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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;NorthKorea, post: 2492313, member: 29643&quot;]I decided to do a search for PCI on eBay, and beyond a ton of boards, I saw mixed in a PCGS MS64 coin that said PCI on it. This got me to thinking a few things:</p><p><br /></p><p>1) Obviously PCI holders allow gas in somehow, or else that would make no sense... which led me to wonder why PCGS would grade *any* orange or yellow toned Morgans?</p><p><br /></p><p>2) Given the gas permeable aspects of PCI holders, why would people leave nicely toned coins in them? I would think this aspect would accelerate the terminal toning process moreso than an alternate company&#039;s holder.</p><p><br /></p><p>3) Are the holders themselves causing the toning process to speed up beyond what would be experienced in &quot;normal&quot; holders?</p><p><br /></p><p>4) Given 1 &amp; 3, why don&#039;t people submit Morgans to PCI specifically to have them tone? If this is indeed done, wouldn&#039;t that be considered AT?</p><p><br /></p><p>To the other randomness...</p><p><br /></p><p>In the last week, I acquired two 1883-O 36a VAMs, one SEGS graded and the other raw. The raw one looks either cleaned very harshly or MS60. (Seller had listed it as PL, but it clearly isn&#039;t in hand, but they were gracious enough to offer a partial refund, which I gladly accepted.) I don&#039;t know how else to explain it. The obverse looks UPL with a bunch of scratches (which includes an &quot;x&quot;)... and the back has frosted fields with one large interruption... which is PL mirror. I thought the reverse looked a bit frosty in the fields, but thought maybe it was just a matter of poor photography. When I got the coin in hand, the contrast was a lot more significant.</p><p><br /></p><p>Did the 1883-O series have super polished dies with specially prepared planchets? These aren&#039;t proofs, since I know those were rumored to exist, as far as I can tell.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/QPQAAOSwaB5XoVdT/s-l1600.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p><img src="http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/vEQAAOSwtnpXoVdY/s-l1600.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p><br /></p><p>The SEGS one was an overpay (offered about 95% of what you&#039;d expect for NGC in the same grade), but I was actually quite pleased in hand. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie8" alt=":D" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> The only issue I have with the coin is a big black mark across the surface. That got me to thinking... Is the coin possibly MS details because of the black mark? It covers about 12-15% of the coin surface.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/FyMAAOSwqfNXkCtd/s-l1600.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> <img src="http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/-SMAAOSw0fhXkCtl/s-l1600.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p><br /></p><p>So, all in all, I&#039;m pleased with my purchases, and I believe the SEGS coin may have sold quicker if the seller had color balanced to the lavender on the front side, a little better. I don&#039;t have photos of the coins in hand, but I&#039;ll do my best in a follow-up post to show my impression of how they looked in hand with color balancing.</p><p><br /></p><p>Personally, I like the SEGS holder, and it&#039;s too bad PCGS doesn&#039;t buy them out for the holder patent. Then again, PCGS seems to be doing a great job of improving their holders on their own.</p><p><br /></p><p>I decided to submit the raw along with my cousin&#039;s coins he found in a fire destroyed safe to ANACS under their 10 for $99 + $29 service. I hope Paul&#039;s group is able to conserve the coins that I sent in. None are especially important, but they represent a nice array of environmental issues, and I&#039;d like to see what the conservation fee really covers. I included a very gross looking Philippines coin with thick verdigris (or possibly paint, who knows) to see what extend the conservation fee covers. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie8" alt=":D" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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