... your reasons for slabbing, Mark. I admire your willingness to come here and post your views. Hoiwever, in addition to the questions asked by Andy Hughes, to which I have not yet seen answers, I have the following questions and observations:

>> the novice collector can feel comfortable
>> with purchasing exspensive high end chips.

Any "novice" who doesn't know enough about chips to be able to make and educated evaluation of the condition/worth of a potential purchase would be an idiot to rely on the grading of a slabbed item to buy "expensive high end chips".

>> I am at a level where I want to be relatively
>> sure of what I am buying for my own collection.

If so, why do you need ICG (or anyone else) to tell you what "condition" a Bugsy $100 is in before you'll buy it?

>> I want to be able to sell any chips that I do not want
>> anymore to a much larger audience.

Slabbing them won't accomplish that objective.

>> I want my chips to look 20years from now the same as they do today.

There are several hard plastic chip holders available for less than $1 each which will protect any chip and keep it looking "the same" for 20 years or more. You don't need a grading/slabbing service to do that.

>> when I noticed that the grading systems for chips were so
>> subjective to who was doing the grading I felt it was time
>> for someone (a non-interested third party with integrity)
>> to give this hobby some help and normalcy.

And you have that with coin grading/slabbing? I think not. Besides the examples already posted on this board, I personally know of many slabbed coins which have been cracked out of their slabs for resubmission and regrading, often several times, in an effort to catch a higher grade. And succeeding. What good is a "non-interested third party with integrity" if the grading remains inconsistent and contradictory?

Exactly who is this "third party with integrity" anyway? Do you mean yourself? If so, what are your qualifications to "grade" chips? If not, what are the qualifications of this "third party"? Is he (or they) a chip dealer? If so, how does that make him (or them) "non-interested"?

>> If it was not for the grading services we now have in place the
>> coin biz would still be in the dark ages with the average collector
>> at 70 yrs. plus.

That seems extraordinarily unlikely. Slabbing has caused a general increase in coin prices above what would have occurred without slabbing. The result has been, I think, to drive young collectors (or those of modest means) out of the hobby.

>> Due to third party grading we now have customers who walk into a
>> store and spend 20k-30 and more at a time because they feel more
>> comfortable knowing that the grading is now accepted around the world.

I'm sure that happens. Slabbing probably is good for speculators and investors. I seriously doubt that it has done anything good for the average collector. Tell me, what benefit is there in slabbing for a collector with a monthly chip budget of $500 or less?

>> For this industry/hobby to really go somewhere there must be
>> dealers and there must be collectors. If you accept this as fact
>> then you must allow for the need for protection of the collector
>> for the more expensive chips.

"Industry/hobby" is a truly ugly term. Your conclusion does not, however, necessarily follow from your premise. The best protection of the collector with respect to expensive chips is personal knowledge -- of the chips, of the seller, of the hobby. There are a number of chip dealers from whom I have bought chips and who I trust. I understand the economics of the hobby (although I collect for the purpose of enjoying the chips, NOT to make money). And, after nearly nine years of collecting, "I am at a level where I want to be relatively sure
of what I am buying for my own collection." I don't need a "non-interested third party" to tell me whether I want or not to buy a chip. If I was going to spend $12,500 for a chip, I'd want to be able to see it without having to look through a plastic cover -- and I sure as hell wouldn't trust someone else's opinion as to the condition.

>> If today they sent me notice that all of it's members were banned
>> from buying or selling certified coins i would waste no time in
>> telling them to take a flying leap.

No one here has suggested any such ban with respect to slabbed chips. Even Jim Episale's proposal, which is the most far-reaching of any suggestion I have seen, would not prohibit a member from either buying or selling a slabbed chip. His ban would address only the club's venues and whether dealer-members would be able to use those venues to promote a practice which many of us see as detrimental to the average chip collector. And, if you are a CC>CC member and if such a ban is imposed and you don't like it, you can of course tell the club to take a flying leap, and buy or sell your slabbed chips somewhere else. No problem. It's still a free country.

>> This hobby is in it's infancy and it's about time for it to grow up.

Relative to coin collecting, chip collecting is in its infancy. And it is growing up (with lots of growing pains in the process). There is nothing compelling about the concept of slabbing chips vis-a-vis the growth process. We are already seeing a lot of the problems which have plagued coin, stamp and trading card collectors. Catering to the high-end speculator-investor at the expense of the average collector is not a good way to "grow up".

>> This is just my opinion. I would in no way ever try to
>> force my opinion on anyone as it seams some do.

Expressing an opinion contrary to yours -- or even fighting the concept which you are trying to promote -- does not constitute "forcing" my opinion on anyone else. You are free to buy or sell slabbed chips -- or even to slab them yourself. But I will do my best to see that your concept fails. If enough collectors want slabbed chips to make the concept economically viable, then of course there will be slabbed chips. Doesn't mean I can't try to convince collectors that they don't want or need slabbing. Or that I can't support a proposal which would prevent you or anyone else from using the CC>CC venue as a means of promoting slabbed chips.

I intend to pursue the idea of having a "Slabbing" Seminar at our 2001 annual convention. Are you willing to participate in such a seminar as a proponent of chip slabbing?

Jim Reilly
CC>CC Member #R3606
Candidate for President in 2001