http://cgi.ebay.com/1936-D-Buffalo-..._Individual&hash=item5188e90921#ht_500wt_1154 In doing my daily/weekly ritual of looking through eBay for toned coins to buy/flip, I stumbled across this Buffalo Nickel. This dealer claims the coin to be superbly toned. I'm very good at deciphering what a coin will look like in hand, and have done so from crappy pics on numerous occasions. BUT I'm having a hard time seeing toning on these pics, and I just don't see how there will be any toning in hand, those photos look alright. I'll admit I see some slight blue, but I don't even think it is enough to call it toning, if you have to stare for a few minutes to see a slight difference. What do you guys think, is there something in the pics that can't be seen, or Is the seller just passing it off as toned, hoping it will sell for more? (That is my guess)
But, superbly? When I hear superb, I'm thinking of something a tad different. This doesn't really fit the definition.
Maybe it's just colorful language... :goofer: or an artifact from another listing... nearly every item they have listed uses some catchy adjective but the images fail to deliver much evidence of the seller's choice of diction. And what is "Lots of Blast!" LOL!
If I had a dollar for every time an e-bay seller was overly optimistic in describing their for-sale coin, I'd be a rich man.
Trust me, it isn't like I don't know about eBay, Doug you know that. I just thought it was sorta interesting that this seller called this thing superbly toned, and I'm not really seeing any toning at all. NOTHING, surprises me on eBay.
One would think a seller would take some shots that showcase the toning though, lots of sellers don't, which is good for flippers. Never ceases to amaze me at some coins that are beautifully toned with absolute terrible pics. Although I don't think this is an example.
Believe it or not, there are many collectors who would classify this type of toning as superb. Those that shy away from wildly rainbow toned examples in fear that the coins are AT gravitate towards the originality offered by coins like this one. Light pastel hues of ice blue and peach which are extremely common on Buffalo Nickels are less likely to be AT and rarely demand price premiums. While I don't like this particular coin as the details are terrible and the luster is non-existent, a fully struck and lustrous example with the same color scheme would be an extremely nice coin and the term "superb" may actually apply. For Example: http://coins.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=1140&Lot_No=429
His feedback is clean, and if you look at this store or other listings there is a lot of liberal usage of adjectives like, exquisette, superb and the like. They do look like a clean seller without digging.
Granted, but I still submit that the toning is extremely nice, albeit, not superb. The real problem with the coin is the strike, the luster, and the photo.
This seller has a '36-S listed also which has just the slightest shade of toning on it. Apart from the photos the listings are identical. It just looks like a careless cut/paste job on the listings.
Describing Rare Coins on the Bay is subjective. I don't see a problem with the sellers description. There is no substitute with just a scan and in this instance there could be a description paste job that needs edititing. Quite frankly, its a rather nice coin. I have seen people in the industry define any non brilliant coin as toned. I have never understood why people in these forums want to nit pick sellers listings on the bay or take some derogotory cheap shot at someone they don't even know ("used car salesman"). In interfacing with certain individuals at shows from my table who have derogotory comments about dealers or nit pick coins they have no budget or interest in anyhow, my take is they mainly are essentially broke. When the BS starts, its time for them to leave my table. The people with money look at the coin and decide for themselves if they will be acquiring it or not and could care less about some sellers description. If price is an issue, they keep their mouth zipped and will lay their money on the table and make a counter offer.
