Is this slab real? The certification number does not check and I have never seen a slab like this. And then what grade is 80? http://www.ebay.com/itm/BEAUTIFUL-P...111652?hash=item3abc1cde24:g:b3EAAOSwuYVWpDk-
I'm thinking this is one of those deals where someone paid to have a bunch of VDBs put in plastic. Probably a promotion or some type of giveaway.
http://www.pcgs.com/News/Pcgs-Revised-Genuine-Service Here's a "newer" list of problem numbers. From 2008, not sure if there was anything newer. Subject coin is from at least 2009 when 80 was probably ending or no longer used, so I'm not sure. Need a PCGS guru to chime in here.
This thread on the PCGS boards makes reference to the 80 code. Given that, my inclination is to call it genuine and likely some kind of sample slab or promo like @ldhair and @Yankee42 suggested, based mostly on the "who would fake this?" factor and it being dated 2009.
Something about the font just doesn't look right. I don't like how the bottom parts of the 9's in "1909" hang below the bottom of the 1 and the 0. I could just be seeing things though.
The OP said in the opening line that the serial number does not check. Therefore, the rest of the discussion is moot -- it's fake.
Wrong! More than one real slab will not check. And apparently this is a much older slab (hence the 80 category). Thus not graded and more likely not to be in their data bank.
It is a promotional item and it is a real PCGS slab. I have seen them before. They came out around 2009 during the hype around the Lincoln bicentennial coins. The 80 code seems to date from after 2003 (at least it wasn't included on PCGS body bags before that date) Promotional items do not always show up on serial number verification
