Hi all I'm curious as to why slabbed coins sell so dearly. Like there is a sale on eBay of an MS62 graded coin listed below for $184 but a Ch Unc coin can be had for only $105

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I know that some people can't grade and graded coins provide them some assurances but couldn't someone just buy that coin, send it for grading and make a quick buck?

Well that can be done, but it takes a careful eye as on the whole most coins are worth less slabbed and that 1940 florin is a prime example. That coin is nothing more than a cleaned VF, I doubt that PCGS would even slab it, they'd body bag it for cleaning so if you did try that with this coin, you'd end up with coin that would struggle to sell for $15.

How can you tell its cleaned from his photo? It looks almost GEM, strong hairlines, lustrous and only a few detracting marks around the portrait.

To put it simply, that's not how coins look. See my article on lustre here:

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Take particular note to the cartwheel effect which is how light should reflect off a natural 1940 florin. In this case, looking at the 4th photo, you can see part of the cartwheel effect around 'BR' and 'IND' of the obverse legends but it's not present in the fields. This indicates that the fields have been worn down but not the surfaces in the legends as they are protected by the high lettering. The bright look of the coin is due to the coin being dipped in a substance which removes the top layer of the coin, thus revealing an even bright surface below.

This is how a naturally mint state coin should look:

Thank you very much, very enlightening.

That seller is to be avoided. I bought a "proof" florin a few months ago off him, all I received was a cleaned EF coin. Of course he wasn't interested in giving a refund.

I TOO HAVE BEEN STUNG BUYING OVER GRADED RUBBISH FROM THIS SELLER , HE USES GENERIC PHOTOS FOR ALL HIS LISTING SO THE COIN YOU GET IS NOT THE COIN IN THE PHOTO , AVOID THIS SELLER LIKE THE PLAUGE

Avoid raw coins like the plague.

Once you start to get coins slabbed, most collectors cotto-on pretty quickly that buying certified coins is the only way to buy.

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