In the comments a few people thought that it looked fine And that for it's age it should already be full of scratches Some people did not know how cleaning affected the value. It sounds reasonable for non-collectors to think that, I guess in my will I should write this, "I leave my coin collection to my dear son Billybob, ALSO, PLEASE DON'T CLEAN ANY OF THE COINS!"
Which is what I have been asking for days. Any uncirc and probably AU could be made to look like that with enough work.
Could it be that one of the experts advising the guy not to clean it was an ngc affiliate or grader? After going against that advice and destroying it, I could see him whining about bias after a super low details grade came back. Then the topic would be retaliation for having gone against advice, rather than 'why won't they tout my destructive capabilities?' Personally I feel that a person who destroys history like that shouldn't get the privilege of anonymity, as this man enjoys. Every numismatist should have his name on a black list before he ruins more history. You wouldn't want to sell any of your prized coins to someone knowing they would be destroyed forever would you? We as collectors have a duty to preserve this rich history for the following generations. IMO the comparison to ISIS is a good one. Goering too.
Any TPG grader worth a paycheck would have said stop if it was in fact that coin. But we still cannot prove it was that coin
With all the mapping of diagnostics possible, do you suppose they may have taken high resolution photos of it, despite refusing to holder it? Whatever methods The Brain used to destroy it undoubtedly left some distinctive markings on it that would be found on no other coin on the planet, thereby ensuring that no matter who sent it in or from where it came, it would never see the inside of a holder. Ironic because as often as I've heard people call a holder a 'casket' and this is one coin that needs to be put to rest, it's doomed to unrest forever! Haha!
While I understand and agree with your passion for this hobby and the history of the coins, IMO, this is no where close to being a comparison to ISIS. Our hobby is the study of and custodianship of inanimate objects. What ISIS is doing in the world today is a destruction of human life.
Julian Liedman's estimate of that coin auctioning for $10k is unrealistic. There's a PCGS AU50 on eBay for $5k. I think people would rather have a problem free AU over the OP coin, which very well may not come back UNC details from anyone's slab... pcgs, anacs, etc.
