Heritage Boo-Boo's

The liabilty issue is probably the biggest issue. It's one thing to not attribute a coin but then when they do attribute it and attribute it wrong, it sets them up for having to refund the buyer's money if they complain. But all of that is easily fixable by either properly attributing the coins or not providing additional attribution, but then, sellers may go elsewhere's to sell their coins and then Heritage loses revenue.

These are issues that Heritage should look at and then decide on the best avenue for them but they have to know about the problem before they can fix it.

Ribbit

 

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They do.

Perhaps this is a bit harsh.

No one is perfect. Is a grade of 98% failing ? No, it's A+. It's imperfect, but strong.

Tell ya what... go to a major show and chat up people like Jim Halperin, Steve Ivy, or Mark Borckardt. Talk coins with 'em. Wanna talk copper ? Cool. Talk copper with Mark.

Post up and tell me if you think they're knowledgeable.

 

What you don't get is they know a 1798 S-187 is a 2nd hairstyle, so dew tha math? Duh! The knowledgeable ones aren't attributing the auction coins (at least the copper), someone else is.

The 1798 DBC's begin with S-144 and end with S-187. The 1st hairstyle is 144-164 and the 2nd hairstyle is 165-187. So as you can see, it isn't hard to figure out what's a 1st/2nd hairstyle, so someone who obviously knows very little about coppers is the one that called a S-187 a 1st hairstyle. The probability that one of the ones you mentioned is involved, is about as good as Spock not owning any gold.

So, that pretty much proves that Heritage has employeed someone that isn't knowledgeable with coppers and I stand behind what I originally said.

Ribbit

Pps: On the 1800/1798 I also posted, the TPG didn't list the variety nor the hairstyle but a quick glance shows it's a 1st hairstyle and since the only 1st hairstyles are the 1800/1798 overdates (S-190/191 & NC-5/6) any of the ones you mentioned should know this. So why wasn't it listed as such, since it is so easy to spot, but they can list a 1798 S-187 as a 1st hairstyle? Again, the answer is obvious. Someone not knowledgeable with early coppers is listing these and because they are not listing them as advantageously as possible, their clients are not going to realize maximum final bid and as people realize this, they will use other auction houses more professional than Heritage, if there is such an Auction House. Also, understand what I mean by professional, which is, they employ professionals to list the items they sell.

Pps: Here is what Heritage says on their website:

"From the minute your collection arrives in our world headquarters in Dallas, Texas, Heritage's staff of professionals start evaluating your collectibles, and developing strategies that will maximize the prices realized at auction."

I believe I easily showed how they could have done that with several of the coins I mentioned but they didn't do that. But then, why would they take the time to maximize the prices realized? The answer to that is simple - the more the client makes, the more Heritage makes. Yet, they are no different than Ebay. Ebay is ran by fools with nothing but dollar signs on the brain and they don't realize that by charging more for more than one pic, is reducing the final price of the item and that they would make a whole lot more by letting sellers upload up to 8 pics for no charge, than with how they do now. So, with what I've seen and shown here, the blurb above is not true and it affects my opinion of them. However, as a buyer, I love it since it is no different than Ebay, other than the buyer's premium I have to pay so I will bid even less than I would on Ebay. But the biggest dilemma is, does Heritage like being likened to Ebay? If I was Heritage, it would boil my blood to be likened to Ebay, but that's me.

Ribbit

 

My guess is that the advantage in bidding on coins becomes yours when you detect an error and others don't. You would then know what you're bidding on while others are just buying a coin for what they think is good value. If the error errs in your favor . . . you win! :high5:

 

Here's another PERFECT example:

http://coins.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=28101&Lot_No=21031

Slab does not give variety nor hairstyle, but someone at Heritage went further and listed it as a 1st hairstyle. While on this one they actually got it right, what they missed is it's an overdate!

Redbook says:

1798 1st hairstyle:

G - $95
VG - $130
F - $250
VF - $575

1798/7:

G - $135
VG - $275
F - $650
VF - $1800

As is clearly evident, if Heritage really had professionals listing these, the sellers would get more for their coins and Heritage would also increase their income. So like I said, Heritage is not much better than Ebay, just more expensive. :goof:

Ribbit

Ps: It's a 1798/7 S-152:

http://www.largecents.net/collection/coinpics/s152.jpg

Pps: I won 4 auctions on Heritage tonight so I still buy from them. There are some awesome deals to be had, like the 1807 DBC Comet Variety I picked up tonight, that wasn't listed as such. The ones I've listed here aren't ones I planned on going after and the other 3 I won are all colonial issues for my colonial collection.