Coin Uncirculated?

Yes, I know this coin is in a PCGS holder but I have read a lot lately about there being fakes. It is graded MS64 but I have a hard time believing that. See for yourself.

Any veteran opinions would be great. Thanks!!

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Looks good to me, what are you seeing that worries you?

There is no image on the PCGS cert verification, but everything else checks out.

 

Mainly the lack of detail over the ear on the obverse and the lack of detail on the chest, legs, and right wing between center and far right feathers on the reverse. I'm no expert by any means though and not having a picture on the PCGS registry made me doubt the coin.

 

That got my attention too, but honestly, without a better photograph it's impossible to offer anything definitive.

 

That is where telling the difference between a weak strike and wear makes a big difference.

 

I really like the toning on her by the way...

 

Would your best guess be that it checks out though? Just paranoid about counterfeits is all.... But crap I mean it's in a PCGS holder right?

 

Those are areas that are commonly weakly struck. Fortunately, MS (non-gold) coins are the easiest ones to differentiate wear from weak strike: check to see if there's luster there. If there is, it's not wear.

 

Well the coin is actually in the mail right now. I bought it a couple of days ago and I'm waiting for it to arrive. It looks good enough to me in the pictures but I just wanted some second opinions. Would you have bought it at an uncirculated price based on the pictures?

I live in the middle of no where so I can't just drive and buy coins in person. I have to do the best I can with pictures off the net which sucks.

 

Don't buy the holder, buy the coin. As the others have commented the pictures just aren't big enough to see correctly, but I would never buy this coin as an unc raw, much less an MS anything. From what I can see the details are worn on the hair, the cotton bolls, and the eagle's breast feathers. If when you get the coin and these areas are worn, box it up and ship it back ASAP for refund.

 

So Kirkuleez says it checks out and is fine, but Ed23 says it's an absolute NO. Thanks guys I appreciate your input.

Any other opinions out there?

 

BTW it's also a VAM-84A Super CD. I looked it up and it is definitely that.

 

Most people are bad at taking pictures of coins. That's no surprise, because coins are hard to photograph. On the internet, you're never really buying the coin; you're buying the picture. If the picture of this coin hadn't included it being in a PCGS MS64 holder, I would have said it's probably a nice AU58, and therefore worth a shot at an AU price. But, the coin is in a PCGS MS64 holder, so that would give me a little more confidence to bid a stronger price on it.

The only way you're going to be able to tell if it's truly MS or not (or if it's truly worth the price you paid) is to get it in hand and under a strong light. It's at that point that you should be buying the coin and not the holder (or, rather, keeping the coin and not the holder).

 

Agree. I'm old school here, so consider my comment above as having a prejudice against all grading companies. In a way I consider them scams, but in my youth coin were collected by collectors that knew enough about the hobby they shouldn't need some "neutral" party specifying the grade for them, or they better stick to baseball cards. Today we have so many people in the hobby who want to do it as an investment, who wouldn't know an XF from an extra hole in their head, who depend too much on someone they'll never meet to grade their coins for them. I still prefer face to face, coin in hand to examine, a rapport between seller and buyer that indicates trust, a good nose that can be punched if one finds they've been sold a fake upon getting the coin home (just kidding on this last one). Still I hope you know what I mean ... these are all things that can't effectively be accomplished on eBay or eBay's 80 characters or less feedback and 1-5 stars list.

 

Ha ha! Welcome to wonderful and sometimes frustrating world of coin forums.

 

I understand having to rely on eBay and other online options to buy coins . Im also out in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately I've had my fair share of eBay mistakes but after getting burned a few times I started buying only from sellers that take returns and trying to build a bit of a relationship with sellers that have done me right with past purchases. Even then it seems your taking a chance when buying from a photos more often than not poor quality photos. I can see your concerns about the coin but I wouldn't worry much till I had the coin in hand as it may look a lot better .

 

Hey, I have also lived in places where the nearest shop was a 125 miles away. I don't fault you for buying where you can, because if you're an avid collector you just don't give up your love of collecting. We must buy where we can, and in your case I'm all for eBay or coin websites. Good luck. My only advice is to remember the mails run both ways and if a coin is not a good fit for you send it back.

 

Yep and the guy I bought it from has a 14 day return policy and says if I disagree with the VAM or grade at all I can send it back. You gotta respect a seller like that. I've learned to be very cautious though because of fakes. Check this coin out I just found on Ebay. It's gotta be fake just look at the holder.

 

I believe that's just one of the older ngc slabs. I went to ngc,s website and the numbers on that coin matched up to the date and grade . I don't know a lot about seated coins but I'd say it's EF.

 

I looked it up also and the registry matched but would you really put it past a shyster to put a lower grade coin in the official holder if there is no picture in the registry?