How does this coin not end up "harshly cleaned" details graded when the buyer ends up submitting it? http://www.ebay.com/itm/190752224745
It was purchased by a very astute "collector". I know because I see him collecting my garbage every week. Chris
Placing a $175 starting price on that thing was immoral. Too take the money should be a crime (like allowing some people to take money for "practicing law").
I was about to ask how we know for sure the damage was caused by cleaning, but then I noticed they said it was "uncirculated." I clean all of my coins.. some would even consider it "harsh" because on the really yucky ones I'll use a toothbrush and baking soda, which likely causes micro scratches on the surface, which I don't care about. But this coin looks like somebody held it up to a wheel grinder with a metal brush or something.
Exactly what we did to all our coins back in the 1950's. Quite an acceptable practice back then, when coin collecting was just a hobby and a lot of fun (as opposed to the grade driven business it is today).
It doesn't. Even though the coin could have been better described, the listing itself was rather straight forward and at least his photos show the obvious problems. As for his wording, "uncirculated" does not necessarily mean uncleaned, and "absolutely gorgeous" could (arguably) be the seller's opinion. Not that I really agree with this selling style, but it could be worse. That said, I see he has a few of these for sale, and cannot help but to question his attribution. Here is a photo comparison his to an attributed Lg S for your consideration.
Just picked up an 1896 Morgan I won from a bid board auction at my coin shop during lunch. As per usual, went to ebay to contrast and compare. Found this one with a nice upper left to low right cleaning. http://www.ebay.com/itm/1896-O-Silv...s_US_Individual&maxbid=10.09&autorefresh=true Then this one, nice job putting two holes in there: http://www.ebay.com/itm/USA-1896-MO...89?pt=Coins_US_Individual&hash=item4d078f1475
The words people use. I usually depend on the pictures and figure I am taking a small risk with ebay. Generally things work out. Here, I do not know what that single buyer was thinking. Perhaps he/she did not look at the pictures very well or at all.
