Hi, I am just starting in this hobby, so please forgive my newbie questions. I decided recently to start collecting silver eagle proofs. I purchased my first ones (2000 & 2001) off of ebay a few days ago, and they arrived today. All the paperwork and boxes are there, the 2001 looks like what I expected it to look like, but the 2000 looks to me like a regular silver eagle (i.e. the field is not mirror like). Is that possible? The seller insists that the coins have been sitting in a safe deposit box since he received them from the mint, and that there is no way the coins could have been mistakenly switched. He's offered to refund my purchase price for the coin if I return it him prepaid. Before bidding I checked the seller's feedback (100% feed back, 240 unique responses), and he responded quickly to my emails. It looks like he also sold several of these coins recently, and has received positive feedback. Could the mint have sent him the wrong coin? I've successfully bought stuff off of ebay before, just never coins. Is this a sign that I shouldn't?
Not at all--You just have to make sure you are informed and know what to expect when you get it-- BTW welcome to the Forum If the 2000 Proof does not have a mirrored field like the 2001 then there is something wrong--All SAE Proofs have mirrored fields, could that coin have been sold as mistake from the mint?? highly unlikely, Since the mint doesn't sell regular strikes to the public, only Proofs--If somethings not right my advice is send it back, the 2000 regular strike is much cheaper than the real proof coin, It's cheaper to return it and get your money back IMO--Make sure you include delivery confirmation, so you know he got it back--What would shock me is, he didn't look at before he shipped it or received it from the mint, or he switched it knowing your a newbie, or worse, now he will claim that YOU switched it and that was not the coin he shipped---
Thanks for the welcome. The numbers are 3955259441(2000) & 3955428466 (2001). As I mentioned earlier, the 2001 is good. I am worried that when he gets it back, he'll say that I switched the coins, and I'll be out more than just the shipping costs. Then it's my word against his.
I also would send the coin back. But it does sound like the seller is standing behind his item. My experience has not been as forunate. It seems like I have to go through eBay or PayPal to get any response. So things could be worse. Keep smile'n, & WELCOME. Dave
Looking at the picture it looks like coin is proof, BUT pictures can be deceiving, sometimes intentionally, other times by accident, BUT, if you are saying the coin is not a proof, there is couple ways you can go now. First of all if I looked at it "live" you must be able to tell if it is proof--Is the background mirrored yes or no?? For a proof it must be, no exceptions IF not, make him an offer, tell him you are going to return him the coin, and you want to know if he honestly believes it is a proof?? At the same time, tell him that whether he thinks it is or not, you would like your money back--Once he does refund, you will leave him positive feedback that he is an honest and honorable & that you would buy from again thats it--ONLY leave feedback AFTER your money is back in your hands--This method has been most effective on several bad deals I made on ebay when I received items I was not happy with, on a few of those "they paid for return postaged also" but now we are nitpicking--To me 30 bucks is not worth a negative really, but hey sum in here would fight for less prolly lol Can you post a picture??
Jody526, I don't have the coin in front of me right now, but I'll check it later. Ciscokid, The seller sold several of these & I think used the same pic. I'll try to post a pic here later tonight. Right now I've got a 3hr drive down to NYC.
Whether, or not, it has a mintmark, will determine whether, or not it is a proof. That is quite likely. You can never assume the coin in the picture, is the coin being sold, unless it is specifically stated as such in the item description.
Sorry it took so long to get these pics. I'm not that familiar w/ taking close up shots. Here's the 2000 coin: And here is the 2001 coin I got from the same seller:
That coin IS NOT a proof coin--I cannot believe that your seller would even dispute this fact unless he is a total idiot or a scammer, or a scammer wannabe--Or he actually did purchase this thing and didn't even look at, but I find it hard to believe, how was he sure it was a 2000 before shipping it? he had to look at it, or perhaps he does not know coins, that also is not plausible to me either-something smells-- Thats a regular strike SAE, all modern proofs not only have mirrored fields, but the raised areas are ultra cameo, (most, unless its an error coin or other weird things have have rarely happened), that coin does not display either--Finally the real proof coin will have a small P to the left side of the obverse (eagle side) at around 7 o'clock--see ebay item#3955655501 for what a REAL proof looks like-- Demand your money back with confidence, now with the pics you posted there is no doubt-- Hope that helps--& good luck Frank I stand corrected on MM
Hi jng, Yes, there was a mistake made. You received a regular strike, not a proof. A proof would have had a P mintmark on the reverse side of the "coin", as illustrated below. You should take the seller up on his offer to refund, and you are within your rights to ask for reimbursment of S&H charges, as well. Understand, that the seller has no obligation to refund anything, because you bid on an "as is, all sales final" auction. (that's never a good idea, BTW) Good luck!
Yeah, even to my inexperience eyes, this was obviously not a proof coin. I thought that based on the seller's feedback & the fact that he sold several 2000 proofs before, that I was covered. I will definately avoid "sales final, as is" items in the future. I'll post here if I get my $ back. Hopefully he doesn't try to claim that this was not the coin he sent me. Thanks for the help.
Well I got back the $ for the coin, minus return shipping. Got an angry email when I told him that I would leave positive feedback for the "good" coin and neutral feedback for the "bad" coin. Oh well. Thanks again to everyone here for the suggestions.
If he woulda given you ALL your money back, including shipping costs then I woulda given him positive for both, esp since it was an "as is" type sale, OR, just leave a posi for the good one and no comment on the 1 that I would call the fake--Of course it all depends if it was done intentionally or not, if it was done intentionally, I woulda dropped da hammer and waited for a retalitory neg from him, then the war would start with me-- -- But I guess each of us have to determine what is fair when it comes to feedback--For example, I had a winning bidder that never respond to my emails and invoice, after a bit, I just went to ebay to refund my fees--I never did give him a negative, nor did I ever hear from the dude in any way-- If a seller has 100%, AND if I can avoid blemishing him/her record, I would try, depends on how I was treated--I rather not respond than give a neg if I can is my point--or if I lost no money--we all make mistakes, is it worth it to hammer a perfect 100% on a let say .99 item? To me no--Finally, I did leave a posi for 1 that I did lose shipping both directions, but he was courteous and nice communicator and you can tell a classy individual, I just could not harm his 100%--Know what I mean?? Treat someone like you would like to be treated and things usually work out for both-- Remember once you pull the feedback trigger, it cannot be pulled back--
