Maybe it's because I spend a lot of time looking at coins on eBay, or this is getting worse. If anyone notices the following, please chime in. When you search on eBay, you can use the minus sign (-) to not include any listings. This is VERY handy when looking for NGC slabs that are not "details grade". For example I can use this string: NGC Silver Half -details. 1. But now I am seeing (or noticing) more slabs with no "details" in the title. So you have to click on the listing and view the photo and see that it's detail grade. 2. Listings that use "not silver" in the title, to describe clad coins. They do this deceptively to lure in people searching for silver coins. For example: 1973 NGC 50c MS-64 Not Silver. If it's clad, its clad, if it's silver, it's silver. I don't see any listings saying "not clad", which leads me to believe that they do it on purpose. 3. Blurred photos on purpose to hide problems. Listing a coin as F-12, but the photo is blurred. There may be a big ugly scratch on the coin that isn't bad enough to warrant a "scratched" designation, but enough to be an eyesore. At 1st, you might think they are a lousy photographer, until you view their other listings, and see many clear, detailed photos. They purposely made the photo blurry to hide the problem. So...what do you hate seeing, when your browse for coins?
I hate seeing horribly scratched or cleaned coins, as about 99.9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999% of us do
I think this is where common sense comes in to play if you are bidding on a blurry pictured item which i will do on occasion, you should factor in the risk of this happening. Its like bidding on a wildly toned raw coin, you have to factor in the risk of it being ungradable due to questionable color. I would not say to stay away from these items because i have come up big bidding on a coin with blurry photos that most collectors just pass on, but always remember that it is a risk, and such you should bid appropriately.
