Years ago PCGS did not slab problem coins. They came back in what folks called a body bag. It was a flip with a label showing the problem. This coin came back as Altered Surfaces. Back in those days did PCGS bag all Trade Dollars with chop marks? I'm thinking they started straight grading them at some point. I could be wrong on this. Do you see another reason they called it Altered Surfaces?
Hard to tell from pics, but I see lots of micro hairlines, which may be evidence of a whizzing or something similar. That would definitely cause an "Altered Surfaces" determination. It's a little before I started collecting Trade Dollars, but I believe they called chop marks "Damage" and not "Altered Surfaces", but I could be wrong. For coins with multiple problems, they would often specify what they considered the worst problem on the label.
If it was the micro hairlines I would expect it to be in a "cleaned" body bag, I would still be worried that it might come back MS cleaned w/chop marks. Unless it has a thicker skin than photo'ed.
What is that big blob that looks like Patrick the starfish walking on water in front of liberty's leg? Is that altered? Doesn't look like a chop mark...
That is probably why it had altered surfaces. They couldn’t identify it so it’s not like it should be and now it’s altered.
You pay the same price whether they slab it or body bag it. They actually make more money on a body bag since they dont have to use a slab for it
I never thought of the chop mark being fake. Could be. Always figured PCGS was looking at something else. I may take the coin to Fun in January and pass it around.
Back then, and it's not much different today, Altered Surfaces was a kind of "catch all" term used to cover several different problems that weren't covered by their other problem designations. This is what they used to list - 94|N-4 Altered Surface - Whizzed, harsh cleaning, thumbed over (using a pasty substance to cover defects or alter the appearance). - but that wasn't everything 94 covered, simply the ones they happened to list. And if you look at the whole list of designations - No Grades PCGS will not grade and encapsulate any coins with the following problems: 82 Filed Rims Rim(s) and/or edge is filed. 83 Peeling Lamination Potential for sealing damage. 84 Holed and/or Plugged Any filled or non-filled hole. 86 No Opinion – our experts are unable to determine a coin’s authenticity – fee not refunded 87 Not Eligible For Service Selected – the coin is too valuable for the chosen service level – fee refunded 90 Questionable Authenticity – the coin is most likely a counterfeit. 91|N-1 Questionable/Artificial Toning (or Questionable Color for copper) 92|N-2 Cleaned – surface damage due to a harsh, abrasive cleaning 93|N-3 Planchet Flaw - Metal impurity or defect in the planchet – depends on severity 94|N-4 Altered Surface - Whizzed, harsh cleaning, thumbed over (using a pasty substance to cover defects or alter the appearance). 95|N-5 Scratch - depends on the severity of the scratch. Rim dent. 96|N-6 No Service – coins we do not certify (i.e. medals, some privately made issues, etc.) or cannot certify (i.e. over-sized coins) 97|N-7 Environmental Damage – i.e. corrosion, coating (lacquer), excessively heavy toning, etc. 98|N-8 Damage – deliberate surface damage, i.e. graffiti, spot(s) removed, etc. – depends on severity 99|N-9 PVC (Poly-Vinyl-Chloride) – a plasticizer used to produce vinyl that will leach out of the holder and onto the coin, eventually damaging the surfaces. - you can see that nothing else really covers chop marks either. Though I do seem to remember them using 98 sometimes for chop marked coins. And you can also see that each designation usually covers numerous things, not just one. So it's likely that's why they used what they did with that coin.