Gene,

I know I am supposed to be reeding the entire month od December in the arcives, but I needed a break.

First, I was being sarcastic about the LE's, just repeating the line of the naysayers to remind everyone that change is not always easy and does not always come with the consequences that are predicted.

As far as the casinos favoring the slabbers, I gusse I would ask why? There are already dealers out there who would gladdly purchase an entire issue if the casino allowed it, so why would they burn the bridge now? Maybe we need to do a little preventitive education with the casinos in regards to this concern.

Yes, I can accept that the relitive valuation would turn away some collectors not able to get "the best", but as for the inflated prices doing so, I disagree. I am an Ebayer, and I can tell you that some collectors will pay almost anything for what they want. Not necssarly a good thing, but it is the fact(like the $25 HR Cure chip).

Questions?

Do you think slabbing reduced the size of the coin collecting hobby, or mearly changed the mix? (some collectors leaving, some comming in)

If slabbing would cause a net loss of collectors, who would be left to buy the inflated chips? And if the hobby got smaller, would not the prices go down?

If some collectors would only want the best chip for there collection, is this not a sign that relitive valuation is important to many collectors? If so, then should we not proactivaly approach this issue?

As I said before in a prior post, if relitive valuation is important, then it will happen, with or without our input. The choice is ours.