Do they ever blow it?

This seems like a variation of "you don't
know what don't know" thingy. What are
the odds that the average collector will
discover what an authenticator couldn't?

 

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And in the words of Mark Hoffman: "If I can produce something so correctly, so perfect that the experts declare it to be genuine, then for all practical purposes it is genuine."

 

Well, one thing's for sure - even if it's a phony and should've been caught as such, once it's slabbed and can't be examined in hand, the odds of its being found out as such absolutely do decrease enormously.

One thing that would concern me is not the outright, total counterfeit slipping by, but rather the coin that has an added mintmark, or an altered date, et cetera. That sort of fraud can be very hard to detect. Does anyone know of a coin submitted that came back as such? If they slabbed it, how would the label be annotated? Or would it just come back "bodybagged" as the slang term goes?

 

Kind of ironic.....I just started a thread regarding a PF Indian Head Cent that I have in an MS holder. Im debating on what to do with it.

I have also had a 1909 VDB 1c that was definitely not the VDB variety in a PCGS holder graded MS65RD. They do make mistakes, but they are few and far between.

 

The Omega was discovered by ANACS back in the early 70's when they were the only service in existance.

I have read reports of a known bogus bust half slabbed by PCGS, I have seen 1804 large cents in both PCGS and NGC slabs that were altered 1803 cents. I have an 1871 Straits Settlements 5 cent (key date) altered from an 1874 in an ANACS slab. I have a well known 1950's fake of a 1790 Warwickshire Conder token slabbed by ICG as a genuine 1790 token. I have seen a fake 1795 dollar in a SEGS slab.

Fakes/altered pieces exist in all the major services holders, but the major services will also stand behind their products. PCGS and NGC even did this back in the days before they actually had a written policy guaranteeing authenticity. (PCGS and NGC have had written policies guaranteeing their grading since day one, but they did not have WRITTEN guarantees of authenticity until after 2003.)

 

somewhat related.....

Memorabilia dealer admits to altering famed $2.8 million Honus Wagner card

By Mike Oz | Big League Stew – 4 hours ago







Bill Mastro admitted to altering a Wagner card, like the one here, that has since sold for $2.8 million. (AP)
We all know the lure of the famous 1909 T206 Honus Wagner baseball card. It is the holy grail of cards, garnering the most interest from high-profile owners and the biggest price-tags at auction. One of the 50-100 in circulation sold at auction last week for $2.1 million.

edited- please stop posting copyright protected material ! You can do the very same thing by simply posting a link -

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-b...ltering-famed-2-8-million-230020451--mlb.html

 

Maybe I am too much of a coin collector. After reading that story, all I really got from it was, "How in the bloody heck is a Honus Wagner baseball card, which is more common than an Eid Mar denari, worth more than an Eid Mar, celebrating what is arguably the most important event in world history?"

 

Medoraman:
How is this worth more than the entire John J. Ford
collection? Oh and "the painting" is three of the same
photo from three magazines, glued to cardboard and
smeared over with green ink.
71 million

http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/...rash-4913707-details.aspx?intObjectID=4913707

 

That's crazy money for a Warhol, but then again people think I spend crazy money on pennies

 

not to mention indian coins.