The practice of sending coins to third-party grading companies and then "slabbing" them began in 1986.
To prevent counterfeiting, holograms were attached to the graded coin slabs beginning in 1989.
The holder consisted of a thin plastic shell and the specifics about the coin and grade were printed on a dot matrix printer.
[8][9] In 2018, Coin World numismatic magazine reported that counterfeit PCGS slabs complete with holograms were being sold on the website AliExpress.
[10] The magazine also reported the discovery of a fake South African gold Krugerrand which was in a counterfeit NGC slab with a hologram.