How on earth did THIS get slabbed?

I saw this on ebay a while back and after laughing for about 5 minutes, I had to have it and $3.99 later it was mine. It makes me wonder why somebody would send it in for grading. It isn't rare, it isn't that old, it isn't special, it isn't silver, it isn't worth any premium over face value, it isn't in good shape. Did somebody put the wrong coin in the mail? Was an entire collection graded at once and this one slipped through? Was it graded as a joke? Did this particular coin have sentimental meaning to anybody? Seeing an abomination like this is like when I see an old car from the 60s with really weird options (back then, instead of "packages" you could pick and choose which individual options you wanted. It must have been splendid) and wonder what kind of a madman would order a 3 on the tree in an otherwise completely loaded Caprice or air conditioning on an otherwise stripped Biscayne. What was the guy who ordered the green car with a red interior thinking? What kind of a numbskull sends F12 1953 nickels to IGC for grading?

 

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The truth is out there.

 

We will never know.

 

Somebody paid for it.

A lot of the time it's to make up the numbers - one of the 10 coins for $10 each specials. It's either 9 @ 15$ or a throw-in to make the break.

It also happens that everything else in the collection is slabbed and the owner doesn't want to use Lighthouse or such.

 

Well if I were to it would be for a joke.

 

Sending ANY coin to ICG for grading in itself is a questionable action.
But as to the "Why" I can think of several possibilities:
-- birthyear set
-- other personal interests (parental remembrance, etc.)
-- mistake (as others have mentioned)
-- cheap/freebie (as others have mentioned)
-- pure lack of knowledge

 

Whoever did it recouped $3.94 in trade for it (after face value) .... So they have that going for them at least.

 

I once saw something similar. A 1935 buffalo in a PCGS slab in good 4 condition. You just shake your head and wonder why knowing full well you'll never understand.

 

Maybe some kind of sentimental value.

It goes something like this:

Two young kid (male & female) say 15, 16 years old were walking down the sidewalk towards each other. As they got closer to one another, they both looked down a saw this shinny nickel at the same time. They both reached down to pick it up. They made eye contact. (You know where this is going)

It was love at first sight. They were married shortly after that. The guy has carried this nickel in his pocket ever since. They have been married for 60+ years with 15 grand-kids. Everyone in the family know this nickel story that brought these two together. One of the family member took it from the old mans pocket without him knowing. The old man thought he lost it. Everyone was devastated! The family member who took it, had it slabbed and presented it to the couple on their 60th wedding anniversary.

Now you know the rest of the story.

 

By golly, it's a SOLID F-12, though!

 

Someone had it slabbed at a coin show. Then they went to Burger King and ordered a triple whopper with cheese, super size fries and a small diet Coke-"just one calorie."

 

Maybe slightly under-graded? A possible submit for reconsideration or maybe cross over to PCGS?

 

To add to the insanity, you should have it CACed. Have you checked the pop reports? You may have one of a kind.

 

Maybe attempting a low ball set?

 

Chinese counterfeit

 

I tell you this is an outrageous act of non-linearity.

 

Well, if you look carefully at the obverse, you'll see it's the rare micro-goiter variety. Couple that being struck on the reverse with the equally rare NS (no steps) die, it's quite a coin.

Cal