PCGS $10,000 Bounty

Yes I have heard about this bounty for a while now. I believe this coin could only be verified in a certain scenario. (Skip to the end.)
We can all agree that grading is subjective. One grader sees a coin as 64 another as 65 and they both have valid reasons why they assessed it that way.
Is verification/ authentication also subjective?
Many coins have been graded as genuine and then they turn out later to be forgeries. Let's say they take the 1964-D compare to die photos and all the scientific testing tools at their disposal and certify it as genuine. Well 5 or 10 years down the road, new data, new information, new photos, new testimony comes to light, and the grading service says: Ooops. We made a mistake. This is a brilliant counterfeit, made from technology that we were unaware of and didn't even know existed at the time. Sorry. And don't say that is impossible because it has happened a number of times in this and other fields. So verification can not be 100% sure.
The only way would have some documented provenance like if the coin was retrieved from the safe box of the daughter or grandchild of the Denver mint director who embezzled the coin, or if they found a secret safe in the LBJ library and then tested and verified the coin. Those coins would most likely be real. But then it's moot as it is now an illegal coin and subject to confiscation by the US government. In the same way I believe the 5 1913 Liberty Head nickels are illegal coins. They were not produced for circulation, or as proofs for collectors, nor are they mint errors. Those 5 coins are illegal coins.

 

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@BlackBeard_Thatch wrote: "One of the gold coins was a 1866-S $20 Double Eagle/No Motto which is now thought to have been made by one of the mint managers in revenge of the assassination of Lincoln."

Curious where this came from. Twenty's with no motto were struck in 1865 and 1866 at San Francisco. Then a motto was added in 1866. So, how does Lincoln figure in?

 

Michael K, asks: "Is verification/ authentication also subjective?"

Actually, this is not the dumb question I thought at first. My apologies.

The answer is Yes and No!

Yes, authentication is very subjective. Some folks are so uninformed that they should not try it. Others are certified and world renown authentication experts yet their opinion is also subjective and based on their knowledge of the field. Mistakes are made. Eventually, I believe all are caught or will be caught sometime in the future. Even the best experts can disagree and there are many cases where one authenticator turned out to have the only correct opinion when a dozen other professional authenticators thought he was nuts!

No, authentication is not subjective. There is only one correct answer.

 

I agree but it is not going to happen. Many of these fakes have become market acceptable because too many have a skin in the game. If the mistakes are ever discovered...

Also, now in this twisted world, the Micro "O" counterfeit coins have become even more sought after and have held their value.

 

Well, it's always worth melt.
SilverWilliesCoins.com
Bill

 

Forgot that ICG had done that one first. Seems that the public auction was what brought the attention and they should have just kept selling it privately.

I wonder if the private sale got rolled back when it was confiscated or if they just ended up having to take a big hit on that one.

 

Well, the way I see it is PCGS has offered the reward to "examine" one of the coins but makes no mention of whether or not they'll publish or even report the results. One "could" assume they'd do this but, IYRC, they have, in the past, examinedcoins which are subject to confiscation such as the 1974 Aluminum Cent.

 

I may well be mistaken but my recollection is that they have to examine and grade the piece. If the coin is graded, I presume it has to at least be reported on a population report (even without a media splash), thus, putting it out there publicly.

 

And it's worth melt unless it's a recent forgery from a foreign land.

 

I believe that reward is safe as is the $1,000,000 reward for a live Bigfoot.