Does it matter how a Graded Coin is placed in the Slab?

[alloway65 10]

Does it matter how a Graded Coin is placed in the Slab?

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1979[/ATTACH]

[jwither 11]

It is likely that the NGC grader or whoever placed the coin in the holder did not know which side is the obverse and which is the reverse. On some coins, there is also a difference of opinion on that. Let me give you two examples from the coins I collect.

 

For the Spanish colonial pillars, most people consider the pillar side (which also has the date) as the obverse. Frank Gilboy, author of the "Milled Columnarios of Central and South America" states that the crown side is actually considered the obverse. Where he got that from, I do not know. But most collectors to my knowledge disagree with him and NGC always places the pillar side as the obverse. In my opinion, to not do so would diminish the presentation of the coin because the pillar side is more attractive and in addition to the date, it also identifies the mint. The crown side does identify it as being issued by the Spanish monarchy.

 

The other example is the Spanish colonial "lion and castle" quarter real. I have eight of these coins in NGC and PCGS holders and on some coins, the castle side is facing the front of the slab and on others, it is the lion side. I consider the castle side the obverse because it has both the mint mark (the only identifier for the coin's origin) and the date. But I prefer the lion side facing the front because it just looks better and that is how most of both mine and others I have seen are holdered.

[alloway65 10]

Thanks for the info JW, I discovered this anomaly with the two coins pictured when I was sorting through my collection of Graded Coins. Being a Brit....with British Coins...to use the old term "Heads & Tails" are obvious, which is not always the case with South African Coins....as cricket umpires sometimes discover!!!