1878-S Trade Dollar Double Die Reverse (FS-801)?

Hi all. I recently got this coin and a few others back from NGC. I paid for this coin to get a designation for being a double die reverse (what looks to be the FS-801, old FS-015 shown in the Cherrypickers' Guide) and it came back unattributed as anything! I called NGC that day and was told "our expert must not have seen that it had the variety". With that said, I just wanted to post it here to make sure I'm not crazy, thinking I have something I don't, but it SURE looks like an FS-801 to me.

Here is a picture of the listing in the Cherrypickers' Guide:




And here is my coin:

 

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I'm no expert in this series...but it sure looks like it to me.

 

maybe they thought it was strike doubling instead of die doubling?

 

I haven't a clue. I was told their expert knows pretty much all there is to know about varieties and I said I didn't doubt it, but how are his eyes? I still want everyone's opinion, but I spoke to another woman there and she said to send it back in for re-evaluation for free, so this time I will be including the Cherrypickers' Guide page as well as hi res pics of previous slabbed FS-801's that I found on Heritage.

 

when sending a coin with a variety to one of the TPG's it's best to have a error experts opinion to send with the coin.
TPG companies have lots of graders and some of them don't recognise all of the varietys.

 

Looks like the 801 to me too. Did you submit it under the variey tier or as a regular submission?

 

rascal- I looked on NGC's website before submitting to make sure they recognized the variety and they recognize it. I have had 2 dealers tell me its a DDR, with one agreeing its the 801, the other didn't know the varieties.

menace- I sent it in as the varietyplus tier and checked the box in both places on the form. either the form got overlooked or someone didn't look at the coin very well, but hopefully this gets it done. She said to specifically send it to someones attention, so hopefully that is the/an expert that can help.

 

Well, got it back from NGC for the second time and still no dice. In fact it's in the SAME holder that I sent it to them in. I wonder what on earth the grader isn't seeing! I have no idea what to do at this point. Any suggestions?

 

I don't see why NGC can't tag the designation, it looks like the 801 to me as well. The "4" is the best marker for the DDR.

 

Oh boy, the plot thickens! I just got off the phone with Lisa in customer service (she's the most helpful and nicest daggum customer service rep I've EVER dealt with. She's the one that told me to resend it for free to begin with). I was originally calling about why they charged return shipping when I didn't sign anything on the invoice saying they could charge my account, nor did I even put an account number...but anyway, she looked up the invoice number and said "it's showing as an 801. Now what did you think it is?" and I said I think its that, an FS-801, and she says "well it already is marked as such" and I said not on my end it's not. The coin still has the holder I sent it to you in. So as I type, she's talking to the operations manager to figure out what happened and why the system says one thing, while the slab still says another. So I might get the FS-801 out of this yet!

Stay tuned...

 

I would hope so, and make sure you don't front any more money for these ridiculous shipping charges.

 

I definitely won't. I'm still going to see how they could charge me if I didn't authorize any charges to be made to my account either. I mean if the thing was apparently shipped back in error, maybe it was charged in error too. We shall see soon enough.

 

That's true, best of luck getting this sorted out. We're looking forward to seeing the coin in the correctly attributed slab when you get it back.

 

Will definitely post! I'm going to the Summer FUN show in Orlando and NGC will be attending, so hopefully I can just hand it off and tell 'em to straighten up! haha.

 

Well it's official! The coin IS an FS-801. My return shipping charge will be taken off for this round and I am to deliver the coin to Maggie who is the customer service supervisor who will hand deliver it to Lisa and she will walk it through the process and get it back to me asap. I'll have a pic up here when I get it back once and for all.

 

So, this may be a stupid question, but what is the grade on it?

 

AU details, cleaned. I know, not the best grade for the coin, but I only have about $150 in it total and I've seen a few go for $300+ in the same grade, so I'm decently happy.

 

It is a nice one!

 

Better to have the AU details than a chinese fake. Of course I don't think the Chinese can replicate the DDR on this trade dollar.

 

Think again. They can certainly replicate a DDR if they want to. They may not want to do that because they may not want to attract additional attention to their product. They (or more accurately their customers) are content making their profit on a counterfeit generic Trade Dollar rather than trying to make a few additional dollars but risking the coin being identified as a counterfeit due to the additional scrutiny.