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Fake slabs: the plastic can lie too
A holder is not a halo. Fake grading plastic exists. Real holders get cracked and stuffed. Look up the cert. Still use your eyes.
A slab is supposed to end the argument. Authenticated. Graded. Sealed.
Then someone makes a pretty decent fake holder. Or someone cracks a real holder and puts a worse coin in it. Both happen.
Look up the number
PCGS and NGC let you check the cert. Does the photo match this coin — marks, toning, the ugly spot at two o’clock? If the website coin is a different coin, put it down. If there is no number that works, put it down.
What else we look at
The hologram, the fonts, the prongs, the way the label sits. Whether the grade matches the coin. An “MS67” that looks like a truck hit it is not a debate. Magic prices on famous keys in holders are how greed turns off the brain.
When to slab. PCGS vs NGC. Details grades.
Parking-lot slabs are a sport I do not play. Meet at a shop. Pay a testing fee. If the seller refuses a lookup, you already have the answer. Marketplace gold. Buying online.