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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Lehigh96, post: 1373827, member: 15309&quot;]Alan,</p><p><br /></p><p>I am sorry but I can&#039;t take anymore of this thread.&nbsp; I have typed a response three times and decided not to post it each time because I like you and don&#039;t want to offend you.&nbsp; But as this thread has progressed I have changed my thinking about the information I am about to give you.&nbsp; It may offend you slightly, but if you take the information constructively, it will help you avoid making a costly mistake in the future.</p><p><br /></p><p>1)&nbsp; It is impossible to grade proof coins from photos.&nbsp; Not difficult, IMPOSSIBLE.&nbsp; You can&#039;t see hairlines.&nbsp; You can&#039;t evaluate the mirrors.&nbsp; The appearance of the coin including the color is almost always different in hand.&nbsp; For these reasons, if you are going to buy a proof coin sight unseen, you should restrict yourself to purchasing PCGS and NGC graded examples.</p><p><br /></p><p>2)&nbsp; When an online seller offers a photograph at an extreme angle, you should RUN the other way.&nbsp; And when I say RUN, I mean RUN as if there was a polar bear chasing you.&nbsp; The purpose of photographing coins at angles is make the coin look better than it really is.&nbsp; You see, it makes absolutely no difference if the seller sends you the coin in the photo or any other proof that he has in his stock.&nbsp; Using that photographic method, he can make almost every one appear flawless.&nbsp; Based on what I have seen from this seller, I would never buy anything from him.</p><p><br /></p><p>3)&nbsp; From the seller&#039;s perspective, at this point he has probably deemed you a problem customer.&nbsp; He listed on his website that it was a stock photo and you insisted that you wanted the coin in the photo for an item that he is selling at very close to melt.&nbsp; Don&#039;t think of the gross sales amount of $18.&nbsp; Think about how much profit he is going to make of this item.&nbsp; It is not much and unless you ordered other items in addition to this coin, I am sure he is not losing a second of sleep about losing you as a customer.&nbsp; I am not saying it is right, rather I am looking at the reality of the situation.</p><p><br /></p><p>4)&nbsp; IMO, you didn&#039;t get a great coin at a great price.&nbsp; You are getting a piece of silver bullion at retail price.&nbsp; I took a quick look on E-Bay and found a few NGC PF67 1961 Franklins with cameo contrast available for less than $50.&nbsp; And in that grade, it is considered a widget.&nbsp; The graded population in PF67 is 6712/2344 and they usually sell for $30-$40.&nbsp; I purchased my 1961 Franklin Half NGC PF67 12 years ago for $28.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o59/ACPitBoss/Franklin%20Half%20Dollars/FHD1961NGCPF67.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>The value has only increased a few dollars and that increase is solely related to the increase in silver value.&nbsp; My guess is that the coin you ordered will not even grade PF65.&nbsp; You must realize that your coin has no numismatic value at all which is why the bullion seller your purchased it from was selling it for a bullion price using his photo magic advertising.</p><p><br /></p><p>5)&nbsp; I understand that you want to assemble a raw collection, but there is just no protection when buying raw coins sight unseen.&nbsp; You can try, but I promise, you will run into the same problems over and over again.&nbsp; My advice is to buy PCGS &amp; NGC graded coins and then crack them out.&nbsp; Let&#039;s put it this way.&nbsp; I am very proficient at grading Jefferson Nickels, my chosen series.&nbsp; But when I purchase coins for my album collection, I buy PCGS and NGC graded coins and I crack them out.&nbsp; The reason is simple.&nbsp; I can&#039;t grade coins using the crappy photos that most online seller provide.&nbsp; No matter how good I am at grading Jefferson Nickels and interpreting photos, the cost of the return postage for the number of coins that I would need to return would make buying raw coins a losing proposition.&nbsp; It is much easier and cheaper to buy graded coins, a towel, and a hammer.&nbsp; I promise that it won&#039;t cost more than buying them raw.&nbsp; As an example, I purchased this toned 1947-D Jefferson Nickel PCGS MS65 for $22.50 and the PCGS Price Guide is $22.&nbsp; Perhaps you will recognize the seller from the photo below.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o59/ACPitBoss/Jefferson%20Nickels%20Raw/JN1947-DPCGSMS65OH.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I know this has been really long winded, but I felt that if I was going to give you some advice, it might as well contain some real useful information rather than a short critical quip.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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