I requested additional photos beyond the first two, as I suspected eBay item 231350682701 to be a fake. The 4 added photos confirm my suspicions . . . eBay has been advised, but the coin has not been taken down yet. - Mike
For those who do not know how to find an item based on it's item number, here is the link to the listing. http://www.ebay.com/itm/231350682701?ru=http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=231350682701&_rdc=1
So I can learn, what were your first clues that it was fake? What photos were added later and how did they confirm your suspicions? Edit: NO ARROWS AT the DATE?!
I see nothing on that coin that screams fake to me, it looks real to me, maybe cleaned at some point though. I do not see any bubbles, or distinct problems with the features on the coin, it looks real. Here is a photo of a known real seated half, and the ebay half. http://www.coinlink.com/CoinGuide/images/ust_90.jpg http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTEwMVgxNDY4/z/mQsAAOSwY45UMHd7/$_57.JPG http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIyNFgxNDY4/z/zA8AAOSw8cNUMHe2/$_57.JPG
Size, shape and location of the mintmark is a dead giveaway. Other tells are fading vertical lines in reverse shield and poor definition overall.
Here is a side-by-side of the mintmarks... Edit: fake=left, legit from PCGS Photograde (dif't year, though)
Dougmeister's photo looks like pretty good evidence. I know mint marks flutter around on different dies, but that's ridiculous...
Mintmark is still bad, but not as far off as I thought. Here is a side-by-side with two dif't 1873-S *WITH* arrows around the date from Heritage (fake is in the middle):
Without knowing any better, I chose an 1872 MS63 example from PCGS because it was from San Francisco. I posted some others just a few above this post from Heritage that I assume are legit. http://www.pcgs.com/Photograde/#/Seated50/Grades
fact that Heh, heh . . . I didn't even look for arrows, automatically assuming they were there. Shame on me . . . Just imagine if I ran across a real 73-S No Arrows, and missed the fact that the arrows were not there. I could buy and resell a unique coin for a pittance.
Personally, I would say that since no 73-S No Arrows are known, using (one of the two styles used for) 72-S was both a good a reasonable choice as that used on the 73-S Arrows was of a style not previously used.