I bought this coin from the picture of the slabbed coin. Here are 2 shots with the Digital Blue of the obverse only. One shot has extra lighting to highlight the coins imperfections. The third picture is the photo I bought this coin from. With all these scratches, I don't see how it can be a MS66RD. The redder shot I added a flashlight at an angle to highlight som more imperfections. Abes right shoulder looks like its toning. But then there are the 2 spots in the field at the back of his head. It looks like all the high points(cheek, chin & temple) have been scraped, maybe in a roll or a bag. They are shinier than the rest of the coin. Bruce
slabbed but... might take a close look at the slab for tampering, if you bought it. otherwise i'd pass if not satisfied.
That's really good!! A fine example of TPG services idea of what this coin should grade and our lying eyes telling us that there is something not right about it. None of my business but what does this coin cost or better what should this coin go for? Then ask yourself does the cost or worth warrant the cost of grading and slabbing. If the two don't balance then maybe there in lyes the reason for what we are seeing. Just a thought. Maybe its be tampered with. Maybe its a mistake by PCGS, I know hard to believe. In any case it is what it is. I certainly would not be happy about the grade versus what you see on this coin. What will you do now???? Allen
The grading services don't use a magnification of greater than 5X, if they use any at all.... It's pretty easy to pick any coin apart under enough magnification.
Yes, I would check for tampering, and I would check with PCGS about the code number to see when it was slab and by who, they will have records and pictures of the original slab. I'm sure that PCGS did not make that big of a mistake. Contact them at 1-800-447-8848 or email them at info@pcgs.com with a pic. of the coin.
Not patting down, or defending PCGS, but everyone makes mistakes. Just goes to show you, you shouldn't fully trust any grading company, no matter how good they are. Learn to grade, can save you a whole lot of money. But they did goof on this one pretty good. Phoenix
It's a decent mint state...but I can't tell between 60 and 70 with copper so I will leave it at that.
Some possibilities: -- The coin was contaminated BEFORE it was slabbed and the degradation continued after it was slabbed. It just wasn't obvious initially. -- The slab is NOT airtight. Even PCGS will admit to that. Store the coin in an area with wild temperature and humidity swings and it will go bad. -- Other reasons mentioned above.
I was guessing 65 before looking at the grade. I think the spots may have even been there when it was graded. PCGS seems to care more about hits that spotting or toning. I also think it's highly unlikely this slab was tampered with givin the value of the coin. A higher grade does not "always" correlate with a nicer coin. PCGS may have been a bit liberal but I would say it's not off by more than one grade.
