Chuck ... I'll take a sincere stab at answering your question.

Slabbing ... as we presently know it to be .... is done by an "independent" 3rd party .... who may be using standards that are prescribed for grading coins .. which does not apply to chips.... by graders who may not be familiar with grading chips. The slab free chapter has asked at least one slabbing firm (ICG)to release the names of those so-called "experts" who will be grading chips submitted to their service ... and that request for information has been ignored or flatly turned down.

The 3rd party grader, charges a fee for their opinion of what a particular item's grade is, based on a numerical grading system of 1-100, or 1-70. The 3rd party grader encapsulates or seals the chip he has just graded into a plastic case (slab) that can not be opened unless physically broken apart through the use of force ... such as with a hammer, or placed in a vice. The 3rd party grader slabber charges a fee for this "service" which adds to the price of a chip. The slabber does not sell chips, nor does he maintain an inventory of slabbed chips. Their whole purpose is to convince chip collectors (and chip dealers) to submit "raw" chips to their firm for grading and slabbing for a fee. The slabber does not contribute anything back to the hobby. All the slabber does is take your money in exchange for their opinon which is put into a plastic case. (Much of this background information for the newcomer to our hobby can be found at www.slabfree.com)

On the other hand, grading of a "raw" chip such as what are generally purchased at chips shows around the country ... is the opinion of the individual seller (chip dealer) ... which admittedly varies from seller to seller ... but the seller does not charge the buyer anything for that opinion. There is no question that a nice problem-free chip carries a higher price than a similar chip with "problems". The amount of difference between a problem-free chip and one with wear determines the grade. Generally speaking, there is not much of a grading disagreement when speaking of Limited Edition chips, which in all probability have seen little or no table use. The collectors of "illegals" in all probability object to a few of the terms that have initially been presented ... but none of the terms presented are cast in stone. Hopefully these grading terms will be improved upon as time goes on.

The club is attempting to set up a grading standard that most club members can agree on ... which to my understanding is still a work in progress. The club has put forth an intial grading standard that hopefully will be picked apart by club members and a grading committee to modify the initial grading terms that have been published as a starting point ... with the hopes that somewhere down the road an ADJECTIVAL descriptive grading system (not a NUMERAL grading-by-the-numbers system) will be the accepted standard used by the majority of club members.

Is there opposition to this grading position? Certainly there is .... just like every controversial innovation the club tries to adopt is met by some opposition.

Personally speaking, I look upon this club approved and club endorsed "official" CC & GTCC grading standard as a positive development in our hobby and I would hope that the club membership as a whole also looks upon it postively as well, and that everyone interested in seeing this project become a reality will offer their constructive comments in an attempt to refine what has already been proposed by contributing to the discussion.

Hope I've answered your excellent question.