Sample Slab Update reader Barry Sites discovered the first known sample from third-party grader Star Grading Service, or SGS. This is a different company from Strategic Grading Service, the SGS listed in Sample Slabs. Star Grading Service production slabs are common, and coins encapsulated by SGS usually trade for the same value as raw coins. This is the first one of which I know, however, with sample or related labeling. The label not only indicates this holder is a sample, but includes the words “Sample Slab.”

This brings the number of sample slab issuers from the 35 listed in the second edition of Sample Slabs to 36. It is hard to give a value for a holder with no comparables. Other scarce sample slabs trade at prices anywhere from $15 – $20 (DGS) to $200 – $300 (Hallmark). Based on the market’s opinion of SGS production slabs, I will guess at a value closer to the low end of that range at $40 - $50. In an eBay auction, however, anything could happen.