When it ain't what you say it is... how do you respond?

So Capped bust halves are my favorite type of coin. I know my stuff pretty well. And here I see on eBay a guy selling an 1830 capped half as the Large Letter variety (exceedingly rare), which it isn't. I send this friendly message:

Sir, this is the small letter reverse. which is common. On the large letter reverse, the E in STATES is higher than all the other letters and both A's in AMERICA reach nearly all the way to the rim.

Here's the response I get:

As I told the other guy The E in States was on the modified version and the A's in America Might have came down due to a die error. Because of the coin itself may have slipped your forgetting that backed in the 1800's the did not have hi tech machines like they do now. I asked you something if you could get back to me ok does all the letters look the same to you???? enough said and did you read my profile??? MAYBE YOU MIGHT LEARN WHAT MY BACKGROUND.IS???. O YES I ALMOST FORGOT I PAID A FORTUNE FOR THIS COIN.TOO.

Here is the link. Clearly someone else told him the same thing. It's even the large 0 variety. On a true large letter reverse, the date has a small 0. http://www.ebay.com/itm/300979378640

 

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Toward the bottom of the page, you can report the item.

 

RIP Unto Others as you have been RIPPED Unto!

 

Tell the stuffed shirt to go pound sand..........

 

Here's where he bought it.
What a sleaze.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/310748959485

 

I would just report it. What is the old saying about those who argue with idiots?

Eh, Ebay is a shark tank nowadays. Anyone dipping their toes in there better know what they are doing. Not saying I don't partake, but I pass on at least 100 coins for every one which I might be interested in, and 9 times out of ten that one goes too high.

 

Not sure this proves he is a "sleaze"...

For every guy who actually knows what he's doing, there seem to be ten more who just think that they do, so chances are good that he is not trying to scam anyone and simply thinks/thought his "pick" was good.

As for not listening, the OP kindly tried to help, but, for whatever reason, he chose to dismiss it; there are always those who see only what they want to, and there is not much we can do about it. Sooner or later he will learn, possibly the hard way.

 

Just walk away.

 

For what it's worth, I'm glad you told him. I always let people know when their listings are erroneous or the item in question is counterfeit, and for the most part they are very happy that I let them know before the auction was completed.
But then, once in a while, you get a jerk. Oh well. You did the right thing.

 

nevermind
edited

 

I emailed him as well, I said I dont think it is what you claim. This was his response.

I got proof that it is bud but I am going to a coin show next week that should settle everything. you are talking to the wrong guy for that...read my profile and find out. .I checked out the red book... why didn't you know that AS you see nobody's bidding on it anyway so...but a lot of the questions that I am getting is about the states now if you do know that they modified the versions in 1934 - 36 that the E is a lot higher then the rest of the lettering in states so I don't know what to tell you but I do know that much.

I couldn't follow what he was saying

 

Nice research!
bought it for 78 + 3 and (not) selling today at 1250.00
Too banged up
Click on his ebay name and this came up
Too funny
"i have been collecting coins from 5 years old, I do know my stuff"

 

I really don't see his purchase price having any affect. If he truly picked a $1250 coin for $78, more power to him. People with expertise deserve to be rewarded. I have bought coins on ebay other dealers are charging hundred for with a ten dollar bill.

My only issue with the dealer is selling a coin as a rare variety that it does not appear to be. However, anyone willing to pay a lot of money for a rare variety, but not having the knowledge to tell is a rare variety is like a sucker and his money.

 

So here's the big question... Is he 6 or 7 years old?

 

Lol. Good one. I didn'T notice where he said that. Boy do I feel stupid. I have been collecting over 35 years and I feel there are just tons of stuff I don't know. Silly me for being open to listening to someone with greater knowledge than I.

 

Well that settles things, as long as he does know his stuff then I'm convinced.

 

With all due respect, sir, this is essentially sticking your nose into other people’s business, and saying some are jerks for not appreciating the intrusion. While it may be reasonable if only trying to correct an obvious and unintentional mistake, please realize that there are people who do this type of thing for less than noble reasons, just as there are those who only think they know what they’re talking about and are not afraid to share their uninformed opinion. When a seller is contacted by an unknown, it should not be expected that they automatically respect and accept the claim without knowing the persons true intentions or qualifications.

The seller in question has now had numerous people contact him and is understandably on the defensive; he almost certainly believed his “pick” was good, does not know he is the subject of a coin forum thread, and probably cannot figure out where all this is coming from. It is doubtful that anyone is going to plunk down $1250 based on the seller’s claims, so let him learn his lesson.


This is not directed at anyone involved in this thread, and even though I personally believe we all should mind our own business, if a person feels the need to inject themselves into someone else’s business; they need to be very considerate of the situation, and had better be sure what they’re claiming is correct. If there is a listing violation, simply report it and move on to better things.

I thought it a fine and realistic post.

 

Be interesting to see what he says to my comment

This is clearly not the O-114. On O-114 the top of the E in States is even with or ever so slightly above the T. On this coin it is clearly below the top level of the T. Since O-114 is the only variety with the large letters your attribution is incorrect.

I have also been studying coins continuously since I was five, in my case that's 47 years. I have also been a specialist in die varieties for the past 31 years.

 

The phrase "you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink" comes to mind.