Percentage of Vintage Cards Slabbed in Hobby

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Posted By: David Seaborn

I remember a thread a few years ago where most of the N54er with a long history in the hobby mainly agreed the percentage was quite low. This was mainly for two reasons; 1) there are many beat up commons not worth slabbing, and 2) many of the hobby's best collections reside with collectors who started many years ago and don't have anything slabbed. While I think these are true statements, I think it's also fair to say that the percentage must be going up with time. The price of many commons has steadily risen, making their slabbing more reasonable. Although there are some who break cards out of their 'entombment', I think every major auction house gets many more graded, resulting in a net increase. Also, slowly many of these pioneering collectors (or their familes) are auctioning off their collections, where many of the cards are again being slabbed.

Here's my question. What percentage of vintage cards (pre-WWI) do you think are slabbed right now? And, for historical perspective, what percentage do you think were slabbed, say seven years ago, in 2000? I'll guess just to get things started, but, of course, have no idea. Just want to see what everyone thinks.

2000 - 8%
2007 - 14%