I just got this in the mail - a 1944 Belgian Congo 50 Francs silver coin. I purchased it as an uncirculated coin, but besides the noise throughout both sides of the coin, there are some troubling marks. Namely, as shown in the last pic, there looks to be a series of parallel scratch marks in between the elephant's front legs. Is that consistent with whizzing damage? Or, what type of damage would create that? I often see some pretty darn noisy 1944 Congo 50 Francs slabbed and graded as Mint State, but I'd think that NGC wouldn't grade this one. Also, despite whatever was done to the coin, there is still about a medium or so amount of cartwheel luster remaining. And, sorry about the glare and poor pics - the pic was made with the coin still in the flip. Thanks in advance!
If there's an issue with the coin, then would I be able to return it in a different holder or would that be considered as an altered item? I'm unsure of what the rule with that is, since most of the coins I get are usually in flips and if they're in cardboard flips they're problem-free. Maybe I'm overthinking it...
I can't answer your question, but I did want to mention I was browsing these last night on eBay. I want to get one someday but I'm not sure yet what a good price is.
These coins generally look crappy even in uncleaned mint state. They just tend to have dull looking luster and pretty weak details. This one doesn't look whizzed, maybe cleaned, but it's really hard to tell from the photo.
I know nothing about the issue, but it seems obvious that an Uncirculated coin would not have the chance to acquire the crud seen in the tighter areas. That, and the quantity of marks on the reverse aren't consistent with only pre-circulation handling. Just can't see it as a Mint State coin.
