I told myself not to buy any raw coins worth $1000 or more. Well, I broke my own rule yesterday, when I bought a seemingly superb example of an 1924 St Gaudens (Double Eagle) at the Frankfurt coin show. I asked a dealer friend to look at it before I’d purchase it, and his reaction was “wow, great deal, it could grade 64+ or 65”. So I went to the NGC booth to submit it for grading, when Richard from NGC said “you know, there’s a problem with this coin”. And indeed, someone added an “MM” on the bottom of the reverse. The engraved letters were tiny and they first appeared to be part of the design. But of course, only the 1907 high relief has the date “MCMVII” there. Lesson learned. If you don’t know the series, don’t buy raw. Thanks, NGC.
1907: Later years: I didn’t take a picture because it was so embarrassing... so I just returned the coin and got my money back. But hey, I made a new friend there, so I still had a great time. PS: before you blame the dealer for selling a coin with graffiti, you should know this was not in the US and he missed it as well...
I hate when people have defaced otherwise awesome coins with engraving. I had a similar problem with an 1866 silver dollar in otherwise F-15 condition. I ended up keeping it, just because I couldn't afford anything nicer, but still!
