Great Southern Coins

There was a guy years ago on eBay who was selling (I think) mostly Buffalo nickels and took the most beautiful photos of them. He gave the typical line about not being a coin grader and how they came from an old safe in an estate sale or something, so I avoided them. Estate sale guy actually beat GSC in terms of pretty pictures, but you could never judge luster from them. I've since learned more about photography to know that he probably used axial lighting, which hides a lot of imperfections. GSC is probably doing the same thing.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

But still fetched more than the coin worth.

 

Maybe so. Only the people at GSC and the buyer can really tell, due to the photos. OTOH, it sold for 63+ money, so if you think it sold for more than it's worth, that means PCGS overgraded it by more than 1 point. Could happen, I suppose, but I don't see how you can say that from the photos. My guess is that the hammer price was probably pretty fair for this particular coin.

 

No, it's worth what somebody is willing to pay. That's basic economics.

It's also true that puffery is legal as part of the sales process. Fraud has a specific meaning...

legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com

It would be fun to watch...

 

These raw coin traders usually have many problem coins mixed in with a few nicer pieces. None are high grade, but some are far nicer than most. Photos depict luster but not dings, spots, scratches, rub, etc. I,ve bought a couple from them and been happy, but don,t consider most as attractive coins. Many raw coins are cleaned and un-gradable.

 

I bet a good deal of the "happy" GSC buyers are inexperienced hobbyists that just put the coin(s) directly from the envelope into an album hole

 

I never said the word "fraud" . I said they sell crappy TPG coins.

 

Let's be honest - when you buy online, even a graded coin, you are taking a risk. No picture, no matter how well done can capture the effect of seeing a coin in your hand. That said IMHO a legit ebay seller is one who:

- offers 14 day returns. A modest expense and no different then many retailers. Not much different of an expense then a day at the coin show with food and parking expenses.

- takes high quality pix. Not holding the coin in his hand or laying it on a wood table but with overhead and back lighting.

- points out known problem areas. Not everyone is an expert in everything and some problems slip by people.

- may give an assessment of grade but we all know grading is subjective anyway. If they give a grade they should say why. "This Barber has full liberty"

- offers to answer questions.

The rest is on us as buyers to use our best judgment and not blame someone else if we get taken.

If you think someone is shill bidding then the joke is on them because if they get stuck with it they have to pay eBay their fee!!

 

Never said you did, but if this goes another 2 pages SOMEBODY will and I was (uselessly) trying to preempt.

 

Bingo!

 

I agree. But, there's a line, and they seem to be pretty blatantly skirting it.

 

I know this has been addressed somewhat here, and there are probably threads elsewhere about this, but don't most collectors trust PCGS, NGC etc. (top tier graders)? Don't most collectors think they do a good job, are experts at what they do, can be trusted, etc., etc.? I talked recently to one dealer who implied 'not necessarily'.

 

Most of the time they do. They miss sometimes, just like everybody else does.

 

We trust them mostly as far as we can throw them.......which ain't too far....

Most of us 'skunks' have to rely on our 'own eyes'. Learn to grade and you'll never have a problem........accept and endure their hype, but fall back on your own judgement.

 

'Learn to grade' seems like a tall order. Also, there are umpteens reason to get a coin professionally graded.

 

Then you'll always be 'had' my friend.......

 

How so?

 

Prepare to make some expensive mistakes, then.

 

Generally, yes.... they are "trusted", but blind trust is foolish, especially in areas where subjectivity reigns supreme. To give just one quick example: grading consistency.... do you realize how often a coin will grade out at X, then be removed from its holder and resubmitted to the same company, only to come back at a different grade, or submitted once and returned as a problem but grades cleanly the next time aroud? In others areas such as simple authentication they indeed do a very good job overall, and the liquidity their services offer is huge, but what is most important in this hobby/business is the individual collector's knowledge and preferences. If they genuinely know what they're doing and can trust their abilities, everything offered by the TPGs is gravy.

With that said I certainly can understand the gentleman's sentiment, and I'm sure he gets to regularly see certain negative influences brought about by the TPGs. Raw coins are, regretably, often automatically viewed with skepticism and this is partly due to the fact that TPGs have allowed collectors to become lazy. One doesn't "have" to learn for themselves these days or pay someone else to do it for them; they can buy whatever the plastic gods say and be reasonably safe doing so, but this has hurt the hobby as a whole. The TPGs are businesses and as with any business, they exist for profit, not for collector benefit, and unfortunately this is something that many, and particularly new collectors, fail to understand.

 

Ye of little faith.......CAC. Learn to grade.......