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Message:: [QUOTE="Catbert, post: 484951, member: 12718"]Earlier this year, I renewed my interest in this great hobby after being away since a child. One of my first objectives was to find and buy a seated dollar since I liked large coins, the series had low mintages, and I loved the eagle on the back. So, off I went in February with a mentor to my first coin show in: <img src="http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh297/IndianaCatbert/1847%20Seated%20Dollar/StLouisArch.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> Ah a wonder to behold - around 300 dealers and I searched the bourse carefully seeing many examples. Even to my untrained eye I could tell that many for sale were harshly cleaned. One dealer that I asked who did not have one said “Oh, those are going for moon money” which was kinda cool since I’d never heard that term before! Alas, I found one from a dealer from Iowa. It was calling to me and I found it irresistible. I had my mentor examine it and, after telling me it had an old cleaning, he helped me negotiate a price for XF money. I had no illusions that it would grade, nor did I care then. Here are pics of the coin: <img src="http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh297/IndianaCatbert/1847%20Seated%20Dollar/SeatedDollarSlabPics013.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> Scratch on reverse shield is on the plastic: <img src="http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh297/IndianaCatbert/1847%20Seated%20Dollar/SeatedDollarSlabPics009.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" />  I posted about the coin here at CoinTalk and asked for opinions about the grade. Lots of varied opinions were offered, after all, it is a challenge to grade from pictures. I remember Leadfoot was especially instructive as to pointing out the insufficient luster on the coin which hurt its chance for a higher grade.  As I gained more knowledge about the hobby and watched CDN prices rise for my acquisition, I decided that I’d try to see if I could get it certified. So, when I attended the Central States show in Chicago in April, I went to see: <img src="http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh297/IndianaCatbert/1847%20Seated%20Dollar/DavidLange.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> Certainly, this well know guru would give me insights on my coin and its chances with NGC. After taking a moment of his time to kindly review, David Lange said that he felt the coin was an AU and would likely certify with his company (of course, there are no guarantees). Thus, I was excited by this possibility since getting the coin in a slab would enhance its future salability – not important to some, but it was to me. In August, I had my mentor send it in to NGC for certification. The coin was reviewed and I received this back in the mail: <img src="http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh297/IndianaCatbert/1847%20Seated%20Dollar/SeatedDollarSlabPics030.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> I was depressed, but I still liked my wonderful dollar with only 140,750 minted. After all, just because NGC didn’t feel the love didn’t mean I needed to abandon my appreciation for this lovely lady. So, I dropped the issue of having it slabbed. Time passed and as I read the various coin boards regularly, I became familiar with the excellent reputation of Mark Feld, a vest pocket dealer out of San Diego: <img src="http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh297/IndianaCatbert/1847%20Seated%20Dollar/MarkFeld.gif" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /><a href="http://www.markfeldcoins.com/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.markfeldcoins.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.markfeldcoins.com/</a> In November, I asked him to send to PCGS on my behalf and I sent my dollar to him for review. He was dubious it would slab, but if so, he felt it would grade at AU. There was a chance it would end up in a “Genuine” holder. He generously took the coin with him to the Baltimore show to get the opinion of other dealers. They suggested it was XF and to send it in to PCGS and so Mark did. In December, the coin was returned to me as this: <img src="http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh297/IndianaCatbert/1847%20Seated%20Dollar/SeatedDollarSlabPics023.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> Yeehaw! My objective was realized and I am glad it made it into their plastic, especially with an AU grade. So, just because a certification service body bags a coin doesn’t mean it will never certify. I guess that is the lesson of this post! So, my Seated Dollar has had quite a journey in 2008. From an Iowa dealer to be sold at a St. Louis, MO show to my home in Indiana to then be reviewed in Chicago, IL and sent to NGC in Florida, back to Indiana, and lastly to both a CA dealer (with a stop in Baltimore) and PCGS in CA before coming home for XMAS to Boiler nation! (got to insert that Purdue reference)  I wonder if she received her frequent flyer points?[/QUOTE]

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