1868 PR64CAM Half Dollar

You make an excellent point regarding the "came in the shop earlier this week" quote. That could be quite odd. I just came back from the ANA in Chicago last week and was thinking that the coin might have come in while the show was going on and then someone attending the show dropped it off for PCGS grading, but that was all a quick and dirty first estimation in my mind.

Regardless, you bring up a great point about the actual quote and timeline.

 

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Well the reason behind the quote "it came in earlier this week" is because when I worked on Tuesday it wasn't there and the owner made no mention of it. Maybe he wanted it to be a surprise. But I am not sure. I know he has the money to get it Slabbed that fast. But for all I know the owner could have asked David Hall to grade and slab it. I wouldn't know in this case. I'm just going by what I saw at the shop and by what my dealer told. He didn't tell me it came earlier this week but that's just my assumption. My dealer is more of a wholesale dealer. We could sell it at a heritage auction at our state show during thanksgiving weekend but I'm not sure. But I agree with your post as well. It was just amazing to hold and to look at.

 

It also might be a high end coin and a definite cameo , though if it was like you said I guess I could see it . Still if a dealer can't grade coins and has to lowball a coin to be safe , I'd find another dealer .
I guess that's why I'm loyal to HJBs and a couple other I trust . Also if a proof is so hard to grade , why not sell it raw ?

 

This is also why I have issues with this transaction. The way it is described simply makes no sense. How does one purchase a coin (ignorant of its potential) then submit it to PCGS and magically have it back within 4 days (or less) in a PCGS PR64CAM holder? Something doesn't add up.

I know it becomes "hairy" for a dealer on a coin of this caliber, but why not give the seller a "hold" payment, submit the coin for the seller, and then agree on a fair price after the grade is determined? Especially if you are a "dealer" that feels ignorant of the potential quality of the coin -- as the OP proclaimed. This isn't a trinket type exchange like most raw transactions with dealers.

I'm not saying the "dealer" should pay the seller a lot more, but even if they would cut the seller a check for an additional $500, it would develop a sense of respect for the dealer and possibly gain them a reputation that would go beyond this one-time windfall. Not to mention the good karma and the ability to sleep at night for the dealer (at least this would be a problem for me).

Just my 2 cents...

 

I read this post three times and still don't understand. You bought a coin, sent it in and got it back 4 days later. Can you clarify this post please?

 

I just based the quote on my surroundings. One Monday I worked the whole day. I did not see the half dollar and none of my co-workers made mention of it. So I had to assume it came earlier this week. But I know for fact, we got the half dollar back from PCGS yesterday.

 

So you did not purchase the coin yourself?

 

Yeah, actually I do. That is the deal I made a long time ago. I can search their junk silver, circulated nickels and cents, and foreign stuff. Silver I buy at spot rounded up to the next dime. Nickels and cents I get for whatever he charges for the "you-pick-box" on the counter (e.g., 0.40 cents for a circulated buffalo nickel). I can take anything I want in terms of varieties or even semi-keys, but for the really high end coins, I point them out to the owner. The owner lets me know whether or not I can buy them at spot. If not, he may offer it to me for a small fraction of the true value or he may just want it to sell. I have found an 1918/7 SLQ and and a pretty decent 1932D quarter that he wanted to keep for sale. On the other hand, I got my 1942/41D dime for $50. Doubled dies (other than the '55, 69S and 72 cents, none of which I have ever found) and RPM's he has no interest in, so I get them for spot (or the non-silver equivalent.) This works well for both. I find him coins that otherwise would gone out the door as bulk silver. Over the years, he has made thousands on the coins I pulled. On my end, I have access to thousands of coins to play with, and I get some beauties. I filled the silver Washington quarter date and mintmark set and didn't paid over spot for any of them

 

Sorry for not replying tot his comment earlier I misread it. It is a sort of thing I do. Like we have bags of wheat pennies that have to look through and I look for errors. I have found about 20 1955 Poor Man's and 5 1936 DDO pennies. And we had bought a huge hoard of millions or Boris's, Australian, and canadian pennies and some foreign stuff and proof sets and mint sets and various things like that. One of the bags was a mixed foreign copper bag. In that bag I found 15 ancient coins with two of them being nicer which would retail around $40. The. I just separated coins so we can wholesale them as junk and older coins. But I also do a little of everything. The owner hired me (in my opinion) because of my knowledge of error and foreign coins for such a young minor. So I also sell things on the sale floor.