"Dear eBay coin sellers, please note..." thread

I think I sold a MS 74 a while back if that is a 69

 

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EBay does that automatically when you upload a tracking number; complain to eBay not the seller.

 

Dear eBay buyer:
If I happen to be the bone-head seller who uses tape (would never do it, just playing devils advocate!), and you are the buyer that uses acetone, is the coin now considered cleaned and will now only receive a "genuine" grade if graded?

Just putting the shoe on the other foot in case I happened to be the buyer who receives the said taped coin and now my great coin has been ruined.

 

Dear eBay seller:
If your coin is ungraded, and you are NOT a numismatist, please don't represent it as "in my opinion a MS65+" with grainy photos, when in reality it is more like a 60 or less (much less!).

 

I don't think so, dipping or rinsing in acetone or another solvent such as denatured alcohol will remove contaminants without damaging the metal. As long as you don't rub it when you dry it you should be ok.

 

Tape residue is a non-event as long as you're familiar with the use of acetone. The only caveat is that the surfaces will acquire patina differently under the tape than elsewhere, so if the coin has been taped for a few months or more the tape stripe will remain forever unless you completely strip the surfaces. If that be the case, you can't really hold the seller at fault. But if they just tape the coin to cardboard for shipping, they get no better than a Neutral Feedback from me listing the reason why, regardless of anything else. I couldn't justify a Negative when I can correct the problem so easily.

 

?????

 

Acetone is an organic solvent which removes tape residue completely and safely to the coin. I'll have to re-emphasize the caveat I posted, though - when coins get partially covered with something, the surfaces patinate at different rates. So, if there's something else also on the coin which the acetone will remove, the surfaces under what it removed might look "cleaner" than the areas which were able to patinate, leaving a coin that looks "cleaned."

Like every form of coin conservation, even something as benign as acetone - every raw coin I buy gets an acetone rinse if it's appropriate to the caveat, and I advise that same procedure for everyone - must be carefully considered.

 

Dear Ebay coin seller:

Pass this thread to your friends!

 

So far, the stuff I've gotten taped to cardboard was mostly already junk silver. I send a note to the seller asking them not to do it in the future, but I still leave positive feedback -- they thought it was a good idea.

 

Yeah, I'd be a lot less worried about junk silver than stuff with numismatic value. There is no black and white in numismatics.

 

The one i got was a sestertius of Hadrian

 

So true, unless they got it for very cheap and used a stamp and an envelope to ship it. Of course you simply can't do that with every buyer since buyers will win the case every time and you have to refund them if they open a case. I am convinced some know that and will buy a bunch and say they never got it when they did.

 

Dear Ebay coin Seller,
Please take quaility photos of what you are selling. Glare makes it hard to accurately evaluate the coin.

 

Dear EBay seller:

Blacking out the PCGS or NGC certification number does not inspire me to bid on your coin.

However, it does make me wonder what shenanigans you are up to. And my imagination usually takes me to a dark place as far as you're concerned.

 

Unless it's one of those "desert patina" coins, I would think acetone should be safe for most ancient coins. If you're ever not sure, you can post on here and get a good opinion or twelve.

 

I've been lucky enough never to have seen that, except in the case when they're selling multiple, essentially identical coins (e.g. NGC MS-69 ASEs).

 

For a long time that was the accepted practice to avoid the cert # being stolen for inclusion in a Registry. There are still people who do that for benign reasons.

 

I beg to differ. Just from personal experiences I can tell you that you can make money buying from a store or a LCS and selling it on eBay even after fees and the like.

 

I agree I have done it too. Of course if you keep the best coins and sell of the rest, that will eat into your profit. You also have to buy coins people want. Now if you have to figure in loss through people saying they didn't receive it, it makes it harder and Ebay demands you sell to everyone regardless is their behavior is fishy. You could charge $3 for shipping, but if a coin is worth $8 and it costs $11, it most likely won't sell. You can put the coin up for auction but there is a chance it won't sell for much and people will deduct the shipping from their max bid.