The internet and slabbing are likely the best things that ever happened to coin collecting and probably saved the hobby. When I looked at my childhood collection two years ago as I was exploring taking up collecting again there were trays of coins in stapled cardboard holders with “XF” or “BU” scribbled on the holder. I seldom ordered coins by mail because you couldn’t see what you were ordering so I would beg mom to take me to local coin stores. Today there is one coin store within ten miles of my house. Friendly people. It is attached to the largest gun store in my city (I live in the south so that means it is about the size of a Winn-Dixie). However, there is not a great variety of slabbed coins and yes, they still have lots of coins in the cardboard holders of my youth. I then looked on the internet. You can find any coin in any grade you want, from $10 to $50,000. I would not have resumed collecting if left to the purchase channels and hit or miss grading of forty years ago.
I’ve seen the arguments for and against slabbing. Personally I would not buy a coin on the internet that wasn’t slabbed. I gave away almost my entire collection from my childhood to the local coin club. I kept my seven “BU” Morgan’s, my proof sets and any modern silver or gold Eagles. Take my seven Morgan’s. All had “BU” scribbled on the cardboard holder from various unshaven chain smoking dealers in South Texas or New Orleans decades ago. When they came back from PCGS the grades ranged from AU-58 to MS-64 (at least no details grades!). Third party grading isn’t perfect and we’ve all disagreed sometimes with the grade on a holder. Any flaws in the system are vastly outweighed by the standardization and liquidity third party grading brings to the hobby.
Besides liquidity the internet offers two big advantages for collectors. The first is reams of free pricing data and the second is price equalization. I'm sure dealer margins are squeezed to the bone. How do you know that Mr. CC you ask? Well, “you don’t have to know to know”. The waitress brings out an order and asks “who gets what?”. You have the svelte Mrs. CC next to the porcine Mr. CC and they want to know who gets the small salad with dressing on the side and who gets the carnivore platter? You can possess knowledge solely through reason. The internet illuminates pricing in a marvelous way and it would not be possible for a dealer to survive if he charged noticeably more than his competitors.
The internet and slabs are the coin collectors friend.