WOW, that had better be one nice box... Back to the original thread, the site mentioned by HSN does a lot of plating, by bet is that it is selective plating on some of the surfaces to give it the reverse proof look. Cheers, David
cheats... the coins are definetly altered. i'll bet there was acid involved for the 'reverse look' they figure if saps will buy the 'gold plated' state quarters they'll buy anything. steve
I believe they refer to this reverse proof process as "technological enhancement." I mean, think about it, who in their right mind would ever pay money for an "altered" coin? That's stupid!
After reading this I phoned my main coin dealer (also friend) of mine about the 'reverse proof' presidential dollar. He barked 'that's it.. I'm OUT of this business!' He was kidding. It's just that it's 'SCRAP' like this that drives brick & mortar dealers bonkers. Off topic but I really like my dealer - he's very up front about grading, how far back he buys off bid, how far up he goes over ask, and which coins can't be 'greysheeted' and why. I respect that. I know as a collector I pay a percentage to buy, sometimes lose a percentage to sell - after all - that's the Coin Dealer's business. My dealer always agrees to buy back anything he's sold me with the terms we've agreed. IF the value of the coin truly increases with market supply and demand, I've often made a little profit in the exchange when buying real US Mint coins, etc. But this reverse proof thing? This is yet another example of how all this HSN/FCM/painting tinkering plating price gouging to the gullible whimsical uniformed collectors who invariably leave his shop suicidal when he informs them of the true 'value' of their HSN collectibles. He has to suppress a groan everytime it crosses his counter, is usually very gentle and kind and encourages them to to keep it to pass on to their children or grandchildren (rather than offer the truth .. basically face value) and insult them. I helped him out by making him a phone list of these places (HSN/etc) and whenever the 'seller' accuses him of 'lowballing' the offer, he just smiles and hands them a copy of the phone list and suggests they phone the original seller (HSN) and see what 'they' offer for it.
What they are doing is perfectly legal. I suspect that what they do is the following: 1) Polish the whole coin. 2) Create a "mask" with tape, stuck to the coin, which covers the devices but not the fields. 3) Sandblast the coin. 4) Remove the tape. The tape prevents the devices from picking up a matte finish during sandblasting.