One of the most exciting things about numismatics is the opportunity to find unusual or unique treasures as you collect.  Although we don't claim to have the secret map to all those treasures, this guide will provide you with very information that may guide you to find some very interesting, and often overlooked features in coins.   Why is this important?  Because those features can increase the value of your coin very significantly.

So, if you buy professionally graded, slabbed coins, here is some important information to consider.   As you probably know, the companies recognized as leaders in grading and slabbing coins will examine and include on the slab special characteristics of the coin.   We're using the term special characteristics as a general term to include errors, attributions, and designations. 

Before we continue, please note that this guide is intended for collectors with intermediate to advanced knowledge of numismatics, so if you have more basic questions, please let us know.

What you may not know is that some of those special characteristics will not always appear on the coin.   After you read some of the reasons, please scroll down for some actual examples!  Before we get to the examples though, here are a few reasons why the special characteristics do not appear on the slab:

Economics. The special characteristics cost extra money to print on the slab, so for very practical reasons, the person who submitted the coin may choose not to pay the extra amount.  The costs of grading, designations, attributions, etc. vary among companies and for different reasons.  The cost of the basic grading and the cost of the additional servicies might exceed the value of the coin.  As such, that person may decide not to pay for the added service, which means the coin will come back only with the basic grade and no mention of the special characteristic.

Lack of awareness.  Let's face it:  Nobody's perfect.  Professional dealers, long-time collectors, and newcomers alike can simply overlook a special characteristic because they did not know about it, forget to check, forgot that it existed, or otherwise didn't detect it.  Just as in our example above, the coin comes back the same way:  with the grade on the slab, but no mention of the special characteristic.

New Discoveries. Die breaks, new VAM attributions, and a wide range of other things are discovered often...and sometimes even after many years.  This happens with new coins, but also happens on old coins, too. 

Here are just a few examples of some interesting things we've seen lately :

One collector discovered a new attribution on a Morgan dollar.  Another collector found a rare 6-step full step Jefferson nickel that had been graded MS66, but without even a hint of the FS designation. We also saw a 1955 Franklin half that was graded MS65, but what was missing from the slab were two important notations:  full bell lines and the so-called Bugs Bunny designation.   These are just a few examples of what people have found by looking beyond the slab.

What will you find or have you found by looking beyond the slab?