As I was browsing eBay today, I came across this coin: https://www.ebay.com/itm/PCGS-1940-...993277?hash=item25d9179cbd:g:tecAAOSwgv5ZRA5Y As you can see, the seller has a PCGS label, along with the coin encapsulated inside a regular coin flip labeled "PCGS MS66RD Lincoln Wheat Cent". Can a PCGS label be faked? I just cannot imagine why someone would want to dismantle a PCGS holder, and take out the label.
Maybe it is a label that was removed, cracked out of a real slab. Silly thing to do but some collectors don't like their coins in a slab. When they do this they refer to it as "removing it from its tomb"
This could be one of the following reasons: 1. Crack the coin out of the holder to place into an album 2. Crack to resubmit (hoping for a higher grade) 3. Crack because one doesn't like slabs (this is seen more often with world and ancient coin collectors) When I've cracked a coin for my album, I kept the label in order to have a record of what the coin used to be graded.
Most PCGS certified coins won't have pictures unless the submitter paid for the TruView or submitted under SecurePlus/Gold Shield.
Keeping a label because you want to is perfectly fine. That said a good number of people mistakenly believe keeping the label means the coin is still the same as it was in the slab, unfortunately there are people that push this idea. It's a VERY easy way for people to defraud people if they can get them to buy into that idea. Once a coin is cracked out the label means absolutely nothing.
When you click on the link there is another one shown, on the same page, still in the PCGS slab and only $24.95 w/ free shipping.
No way would I buy this coin based on the PCGS certificate in the photo. If the coin is worth that to you as a raw specimen (I have no idea what it may be worth) then by all means go for it. But not based on the cert.
We can't see what the luster is like. If it's there, it looks like a 66. The luster may not be the same as it was in the holder. I save the labels but they are nothing. In a PCGS holder, this is a $20-$25 coin.
You're absolutely correct, but I still keep the labels of the few key dates I cracked out in the albums with the coins
Maybe the label is real, but there's no guarantee it was slabbed with that particular coin. This one screams scam to me. I'd pass on it.
The seller states this in his disclaimer. No way to tell if that cent is the same one that was graded, so I'd go with a less expensive slabbed one listed.
Yup, there is nothing, other than the seller's word, that links the Cent to the PCGS label. If you want a slab one, buy one in a slab. If you want to take a chance and get an "altered" cent outside of a slab with it's label ... then it should be cheaper. Those are pretty bad pictures to see good detail.
What DDDDD said, plus the fact that this label is from before Nov 2005 when they weren't doing ANY pictures and Secure Shield didn't exist yet.
Keeping the label as a record for yourself is fine. Using it as evidence to "prove" to others that it got straight-graded (meaning no "Details" designation forbeing improperly cleaned or that it is damaged) what condition it is (XF AU, MS, etc.), or what its numerical grade is out of 70, is useless. For the life of me I do not understand why people do this. You risk damaging them by cracking them out, there is no guaranty it will be upgraded, and for very rare coins its authenticity is now much more a risk factor. Just find a raw one for God's sake!
Not only can the label be faked, but so can an actual slab. This is why learning how to grade coins yourself is key, as well as understanding how coins are minted. Even study which slabs were used by which companies for certain time periods. Also study common counterfeited or altered targets (1916-D Mercury dime, 1909-S VDB Lincoln cent, 1916 Standing Liberty quarter, 1893-S Morgan dollar, etc.) to learn the telltale signs. Why? Because I have seen the following situations: A. Grading companies slabbing counterfeit coins they mistakenly deemed as genuine. B. People who faked an actual slab and label to put a counterfeit or altered coin inside. C. People who put genuine coins in a fake slab with a fake label, but the coin is a lower grade and/or is damaged. D. People putting a genuine label inside a fake slab, using either a counterfeit or altered coin or a genuine coin with a lower grade and/or is damaged When you see enough slab labels from different companies made over the years it gets easy to spot fake labels very quickly.