I've been looking at the prices of Japanese silver 1 yen coins on ebay. I've noticed that good UNC slabbed and graded coins (PCSG & NGC) have been selling for around $400-$600. (usually MS61-MS64) I've noticed that some sellers in Japan have latched onto this, and are trying to sell genuine slabbed coins for WAY too much(buy now). These sellers sell a variety of goods, including Japanese antiques, etc. But clearly, they know nothing about coins. Here are some examples: These two coins are about as common as each other, but the MS61 is over $6000 USD, while the MS63 is $2000. Nobody would buy either. BUT what is WORSE, is that they appear to have been acquiring good 1 yen coins, and sending them to PCSG, after CLEANING them!!! And yet they don't know that cleaning destroys the value of the coin, just aside from wrecking a good coin. They also don't know that XF is worth a lot less than AU or UNC. $5930 for a cleaned XF: Ruined: Ruined a rare Yr7 1874. Somebody needs to tell these guys to stop ruining coins!!!
On eBay, anyone can list and ask what they want for the item, but if they never sell any, they should start to realize they are doing something wrong. If they choose not to correct the problem, that's on them.
Yes, but what I'm more concerned about, is that they are taking good coins that they know nothing about, and (harshly) cleaning them, ruining the coin. Then sending to PCSG, and getting the coin back without realising that PCSG is saying "Cleaned - UNC details - Not gradable", rather than MS-61..... they don't even understand that PCSG didn't grade them(the grade is missing) because they've ruined the coin: they think that "UNC details" is the grade. i.e. They may think that "Cleaned" is a complement to them, that they've cleaned the coin before grading and doing a good job, but instead, they're ruining a perfectly good coin.
But how do you know they are cleaning them? Maybe I am missing something. TONS of world coins were cleaned over the years. How do we know these weren't already cleaned and the buyers do not realize the decline in value associated with that versus non-cleaned coins?
Not sure I understand...is PCGS slabbing/straight-grading these cleaned coins...? If they are, well...??? As far as the prices, hey...I see hoards of U.S. coins that some eBay "sellers" are asking ridiculous prices for, graded and ungraded...totally crazy...but last time I looked, they're just asking. If they find a gullible and/or otherwise inept/inexperienced buyer...or one with deep pockets and nothing better to do with their money...they've beat the odds. This sort of stuff has been going on since time began in one form or another. I mean, what should be done...what CAN be done...???
A particular seller seems to be running a store, with lot's of other things. Many of the slabbed PCSG coins have almost sequential serial numbers(within 8-10 numbers). Out of 34 silver 1 yen PCSG slabbed coins he has in his ebay store, 26 of them are either cleaned, repaired or tooled. The NGC slabbed coins are not.
No.... as I said, there are lots(26) of cleaned, repaired or tooled coins. PCGS have returned them as "Not gradable, cleaned AU details" or similar. The have no grade on them. But the seller clearly doesn't know that this degrades the price he can get.
Sellers on eBay are ruining coin collecting full stop, some of the ridiculous prices I have seen for very common, damaged and cleaned coins are proof that these people have no interest in the coins just a fast buck.
The Japanese term for an idiot is "Baka" 馬鹿 I would go to that store's website and educate the idiot. My Japanese is still passable. I have no qualms castigating this person in Japanese or is it another Asian language that should be addressed? I wonder where this person is obtaining his coins? And at what price?
I don't think it's completely the seller's fault. If there are equally silly buyers willing to pay such money, the market exists. Japanese coins have been undervalued for a long time but have been steadily increasing in the last 10 years. Should have bought more of the rarities... Imagine koban or oban.
"AU detail" sounds like a grade to me. "XF detail" too. Very confusing terminology to put on the front of a slab when there's no "ungraded" indication other than absence of letters on a specific part of the slab. That said, anyone spending lots does a bit of research to find out the slab code, surely?
Shame about the badly cleaned coins, some people love shiny coins though, aren't slabs meant to prevent patination?. It's another mindset to clean then slab. maybe they have customers and fair enough, but don't look with a lens! Cleaning is best done very expertly, preferably years ago, so a patina has grown back slightly! Someone please let them know to drop the ?dremel and use non destructive methods, wider customerbase awaits...
It's not a grade. PCGS always put a number grade on it, if it's gradable(e.g. MS63, XF 40, etc). If it's been cleaned, repaired or tooled, PCGS put "Genuine, not Gradable" on the back and "AU details", "XF details, etc, on the front, to indicate the approximate grade, if it had not been doctored.
