Once in a while there comes truely....A great coin that is being bid on....the following coin...is one of them...My heart skipped beats when I saw this....If I was not buying my wife a registered dog....It would be mine...I would bid crazy money for this coin...I would bid...and bid....and bid...till I clicked myself to sleep...If you have the money to bid on this coin...please do, and send me 100 images of it...from all differant angles.........It's sad...that this coin will never be in my possession... http://page.auctions.shopping.yahoo.com/auction/87328159?aucview=0x13
I don't usually doubt a lot of coin images right off the bat, but there is someting that just doesn't sit right with this one. Look very closely at "STATES". Don't look at anything else. That may be die crumbling. Or it could be something else. An old cleaning perhaps? I'm not familiar with this seller. They say "toning, which has just finished turning from Red to Brown with a light sprinkling of Mint Red Luster still found sparkling across the surfaces, "... I'm curious to know how they can tell the toning has just finished turning. I could be 100% wrong, but I think this coin has been doctored somehow. Just my 2 cents.
This may or may not have anything to do with this coin, but I went to this person's web site and found some interesting info. I live in the same area and the person has a story about an auction they attended in which they obtained the coins. The aucton was the Dr. Carleton Montgomery Cornell Collection and was held on Friday, May 21, 2004, at 2:00 PM. I went to the auction preview in Portsmouth NH, but I did not stay for the bidding. My experience with New England auctions is that they are very competitive with sleepers very few and far between. Anyway, the auction was for an OUTSTANDING collection. I enjoyed looking at the coins, but I knew I would not get any. So, I took the auction program, wrote my max bid and later checked the results. I actually may have got some, so I was kicking myself later. Anyway, if the coin came from that auction, then it is very likely it is not doctored... FWIW. - Hal
It's a shame that with all of the scams that run on eBay that the first impulse is to look for the catch. It's probably good in that it makes us look at all angles before bidding, but it's sad that even a coin as beautiful as this one starts with some suspicion.
Auction Its there any way for sure to tell if this one has not undergone any tampering.The first s in STATES looks chipped or bubbled, along with the top of the A and the bottom part of the last S. Is the shape of the nine in the year normal, looks tilted with the top and bottom of the nine almost touching. The feedback all look good with one purchase price for a coing of $1500. PS: I am a newbie, just trying to learn some things. Thanks.
The "9" looks fine to me. The problems with "STATES" could have been wear against other coins or a million other things. It still has AU details. It's hard to tell if it's been cleaned because most coins from the earlier time periods were cleaned lightly or harshly at some point. At different points, I understand that coins were cleaned at the mint before release into circulation. All in all, I think this coin is fairly represented.
I Clicked the link to the seller's website and read the information under "cancelled auctions". Apparently, this seller has been cancelling auctions shortly before they end if the coin is not doin well. I thought this was a no-no!! With E-bay, my understanding was it was not allowed, but maybe I am wrong. My understanding on Ebay was that auctions would be pulled for bogus reasons such as "error in listing" if the coin is doing badly. So what's the deal?
Whether "allowed" or not, it happens all the time. It's unethical and I hate it -- if an item is going to sell for less than you'll take, up the starting bid or place a reserve, IMO -- but don't cancel it. I sold an NGC MS-64 1935 Peace dollar for $108 and an MS-64 NGC semi-PL 1884-CC Morgan for $188 last week. Both disappointed me BIG time. But I started the auction at 99 cents and no reserve; I assume the risk. Sometimes the buyers aren't out, and if you can't "self-insure," start the bidding -- or set a reserve -- at the minimum you'll take.
This auction is running on Yahoo, isn't it? I don't even know their rules. Ebay rules won't apply though.
This is directly from eBay: Reasons for ending listings early include: The item is no longer available for sale; There was an error in the starting price or reserve amount; There was an error in the listing; The item was lost or broken. Sellers are not permitted to cancel bids and end listings early in order to avoid selling an item that did not meet the desired sale price. This is considered to be reserve fee circumvention. Although there are legitimate reasons for ending a listing early, abuse of this option will be investigated. However, sellers violate this all the time and it's very hard to prove.
Thanks. The seller freely admits pulling auctions on Yahoo, so maybe they allow it. He might do better on Ebay -- my impression is that Ebay is at least 20 times larger than Yahoo, a least based on the much more limited selection of coins on Yahoo.
That's why I sell on eBay. Believe me, if there were a better auction site, I'd be there in a heartbeat.
Well, for the most part an online auction site tends to form a natural monopoly -- the buyers go where most of the sellers are, and the sellers go where there are more buyers. It's hard to have a bigger "moat" around your business than that.
