.

[bobh]

I find it truly amazing that people will waste tons of money to slab a coin that is common.

 

For example the new 2008 SAE. $30 for the cost of the coin + shipping, $10 FS(first strike), $14 economy grading = $54 per coin + shipping to and from ($5 per coin).

And all the while the submitter must be praying heavily to get it as a 70. And when it gets a 69 it ends up on fleabay for $20 + shipping

People who slab coins like this must be getting some kind of rebate from the TPG ... IMHO. It's just not sound business practice, otherwise. I think there are some deals going on with the dealers and the TPG, but that is just IMHO.

[bill]

I might be mistaken, but I recall seeing some of those slabs across the street at the collectors universe forum. I believe that they were put together for a charity auction. With that said, I think the points you made about watering down the brand is correct. I give him credit for his charity work, but dont think it is wise brand management on the corporation's (NGC) behalf.

 

I could see that as a noble goal, but then the slab should probably identify the purpose. I probably would not have the same reaction if I could connect the purpose to raising funds for something worthwhile or even an advertising piece such as "Compliments Mad Marty, NGC Medal Grading Specialist." A couple of years ago I posted a business card from Maurey Gould, a postage encased cent with cent stamp, business card size. It was clearly a promotional business card and promoted the product without cheapening the product. It is a thin line to walk.

[Scottishmoney]

People who slab coins like this must be getting some kind of rebate from the TPG ... IMHO. It's just not sound business practice, otherwise. I think there are some deals going on with the dealers and the TPG, but that is just IMHO.

 

 

Of course that is happening, where in the world are all the flipping MS-61's and other exciting high grade coins that populate my dealers trays coming from? The other day I saw a $20 Saint in some "private label" TPG holder that was graded as MS-67, I frankly told the dealer it was no more than a 65 to me, and he said he agreed and that was how he would price it. Grading is the opin of often undereducated products of a broken down educational system. Nobody but myself can tell me whether a coin shall appeal to me.

[Becky]

He uses them instead of business cards. He does a lot of charity auctions, and he is just an all around nice guy. He does not work for NGC. Think of them as sample slabs, just for the fun of it. Stop being so serious

 

[bill]

The problem is not Mad Marty, and I have no problem with him. NGC on the other hand, slabbing coins and affixing their label is supposed to convey trust and value. Their label adds value to the cost of the coins slabbed. In my opinion, it undermines their brand to apply it indiscriminately. Why pay for a piece of plastic if it doesn't add to the value of the coin.

[Scottishmoney]

I had the distinct pleasure of cracking a 1707-E Queen Anne Crown out of a plastic coffin yesterday, it was overgraded by the TPG, this case ANACS, and the interior plasticized rubber insert smelled horrific.

 

 

ANACS says VF-20, I say F and I bought based on my price for an F.

[bobh]

I had the distinct pleasure of cracking a 1707-E Queen Anne Crown out of a plastic coffin yesterday, it was overgraded by the TPG, this case ANACS, and the interior plasticized rubber insert smelled horrific.

 

ANACS says VF-20, I say F and I bought based on my price for an F.

I would say the reverse looks VF, but the obverse is definitely more like F ... perhaps F+? VF-?

[Uncle Charlie]

Mad Marty? Who or what is a Mad Marty?

[just carl]

I think everyone is missing the situation here. For example there was a post recently on a web site listing 107 TPGS's. That was several months ago and by now I'm sure that amount has grown. Coins right now are a fantastically popular hobby so everyone is jumping on the band wagon so to speak. If you go to coin shows you'll see table full of books on coins, slabs all over the place from organizations you never heard of. Tables of coin rolls, boxes for 2x2's, 2x2's by the hundreds and on and on and on.

Think back. Not long ago there was a Beanie Baby Boom hobby. There were selling everywhere. Even at Walgreens. Then people jumped in with plastic cases for them, books and magazines about them and then the copies started to pop up. Remember the US postage stamp collections. Books, albums, stickers to put them in albums, etc.

Every hobby goes through what we are now going through with coins. More and more coin web sites are also poping up almost daily and all are full of experts. New collectors are poping up by the millions and are willing to buy any coin in a slab since all slabbed coins are the best in the world, or so they have been told. At the last coin show I was at a week ago I noticed that about 75% of all coins were in slabs. Even coins as new as 2008 and all are selling big. It's just the sign of the times.

Now Beanie Babies are dead, so basically with stamps, Hot Wheel cars and especially baseball/football cards. Wonder what is next???????