My good friend of 45 years is getting into coin collecting as I am. He told me he doesn't care if the coin is slabbed or not. His favorite coin is the Standing Liberty 1917 FH Quarter Type 1. He emailed me and said that he was in communication with a guy in NY who had a raw 1916D Quarter for $13000. And indicated that he (my friend) hoped he could buy it. He got the website off Coin World. I did a little research and found that a "Barber Quarter" 1916-D at NGC MS67 sells for around $8500 at auction and that MS67 is the highest that NGC has graded. Also that the Denver mint did not make a Standing Liberty Quarter in 1916. I hope that he can see his folly after I wrote him back. To me this sounds like highway robbery to the unsuspecting public. Am I correct?
Yes, I suppose you could look at it that way. However, it is to be expected that we will get what we ask for. If we choose to dive in to something head first, with our billfolds open, and our knowledge meters set at zero, we will find many a helpful merchant willing to make us feel right at home. Hopefully, your friend will listen to your advice, and will choose to educate himself about our wonderful hobby before he makes a very costly mistake. Good luck to both of you.
