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Message:: [QUOTE="cpm9ball, post: 3047345, member: 24633"][USER=81425]@Arvin[/USER] This is just another example of "Buy the coin, not the slab!" I've always believed that if you can't tell the difference between a 70 and a 69, then you should buy the 69 because it will save you a lot of money in the long run. Yes, the major grading services can, and do, make mistakes. The tiniest pin prick can make a difference, and they are sometimes overlooked. I remember one occasion when I attended a local coin show, and one of the dealers was (loudly) complaining to others that NGC "dropped the ball" on a pair of 1995-W SAE's that he submitted for grading. This was at the time when one of these in PF70 was typically selling for about $9K, and NGC graded both of these PF69. Since I had never before had the opportunity to examine one of these in-hand, I asked the dealer if I could look at them. So, I began examining them with my 10x loupe, tilting each coin this way and that way against the light. On one, I counted five tiny marks (pin pricks) in the cameo that glistened in the light and four similar marks on the second coin. When I brought this to the attention of the dealer, he just grumbled and glared at me like I didn't know what I was talking about. It works both ways! Chris[/QUOTE]