1953-S Franklin Half FBL - how reliable is PCI?

I’ve cracked out a few PCI’s to PCGS and although they obtained the same grade they lost the designator (CAM) I think due to the toning from the holder. These were the purple signature series holders.

 

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Yes, Lawrence purchased PCI in 2008. https://www.numismaticnews.net/archive/david-lawrence-acquires-pci

 

Glad you didn’t “win” this coin at $1505!
And thanks for the info on PCI. I also was unaware of David L.’s (short) affiliation with them.
Also, if I remember correctly, the early PCI holders tended to provide a beautiful ring of toning around the edge of many of the silver coins they contain or contained.

 

Indeed they did!

 

Wow, that is absolutely gorgeous!!

 

Wow that’s nuts

 

A better picture would help. I’d would like to see what your saying

 

I bet she’d be fun to talk to

 

Pretty spot on imo

 

Wow, I'd forgotten that this was once considered normal.

 

David Lawrence only had it in the Dominion era that you mentioned (2008-2010). The photo slabs were well before his time and under different ownership.

 

The slab in the original link was the most recent reincarnation of PCI. It started September 2012 and lasted a few years before going dark (looks like around 2018, after which the website seems to have disappeared). They were trying to improve on the poor reputation of the prior owner (who was involved with fraud) but it did not seem to go anywhere. I would not trust the grade on the holder for anything rare/super valuable (they could be correct on more common coins though).

 

Always remember that if all you had to do was cross the coin to PCGS to make thousands/10s of thousands more it would have been done/tried already. Coins like that stay in those holders for a reason and its not a good one for the buyer