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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;RonSanderson, post: 2746284, member: 77413&quot;]Paddy - to a great extent, that is exactly the point of this exercise. Some people, say [USER=71723]@V. Kurt Bellman[/USER], believe you can purchase wisely if you exercise caution. Others think the odds of a happy purchase are too remote to feel safe.</p><p><br /></p><p>My goal, recognizing that we won&#039;t change them, is to see if we can change ourselves. If we understand <i>how </i>to see through their photos, then maybe we can avail ourselves of what they offer <i>when appropriate.</i> If, on the other hand, we cannot trust what they show us, ever, then we all should avoid them. So I am trying to find out with more certainty one way or the other.</p><p><br /></p><p>Case Study 2. 1883 Liberty Nickel (Racketeer) <i><span style="color: rgb(0, 89, 179)">“1883 Liberty Nickel, V Nickel, No Cents”</span></i></p><p><i><span style="color: rgb(0, 89, 179)"><br /></span></i></p><p><b>Original Vendor Photos (joined by me for display)</b></p><p>[ATTACH=full]627934[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]627935[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]627936[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>On this coin GSC makes absolutely no claim to condition. The coin portion of the image is about 468 x 464 pixels, so these photos were taken essentially face-on, with a little bit of angling to the light.</p><p><br /></p><p>These photos show a coin with excellent detailing: The hair and stars are crisp and there is sharp striking of the grain and corn ears on the reverse. The fields show a bit of brown coloration – could it be toning? There is some darkness on the bust, which just might be a dark exposure often used on reflective coins. There is a series of small rim dents at the top of the obverse.</p><p><br /></p><p>I took a shot at $35 and won.</p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>Impressions</b></p><p>When this arrived I had mixed feelings.</p><p>I liked:</p><ul> <li>The coin has nice cartwheel luster, both on the reverse and obverse.</li> </ul><p>Here is what I did not like:</p><ul> <li>My impression was of a brown stained, lifeless coin. Here is a photo like that. (I have a better opinion now that I know it better.)</li> </ul><p><b>[ATTACH=full]627937[/ATTACH]</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>Analysis</b></p><p>The GSC photos are brutally honest.</p><ol> <li>They do not show all the hairline scratches that are visible at the 1:00 and 9:00 positions in my photo. But I just looked with a loupe and I can’t see them in hand, either.</li> <li>The brown dirt on the surface was accurately portrayed.</li> <li>The luster of the coin is simply not apparent. Given the depth of detail, one could expect there to be luster, but there is no sparkle shown on the photo and they make no claims at all about grade in their title.</li> </ol><p><b>Conclusions</b></p><ol> <li>I saw what I wanted to see in this photo. I wanted it to be a brilliant coin. I wanted to think that it might be underexposed to keep the highlights from being too bright. Once the coin was in hand I could see that the dark areas in the fields were just plain dirt.</li> <li>I bid modestly and did not venture much. I merely wanted a No Cents racketeer nickel, and this one has terrific detail.</li> <li>I conclude that the GSC photo was clinically accurate and did not flatter the coin in any way. If anything, there was more luster they could have shown. Neither did they write any flattering prose.</li> </ol><p>I conclude that this coin was fairly represented by GSC, that I have received the coin in the photos. On the whole I think the coin is a very nice circulated nickel with imperceptible wear. It has a good look to it, good luster and some dirt from in-hand use (proving it wasn&#039;t cleaned), and the price I paid was quite reasonable.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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