Check out this auction..1

Hi everyone,

I would like you to read this current auction for me and answer a couple of questions that is opinion only..

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=11971&item=3952404260&rd=1

Do you think this person doesn't know anything about grading coins as he/she claims.?

Do you argee with him/her on the grade they assigned..?

Do you feel that the shipping charges are reasonable?

catman

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

1) No, they state that they are a collector. Collectors know SOMETHING about grading, but, it never hurts to put a disclaimer in the listing stating that you are not a professional grader. Saying that, I do not think that they honestly described the coin. Even a small child can tell the difference between VG and VF.

2) No, I thought it may have been a mistake. They might have meant Very Good instead of Very Fine, until I read the rest of the listing and what they quoted as "bid" price. (BTW, what are they using as a guide?)

3) I can't remember what services they offered, but it was like $6.50 wasn't it? Let's see, $3.85 Priority Shipping, $1.30 Insurance (I don't see the bid going over $50.00), $1.00 "Handling Fee" = $6.15. Not too far off, but you can ship a coin a whole lot cheaper than that.

 

I have watched a number of this seller's listings over the past months. For as long as she's been listing and as a collector, she knows enough about what she's doing.

The coin is not a VF20. It's F12 (even with the marks, IMHO). She always grades her coins about 1 grade higher than I believe they are, so this auction is no exception. The only thing that saves this, in my eyes, is that she provides pictures that are large and clear enough to enable someone to grade on their own. I'm not sure where she's getting her value from.

She states her s/h is $6.50 for First Class Mail. Even with insurance and if she uses a bubble mailer, new holder, and wrap for the coin itself, the highest the s/h can be (including insurance and all materials and $1.00 handling charge) is $3.00. Her shipping charges are grossly inflated.

In addition, did you notice the nice die breaks in "WE TRUST"? That's pretty neat. I don't know why she didn't mention them.

 

Are those die breaks? It looks like lifted metal from a dent. They seem to line up with the two marks on the reverse.... like it was squeezed with pliers or something.

 

Oops...this coin just lost all interest for me. I missed the marks in the obverse lettering that correspond to those raised areas. Nope, nothing here for me now

 

The coin has been pecked with a knife tip. Notice the triangular hit above the "1" in the date? Thats the tip of a knife blade. Its also been cleaned.

 

Yup, it looks like a knife to me too, and you're right about the cleaning to. It's a pretty bad attempt at it as well.

 

Do you think this person doesn't know anything about grading coins as he/she claims.? If they are a private collector, they know what they are talking about.

Do you argee with him/her on the grade they assigned..? F12 at best

Do you feel that the shipping charges are reasonable? Again With insurance, I'd pay $3.25

 

I refuse to buy from a TREMENDOUS amount of sellers due to their shipping charges, even if it is a coin I want badly! After getting burnt a couple of times with shipping charges I NOW read the whole auction before bidding. I have shipped quite a few items since Ebay found its way into my home and coins, especially common circulated coins, can and should be shipped very cheaply to benefit both the buyer and seller.
I also agree this coin is over graded and I wish sellers would quit quoting price lists when they sell. Most collectors have that information or already no it so the added benefit of someone telling me what the coin SHOULD be worth is nothing more than an attempt to mislead someone without coin knowledge. So what does that make the seller in your eyes as I know what it does in mine?

 

I agree the grade is wrong and that the seller is trying to mislead. It appears that she knows the coin is damaged and was trying to cleverly hide that. One enlargement of the reverse is cut short from the top and the bottom, right were the damage is.The focus is slightly out as well at the bottom in some pics.

 

If the seller quotes a value out of a respected source, states which source they took the value from, and is honest about it, e.g. EF coin with EF printed value. Where is the mis-leading? (this is something that I do, and I sure ain't trying to mislead anyone. If anything, I thought it may stop the unknowledgable from overbidding.

 

Dealer value on this coin as an F-12 is 22.00,, less one notch for cleaning, 12.00 net value,

as for myself, with the gouges and cleaning combined the coin probly should not be given above a G-4 grade and a net value of dealer cost of 8.00 and a retail of around 13.00 IMHO the seller has done a few things to try and enhance this coin to the less knowledgeable ,,shipping is out of line even with insurance included,, and no stated return policy make this your coin after bidding.

 

unless it's in a big three slab, the grading should be done by the buyer.
Should it not? That's like calling yourself a genius or a rock star.

Happy to say i've yet to pay that much for shipping on a single, but i've seen higher.

They could give a roll of Saints away with this i'd miss out i guess, because it starts with an e- and ends with a -bay. Sorry

Steve

 

That is definitely one way of looking at it. However, if you are confident of your grading skills and give a complete explanation of your grade, I think that it's helpful if a seller assigns a grade to a coin. I also think that any pictures should be large enough and clear enough for the buyer to be able to grade it for himself if he chooses to do so.

The other thing to consider is that, if a seller states a grade in an auction and the coin you receive does not live up to that grade, you have grounds to lodge a complaint if the seller won't accept the return for full refund. By stating a grade, the seller is just making himself more accountable in the transaction.

 

Here's a good deal. or Count the ways this is wrong.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=39465&item=3953331676&rd=1

 

I'm not quite sure what the person is selling but to me it looks like an 1878-S. Also I don't think this was an accident either.. Does there profile appear funny to you.?

catman

 

You can blow up the reverse pic and see that its an "O" mint mark. Definately not a 1893-S.

They have it as ""MS55"

I've heard of Superior Gallaries before but I'm unsure if this is the real company's auction. (Not that it matters since I couldn't bid on a coin that costs 1/10 of what they are starting it at)

 

This particular auction has a lot of problems, but I'm not real happy with their others, either. There is a reason why they smudged the date in the pic, and it looks like the entire photo has been seriously photo-shopped. It seems to me like they don't have the coin that they are trying to sell in this auction.

I really don't like the fact that they sell slabbed coins and don't put the grade on the slab in the title of the auction. You can't just arbitrarily change a grade from XF40 to MS40 - these grades mean two different things.

The worst part is, since Superior is a well-known name, I don't have high hopes of eBay actually doing anything. But, I gotta try

 

We may find out. I looked up the e-mail address in their two-page Numismatis ad, and sent the following message, with the auction number in the subject line:

 

Thanks, Roy. I just reported 20 of the 860+ auctions that they have running right now. The first 10 I reported for using blurred date photo shopped pictures without a disclaimer in the auction. The next 10 I reported for having MS in the title when the grades should have been AU, XF, or VF. I looked at each of these auctions and, low and behold, the slabs are correct.

There are quite a few negatives in the feedback profile also - generally for misrepresentation and switching.

I would be very surprised to find this is the legitimate Superior Galleries. If it is, they ought to be ashamed of themselves. Many of the auctions on eBay in the name of Superior are appalling.