Bit of a ramble

I guess this can happen to anyone and it might be a lesson to learn.

Just a while ago, I lost my job and it's only recently that I found a job that paid me pretty well. To celebrate the moment, I bought a few coins that I have been hunting for years. These coins rarely appear even in auction houses.

As you may imagine, they aren't cheap. All of them were bought online and I really never had much trouble buying coins online. Yes, I know you can start talking about the risks etc but we'll put that aside for now. There's no local coin dealer here and the nearest I have to go to is probably at least 2 hours of driving and 5 hours of flying. Not an option. I've been buying a fair amount for the past decade and it has never got to this point.

A couple of coins came out to be counterfeits as they had signs of pitting. Sent a rather unhappy email to the seller which he obliged to return my money as soon as he receives them. I sent them back by registered mail and the mail "conveniently" goes missing. This was a big eye opener for me. I'm still at the stage of writing a few "angry" emails as this is not acceptable.

Another one just arrived today and this wasn't really obvious until I weigh it. Underweight by 0.2 grams and I thought this was unusual. Picked two other coins from other years and turns out this coin was smaller by a good mm or so. Plus when I looked at the edge carefully, it was polished and it showed signs of a seam. Alas, it cannot be genuine.

I guess the moral of the story is that you always need to be at the top of the game. It's your money that you are spending so you want to make sure that you have the real deal. Thankfully all of them had easy tell signs of counterfeits unlike a couple of the super counterfeits that I have in my collection. I was actually surprised as both sellers had good feedbacks. Unless I happened to look for something too obscure or unlucky, there could be no telling how many others were stung in the same process.

In short - always check what you get.

 

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There is an old saying. Know your dealer. I live by it.

 

Great advice GX. Knowledge both of what to collect and information on the specs of the coins themselves, is key. Thanks for sharing, I know it must be frustrating to you sir.

 

"These coins rarely appear even in auction houses". I assume they weren't slabbed as you didn't mention that. Scarce and raw = red flag?! [emoji626] what coins did you buy?

 

I wouldn't touch a raw coin that "rarely appears in auction houses" with a 9 foot pole. Hope everything works out for you.

 

I am aware that you know your stuff regarding counterfeits, but it would still be nice to have pictures of the coin or coins in question

 

Not always true. Some of my best coins were awesome deals that I got because other people were suspicious and did not want to risk paying realistic money for a raw coin. It's all about knowing what you are buying rather than relying on certification (which is not always correct either).

 

Really? We are at that point in this hobby? That is very sad to me to hear this. I buy HUNDREDS of raw coins every year. I just posted in another thread I am pursuing a major purchase for me, and this coin will be unslabbed and cost me about $1400. Yeah, and I will do it again. Now, I am not buying this on Ebay, but from a reputable seller who has a authenticity guarantee.

Many of the coins I collect, (and I am assuming GXSeries), I know as much or more about that anyone who works at the TPG, and many of the dealers I buy from know MORE than anyone at the TPG. Now, saying this, there ARE coins I would want to buy only slabbed if I wished to buy one, things like key date US coins, trade dollars, etc. But that is not a universal statement, ESPECIALLY for world and ancient coins.

 

Most collectors cannot say that, so I see the point @carboni7e made.

 

Well, I hope Carboni7e does not wish to collect maybe half of the areas of coins then. Most of the world is not slabbed coins, and if you are not willing to buy "raw", (I prefer unslabbed), coins, then you cannot collect coins.

 

Unless it's a counterfeit of circulating US currency, no law enforcement agency would take it seriously. All the more reason to know the coins that one is collecting.

 

You have the knowledge and experience to do this. No reflection on the person who started the thread is intented. Sounds like they know their stuff also. But some people do not have the expertise - and they should stick to trusted dealers also. With fake slabs and such, they should probably stay away from ebay. If they stick with a trusted seller then buying raw or in a slab will work. They should also work on learning at the same time, because even trusted dealers make mistakes. In my own opinion I would rather buy from a trusted online dealer, spend a few extra dollars and know what I am getting. Again just my own opinion.

 

Sorry, but that isn't true.
I buy mostly raw coins.
I've bought a couple raw rare coins (in hand).

I don't advocate buying super-rare, raw coins that aren't in hand. If you read the OP's post, he was easily able to determine the authenticity once in hand. Seems to prove my point.

 

If you never took an educated risk, you would never get a really good deal.
It goes both ways I suppose

 

Yes, it is. What will happen when the TPG slabs are imitated perfectly? There already are some really good ones, but what will happen when someone in China actually looks up the correct cert, inserts the correct fake coin, and puts it in a very good counterfeit slab? 99% or more of collectors, (and I bet you a very high percentage of dealers), will not catch it. The problem with slabs is they prohibit you inspecting and weighing a coin closely. Most things you do to prove authenticity of a coin cannot be done if slabbed. So, you are stuck relying on the slab, but if the slab is a good fake, where are you?

So yes, I do believe its a question worth pondering. Its also the reason I collect raw coins, except for a few special cases I listed above. I want the ability to verify the coin myself.

Btw Carboni, I wasn't meaning offense. I was simply saying people can completely buy raw coins. The dealer is very important here. Find dealers with good return policies that you trust. A good dealer is a very unappreciated asset in coin collecting.

 

Oh, none taken. There's lots of variables when collecting coins, and you really have to be sure of most to be a good, consistent collector.