This one is news to me: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-1935-INVE...IFICATE-DISCOVERY-NOTE-PCGS-F12-/141099805844 And in case the listing goes down:
denoms always has some nice eye candy on eBay, but jeez, he really wants top dollar for his inventory.
This 1935 $1 invert is new to me, but there are quite a few others known. I'm aware of: 1928 $100 K..* and L..* 1935E $1 *..D 1935G $1 *..G with motto (far the most common) 1950B $20 G..* 1950C $5 C..* The only one I've personally found is, oddly, not the common one: I don't have it any more, I'm afraid--it was actually one of the first notes I bought when I got into collecting paper, and when I realized it was worth more than the rest of my collection combined, I sold it and bought a whole bunch of far less remarkable stuff. Not a great plan from a financial point of view; but it funded quite a few months of my collecting budget at a time when I was a broke college student, so I'm not complaining.
Keep in mind, if you return it, it keeps him from eating shipping, frankly on a $5,500 note $8 shipping is a steal. It's on the $50 notes that the $8 shipping eats at you. Ask me how I know...
If he did that, he is asking for a world of trouble. A buyer can claim he never received it, and eBay would refund him the money. The seller would have no way to prove otherwise. eBay sellers who don't use tracking and signature confirmation are doomed. Anything over $250, eBay automatically suggests signature confirmation as part of the "Seller Protection". It's another $2.20 I believe, but worth it for higher priced items.
Having bought several notes from him, I can confirm it is definitely NOT just a stamp and an envelope. It is normally a USPS priority mail envelope.
While it is an "error", it's so minor and obscure that it isn't worth $5,500. More like $50. Error collectors like a spectacularly bungled note, not one that only is apparent upon close scrutiny.
I'm guessing more like $500 to $1000. Error collectors also like *rare* types of errors, and inverted characters in the serials certainly qualify. The 1957 $1 with the inverted W in the serial (used as an M) has several dozen pieces known, and they still sell in the hundreds of dollars. This inverted star is much rarer (the only one I've ever heard of on this series, in fact). But, yeah, I'd be surprised if he actually got $5500 for it.
That seems to be the consensus among dealers, but not so much collectors. Dealers are considering the inexperienced collector who wants something flashy. But that's not really the case. I talked to over a dozen dealers regarding my inverted "M" as "W" note (the opposite of what Numbers is referring to). It was the 2nd one known, and came back from PMG as VF20; to date there are only 3. At the time there were 2, and no dealer wanted any part of it. HA.com estimated my note between $1,000 and $1,500. I ultimately put it up for auction because I was not getting any bids at $1,000. It sold for $567.77 out of a population of two. The discovery note at VF35PPQ is still for sale. It was listed on HA.com, with an estimate of $7,500 - $10,000. With a starting bid of $6,000 it never sold. Denoms picked it up from the original holder, and still has it for sale as the "discovery" note, even though there are now 3 known. http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-1935F-INVERTED-M-DISCOVERY-NOTE-PCGS-35PPQ-/141000392985 He's asking $4,250 and I don't think he'll ever get that price. Sellers need to dispose of these quick, because buyers are hesitant about dropping big bucks, knowing there's a good chance more will be found. The longer a seller holds out for big money, the likelier he/she will lose money altogether. I got $567 for my note. If I held out at a higher BIN with no bites, and gave in today with a no-reserve auction, I would have certainly gotten less. TLDR: Sell it quick.
I've known denoms since the CU message boards when he was posting regularly. What everyone needs to know about his items are, yes, the BIN's are real high, but you would be surprised at the offers he will take. I made a $850 offer on a Virginia national that he had up on the bay for $1795, and he took it. And he accepted a 50% offer on a nice 1907 $20 Gold Cert. And he packages his notes real well, the $8 is an afterthought.
