Hello Coin Talk Community 2017' has sparked up my Numismatic senses with this Great Cherrypick...1909 VDB Matte Proof...I recently had the privilege of messaging one of the top known experts in 1909 VDB DDO's as he was teaching me the different die markers I decided to go out and try my new skills in the coin industry...Not knowing nothing about Matte Proof's I ran across a advertising of a very Beautiful 1909 Lincoln cent...Upon inspection I noticed that it was a VDB...The first thing I did was went back and checked the description to see if I missed anything when I seen that it was not advertised as a VDB I looked at the bid and then the time (Auction Item) The bid was $36.00 and the time was 20 hrs to closing...I immediately put it in my watched section and made sure that I would be there to see the end result of the bidding...When my 15 min reminder went off i went to check the auction and the bid was at $38.75 so at the 1 min mark I got myself prepared to take a leep of fate and try to make a bid on what I considered one of the most Beautiful Linclon cents i had ever seen...Their was a slight rush at the last 10 sec. but my last bid of $60.00 netted me the winner at $56.00...Upon arrival I noticed that it had a look that i never seen before and when moved in the light it had a holographic effect with the colors that seems to be unreal...The first thing I did was went and took photos and sent a few to my VDB teacher and his words were " It has alot of extra details in the hair and it could be a Matte Proof" but hard to tell without have it in hand...Next I contacted a good friend who is also a coin dealer and sent him the same photos and his words were "It has a sharp rim but hard to tell without having it in hand"...With the anticipation of having something Special I quickly sent it off to PCGS for Authentication...The anticipation of PCGS grading times was driving me crazy so I decided to look for an expert in Matte Proofs I ran across a guy by the name of Brian Wagner and I sent him photos more than I had sent the other guys and he told me sorry you do not have a Matte Proof but a very nice Business Strike Lincoln cent...Upon arrival of my coin the first thing I wanted to see was the destination... It was PR65RB I almost flipped out my seat ,Not Only was I now a member of an elite group of Lincoln cents I also considered this to be one of the best Cherrypics of the Decade...Thanks for Reading and Happy Hunting and like my mentor always say have Fun with your Coins...LP PS It was told to me not to disclose who the sellers were in order that noone losses their Job..LOL...!$! $! $! $! $! $!
And people say to not buy from great southern... http://www.ebay.com/itm/1909-Lincol...D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
Very huge congrats by the way! Wow! I've found a few picks that profit me a grand or so, but nothing like that!
@Larry Pelf , so what are your plans with the coin? Keep it? Sell it? If are are a small time collector, selling it might be smart. I would be nervous having a coin that expensive in my collection, and I collect gold! haha
Congrats, and you're getting extra cheers for picking Great Southern! I don't see the little raised tick to the right of the M in UNUM. Is that not a feature for all 09 VDB proofs, or does it just not show in the pictures?
I am awestruck. That is the pick of a lifetime, and likely the most important addition of the year to numismatics.
From what I've understood- people say beware of buying from gsc. They have a tendency to make the coin look better in photos than they do in hand. This is obviously a rare case of the opposite! (...and I bet when they find out they let this one slip thru they'll be steamin'...) Awesome Find!!!
Your story and one I read the other day about another collector coming across not one, it two, 1939 DDR Jefferson's tells me I should start looking on EBay again. Good find.
Absolutely beautiful coin, worth a year's salary to some people. Too bad GSC's business is going to skyrocket if anyone finds out.