I'm a big believer of going with your gut. If that's what it is saying...then I wouldn't even risk it. I would just return it. Based on the images it's at least questionable...you have a better knowledge than I and you have it in hand.
1st eBay 2 thing I do is only bid or buy a tpg graded coin. 2nd is to make sure @ Ngc+Pcgs the number match at Ngc or Pcgs . I hope every thing work out your way. Remember that there a page on ebay that will explains all the rules. Buyer have more power than the seller since 2010 rule change. Seller can say Not refunds but that just wasted words!!! Pay Pal+eBay is 1 company since 2010. That why I do not sell any more on eBay seller have no rights.. Buyer have them all.
I realize that the buyer has all of the rights in general, but if I make a bid, I try to honor it. That is why I am giving the seller the option. If they don't agree to let me crack it, I will just send it back. And when they issue a refund to me, they will get positive feedback. My problem with buying only NGC, PCGS or ANACS coins on ebay is that you will almost always overpay for premium coins especially at the BIN prices.
And honorable indeed are you Kirk. Your offer is most honorable and if the seller declines, so be it. Nothing lost. Send the purchase packing back from whence it came.......
Man I want to crack it. If for nothing else, I would love to expose scams, but I will wait patiently for their reply. If I were them, I would say to just send it back to save the embarassment.
You are more generous than I. I would have either proposed sending it back, or cracking the slab to determine if its method of manufacture and if there is any issues with it. If they didn't want you to crack it, they would get the coin back. I wouldn't have offered up the $25 personally.
I tend to agree with you--it does look like a nice business strike, and not a proof. As has been said, the basement slab means absolutely nothing, so consider it a raw coin and act accordingly, based on your instincts. It is a very pretty coin, whatever it is, but I doubt it is a proof just looking at it. Very hard to say.
I believe that I have an 1884 NGC PF64 which has weak star(s) and doubling at the date. I will look for a photo. Sorry I did not see this thread until today.
It looks like a business strike to me. I would be curious to see this. I can't find one example of an 1884 proof nickel where the stars are so weakly struck. I'm not saying they don't exist though.
Too many Liberty nickels & not enough photographs Here is an 1886 in PF64 which has weak stars. I believe that I bought it in 2005. I will keep looking for a proof 1884 with weak stars.
as I have stated, this is far from my area of expertise, but isn't there something about the dentils being more square on these early proof issue nickels and cents? Or is it something I'm imagining?
I got a message from the seller today saying that they would prefer that I just return the coin. And would not let me crack the slab. There was no way that I wasn't going to crack it and not know what it was, so I put it in a vice and gave it a little squeeze. It cleanly popped open and guess what I found...an AU-58 business strike. Needless to say, it is getting returned back in the slab with a new sonic seal holding it together. The hunt continues for my 1884.
Are you going to leave negative, or at least neutral feedback letting people know what kind of a seller this person is?