... difficult, Peter (see my response to your other post above!).

>> you are now suggesting that seller might be violating the ban by the
>> way his displays his chip regardless of the involvement of a third party.

No, I'm saying that a representative of a slabbing service should not be allowed to show up at the convention and do what any other dealer could not do -- sell slabbed chips or tokens.

>> You can not reasonably place a ban on slabbed chips by saying
>> its like pornography we know it when we see it.

Why not? You admitted that you know one when you see one. I pretty much expect that the rest of us can, too.

>> At this point the only thing different from a "slabbed" chip is that
>> it is not encapsulated. And you would allow the seller himself to
>> encapsulate the chip.

Well, that's a fundamental difference, isn't it. If it's not encapsulated in a holder which cannot be opened without breaking it, a potential buyer can remove the chip from the holder to examine it directly. Pretty much negates the whole point of slabbing.

I see no reason to prohibit dealers from selling "self-encapsulated" chips, as long as they don't combine the "certified grading" and encapsulation into a slab. And, nothing I've said indicated that dealers would be prohibited from "slabbing" chips and even selling them, other than in club venues.

>> Under your system, the seller could save himself the cost of
>> reslabbing, he can just misrepresent the assigned grade.

Well, of course. Any dealer can do that any time anyway. But, he can't do it with the supposed "certified" imprimatur of a "disinterested third party with integrity".

I think I'm now in the same boat as Andy and Archie and it's dead in the water. I've made my point as clearly as I can; now we'll have to see how it plays out. ----- jim o\-S