I think PCGS misattributed my coin

I was refering to PCGS, not Heritage.

 

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This issue highlights why I will never buy a coin from an auction firm that only handles slabs. The new paradigm being thrust forward is that the auction firm only sells slabbed coins, so therefor has no responsibility for verifying anything.

I simply refuse to participate in this sham. If I am going to buy from an auction, one of the advantages is that the auction firm, who employs professionals, has had the chance to hold this coin and is verifying the auction listing is correct in every way. If I buy a coin like the OP's coin from an auction house, the auction house should stand behind the coin.

I have bought slabbed coins from auctions before, (and then cracked them out), but ONLY from auction firms that looks at the coin and ensures THEY agree with what is on the slab. I hate this new auction house business model being promulgated in the US. You are a COIN AUCTIONER, please do not try to beg off and say you are not responsible for the coins in your auction, I think its a bunch of garbage.

 

I have bought many things from Heritage, and their images (while not great quality) are large enough to verify varieties if you know what you're looking for. I never trust their "numismatists". I know better. Heritage has their hands in FAR more than just coins, and so they can't "bother" themselves with verifying coins that have already been "verified" by the plastic police.

The auction houses that deal in solely coins and currency employ a more focused staff and their livelihood depends on it.

 

So my question to you sir would be why would you ever buy from anyone BUT these firms that go to the expense and trouble to protect you?

To clarify, I will "take a flier" on poor quality or questionable things on Ebay for a price. But if I want a "serious coin" and am going to pay an auction fee, then I will only do so to those firms whom I can trust, and know they offer me another level of protection in exchange for my money.

 

Because there are still high quality pieces offered at Heritage. Like I said, if you know what you're doing you can avoid the mis-attributed pieces. Boycotting an auction house because they make mistakes is sort of silly. They DO make mistakes in the opposite direction that can be to your benefit -- that is, you can also occasionally find really rare pieces attributed as something common.

Essentially, I will buy from anywhere as long as I can see images of the coin before hand that verify it is what I'm looking for. Excluding any venue for purchases means you miss out on opportunities to find what you want. I am auction house agnostic, just as I am "flavor of kool-aid" agnostic regarding plastic.

 

I'd just let Heritage auction it off for you, it's not like you are selling it on ebay yourself. Let Heritage and PCGS eat the blame and refund the buyer when it is eventually found to be mis-slabbed....PCGS should eat this one, but Heritage should look it over too !

 

Beats me why some collectors pay such a premium for die varieties to begin with. Letting Heritage handle it might not be a bad idea, though you will need to consign at least $5,000 worth of material to get the coin in a Signature Auction, which is where you want it to be when sold.

 

Hi, i know i'm a little late to the discussion (thread is over half a month old), but none the less i think i should add my two cents because i live in Canada, and collected coins like this at one point, and every time i'm at a show it's all i ever see. Frankly i'm sick of them, it's why i collect foreign, but anyways that's off topic. That coin in the PCGS holder is indeed attributed incorrectly. I'm not suprised, because there are 6 varieties for this date listed in the Charlton Standard Catalog, and it is not the first time i've seen this date be designated as the wrong variety by a major American grading company. I'm sad to be the bearer of bad news, but it is the straight 7 wide date variety and in EF-40 has a catalog price of $25. This is a big boo-boo for PCGS, as the difference in price is astronomical and i'd hate to see someone spend all that money just to find out PCGS made an error.

If you are collecting or selling Canadian coins in America, i would recommend not sending them to the American companies and wait till you have 100 or so pieces and send them in bulk (alot cheaper that way) to ICCS in Toronto or CCCS in Montreal. If that is impractical, keep them raw.

 

Not to make excuses for PCGS, but the description of "curved" and "straight" is highly confusing since to the casual observer, even though mis-attributed, the "7" on this coins looks like it is CURVED even though by the catalog it is the straight variety. They should have called the rare version a saber or machete type, which is really closer to what it looks like to begin with, and simply declined to make any adjective available for the more common variety. The real problem, then, rests more with Canadian catalogs then US graders.