NGC grading boo boo

What, you want longer posts from me?

 

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Mechanical error huh; even attributed the variety!

One of my favorite mech errors...

 

Good 4 what?

 

If you're asking about the coin that Jack posted, it was supposed to be an 1812 Large Cent, but if you go to the NGC certification verification site, it shows it as "Mechanical Error".

As for the purported 1811 Large Cent that I posted, Jack is pointing out that not only did they misattribute the year (should have been 1844), NGC also erroneously attributed the variety (Sheldon 287) applicable only to the 1811 Large Cent.

 

I was just being a smartass. The grade was good 4 ... It's funny that that coin even made it through QC. I guess those who make the final holder and label check are probably not coin collectors.

 

They didn't mistype it. My guess would be that if you were to go through the other coins on the submission this was sent in with, you will find an 1844 cent listed with an 1811 cent in the slab. They accidently swapped the coins in the two slabs. I have seen this happen a few times before. The fact this coin is attributed as a S-287 tells you that. There is no way anyone would look at that coin and call it a 287. So there WAS almost certainly a 287 in the submission.

And this will be called a mechanical error because under the terms of their guarantee, the guarantee doesn't apply in cases where the coin OBVIOUSLY doesn't match the label. So the best anyone could get would just be to have it reholdered for free.

 

Maybe what you explained is the answer. However, I tend to believe otherwise. If you look at the coin in the slab, it is a good-details coin, with damage, as the label states. The upright portion of the "44" looks like a "11", as the other portions of the "4" are faint. I think NGC got sloppy on this one, not just a label-swap error.

As to why anyone in their right mind would send such a low value coin in such terrible condition for grading, my only guess is that the owner thought it might be an 1844/81, which is still a low-value coin in that condition.

 

And, of course, they are the sole arbiters of what is "obvious".

 

Yes

 

And you think they got so sloppy that they looked at a coronet head cent and misattributed it as a S-287 Classic head cent?

 

The only Sheldon variety for a 1811 Large Cent is S-287, except for an 1811/0 which would be S-286. So, as soon as they call it an 1811 (without 1811/0), it is an S-287, and if the coin owner asked for a variety attribution (which he probably asked for if he was hoping his 1844 large cent was an 1844/81), the S-287 automatically is attributed since it is the only one for an 1811 (without 1811/0).

The above is speculation, just as those who think a label was swapped from another slab destined for an 1811. Bottom line: NGC was sloppy with this coin. I truly don't know how common such errors occur, but when you pay a substantial sum to have one of the elite TPGs grade/certify/slab your coin, I would hope that such occurrences are extremely rare.

 

And the beat goes on...

 

I guess NOT! Apparently the 1811 wasn't suitable for certification...

 

That change (to Mechanical Error) on NGC certification verification website happened since the original post on this thread. Glad to see it happen. I did alert the auctioneer about the error before the auction date, but there was no correction to the listing when the auction occurred. Thanks for the update.

 

But notice that the 5956112-015 listing which was changed to mechanical error, also had the date changed from 1811 to 1844. My bet is the 5956112-009 which now says 1811 S-287 probably originally said 1844. My bet is that when they were notified about the 1844 in the 1811 slab they changed BOTH of them in the certificate look up. Because if one was wrong in the submission they confirmed the others from that submission as well.

 

No point to argue, but I notified NGC to change the 1844 cert 015, which they did AND sent them a copy of the screen printed 1811 cert 009 which they hadn't changed. But of course you could be right as always.

 

That goes to show you, the best TGP is yourself, in my opinion. Thanks for sharing the Boo BOO.

 

The best thing I got out of this thread is that NGC hires humans (at least, I hope they are humans and not a "bot" as U.S. Mint blames their error.

 

guess they fixed it, this is all that shows, now:
NGC Cert #
5956112-015
NGC Description
1844 1C
NGC Grade
MECHANICAL ERROR
Label
NGC Standard Brown

 

Considering the amount of coins that are slabbed daily, these rare mistakes (which can certainly be corrected) are not really newsworthy. Now if the coin had been damaged, or anything else that would have been irreversible, then it would be cause for alarm.