I am new to this forum but was directed here by a nice member on GoldisMoney forum. He said this is where he comes for his info so I'll follow his advice. This site looks pretty awesome so I'll be reading it regularly as well. I am basically going to copy and paste my question from the GIM site and very much appreciate any replies. I decided to buy a First Strike coin on eBay just to have because of the lawsuit and since I have no graded first Strike coins, maybe in 5-10 years they may carry a small premium. I buy a 1/10 oz. GAE because I'm not looking to pay much to add one of these to my PM stash. I haven't bought a 1/10 oz. GAE is so long that I almost forgot how small they were I find an auction from a seller in Miami and even though he doesn't take PayPal I didn't mind because he took checks. The auction NEVER stated that the picture shown was merely a representative of a the coin I would be receiving but of course the PGCS number does not match the one in my auction. I don't mind linking you to this auction because I use several eBay IDs so that people can never track what I am buying whether it be coins, sports cards, sports memorabilia etc. It's one way to keep from getting bid up if you're looking to accumulate. Here's my auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...0432&rd=1&rd=1 If I had photography skills like TomD I could show you my coin better but my skills suck. I never read the book for my camera and I just focus and shoot. My coin has red on the outer border half way around. Now I know gold coins less than .999 in purity can have small red spots due to impurities (copper I think), but these happen during production and are not a result of aging. If this is true I can't believe that PCGS would give this an MS69. This seems excessive, IMHO http://tinyurl.com/y8asdo I have written to the seller but he has not responded yet. Does this red border devalue this coin and do you feel that the MS69 grading is justified? Could this case have been opened and a substitute coin put inside? It appears uncracked but this is bull as far as I am concerned. What should I do??? *~*Joey*~*
First of all,welcome to the forum! I've never seen a gold coin with that kind of toning in such a short span of time.I buy a 1/10th oz every year (unslabbed) and none have any sign of oxidation at all.In general,toning doesn't detract from the value of most coins and in fact,is highly sought after by a lot of collectors.This goes for silver or copper based coins but I'm not sure how it affect the value of gold. I'm sure that a lot of our members will stop by and give their opinions. PS:I'm not sure if you're allowed to link to your auction site but it isn't responding anyway.Just a heads up..it might get deleted from your post.
Hi and thanks for the welcome. The auction number is 280062480432 Thanks for the heads up on the link and your reply. *~*Joey*~*
Joey: Well, the link is still not responding, but, the toning is unusual, although, toning on gold is not unheard of. But, I am not sure what you are asking about. Are you asking since it is a different coin or because it is not labeled as a first strike coin?
Here's a picture of my coin that I just took outside with natural light. It's also not near the quality of some of those eBay sellers who have super sharp pictures but I think you can see why I am concerned. I think you can click on the picture and it will enlarge as well. Would PCGS grade this an MS69???? http://tinyurl.com/y6n4uk If he does not respond to my 2nd e-mail, I guess I'll be taking a nice drive to Miami (no big deal because I go alot for work) and pay this seller a visit. I don't think the actual seller lives in S. Miami though because his phone number, as provided on his end of auction e-mail, is a Tampa exchange. He also uses his MILITARY e-mail address as his eBay e-mail address. I didn't know they could do that. If he doesn't have a private e-mail address, that might mean he doesn't have a personal computer which now means he is using military property to run his eBay coin business. Oh...the name on the return address is NOT the name of the seller but the address matches the one provided by the seller. This whole thing is starting to really stink. *~*Joey*~*
Obviously they did, unless the slab is a fake. I think your question is really "Should PCGS have graded this an MS69?. I'm not very good at differentiating high MS grades on US coins, but I don't think so. I guess I'm somewhat of a hardnose, but if I found someone using my tax money to run his private business, I'd bring it to the attention of someone who could put a stop to it. webmaster@domainname should work as an e-mail address to notify higher authority of the unauthorized usage.
FL_RacingGal - You are unhappy with your purchase, that I can understand. But what you apparently do not understand is that the toning on the coin does not affect the grade in a negative way. It is also very possible that the coin was not toned when it was graded, it could easily be that it toned after it was placed in the slab. And it is also very possible that PCGS overgraded the coin, but not because of the toning.
Doesn't PCGS offer a service where they will regrade the coin and if it's graded lower they will either refund you the difference or buy the coin outright??
You should try to get a 2006-W coin, see if the guy will trade that one in since you are unhappy. The 2006-W coins will go up in value much better.
