Scam offer ? Brass plated cents...

Now those are great items. Informative, well put together, and a lot of knowledge went into them. And I agree whole-heartedly, there are far worse scammers on Ebay and I do put a lot of effort into ridding it of them.

I will state now, for the record, that Mr. Potter is not that low. There are people that believe a sin is a sin, no matter what the sin is. I believe that while a sin is a sin, there are different levels of sins, just as there are different levels of scams. Mr. Potter's penny is a "baby" scam while many of the scammers on Ebay do things that are MEGA scams, but even some of the major scammers offer some items of value, like Mr. Potter does.

I liken Mr. Potter to celebrity endorsements, who will sell items that relate to them, all for a buck. Does his penny really add anything to our numismatic community? Can it even be called a true variety? It isn't anything more than sorted pocket change.

He should stick to doing the other wonderful things he does, because his penny is a "blimish" on his reputation.

Ribbit,
Toad :smile

Ps: Does anyone know how old Mr. Potter is? It was over twenty years ago he sent those three pennies in. Was this nothing more than a childhood dream finally fulfilled?

 

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I only noticed the small ad in NN. I do know the large full page+ ads in CW and NN are mainly placed the less reputable dealers.

I have a funny feeling that if I brought this item to my local dealer, he wouldn't buy it. I also feel if I placed it on the bidboard with no reserve, it would probably sell for $1, or not sell with a $5 reserve.

 

If they like them, then that's otay with me but I just don't like the use of the RARE word where it doesn't belong. I guess I've gotten so tired of seeing the word abused on Ebay, I think PROFESSIONAL Numismatics shouldn't use it except where it fits.

Ribbit :smile

 

I know Ken Potter from my Detroit days and the Royal Oak coin club, way back when I was a youngster, and he was an up and coming "star" on the scene. Ken was the go to guy for anything wierd....he has turned it into a successful full time carreer, and has probably done more for the error and variety crowd than anybody since Fivaz and Wexler.....

 

So he's an error fanatic of sorts? If so, then those pennies could be considered a childhood (youth) dream and I can see where he'd go a little overboard. Enthusiasm can make anyone a little weird.

Ribbit :smile

 

Yeah, he's wierd. Sort of like VanAllen, Wayne Miller, Rick Snow, Q.D. Bowers, David Lange, John Reich, Overton, Sheldon, Newcomb, among others. You know, the guys that have spent a lifetime researching and sharing their information to the benifit of all of us.

Wow

 

Otay! He's not a con-artist, he's weird! :hammer:

Ribbit :smile

 

Who is this JT Stanton that signs the slabs ?

Where does PCI rank in the alphabet soup of grading services ?

 

Interesting thread

This one sure got interesting folks.

I've seen a lot of opinions and a lot of comments. I already backed Ken Potter as very reputable.

"Weird" is a matter of opinion. Hey non collectors think collectors are weird so we're all weirdos. I'm good with that.

Hey, I've been sorting a bag of wheats and found a 1944 D/S. It's a sought after item by many and I had the limited knowledge to recognize it. Then asked for help. If no weirdo had ever looked for such things I'd never have even thought to check.

As for resale value. I don't think he's looking to sell these to "investors". He's looking to sell these to people that want them.

Would it do good on a tip board. Heck yes, if EVERYONE that walked in was into that particular coin.

I'm not interested in that tyoe of coin but betting many are. Owning one means something to them just like owning other coins means something to us.

 

Did Ken Potter use the word Rare?
I didn't see that.

 

From reading this thread I would believe every body that says Ken is respected in the hobby. My question is why would he risk that reputation by trying to sell cents like these. Anybody that roll searches cents reallize that the alloy mixtures will give all different colors. Any given roll may have three or more collors on uncirculated or Au cents. Not Rare or unusual.

 

You're right! My bad. :headbang:

I got so frustrated with "New Discoveries" and "inadvertently" that I mixed up the Treasury's use of "not a rarity" and "not uncommon" and attached it to Mr. Pottor. I'll retract that statement and be more careful in the future when I quote someone.

Ribbit :smile

 

Someone needs to check their dictionary.

"Inadvertent" mean unintentional-not deliberately done, and has absolutely nothing to do with rarity or commonality. The Mint does not intentionally or deliberately contaminate the copper plating solution, even though it knows that such contamination can occur.

 

From his site his career seems to be as an auto worker, not a coin dealer.

He’s been employed with DaimlerChrysler for 32 years were he is a quality inspector. He has operated a mail order business since 1973.

I do believe he is selling a nearly worthless item here.

How much zinc has to get into the copper to make the cut for this "variety" ?

 

The problem I have with Potter's coins is this :

I looked at his stuff, some of it is cool, but very low interest. He had something like a 61-D cent with D over horizontal D, pretty neat.... but it needs to be of general interest... it has to catch like a 55 DD cent... somebody has to be the later buyer.

I read a cool article in NN about $2.50 Gold, some dates have only like 100-200 known, and mintages like 6,000 pieces. You can get some of these for like $600 in fine. Way better potential there, IMO !

One can get too specialized, I think he has gone there. He promotes iffy stuff, IMO.

I think you need to balance collectability with demand, and not pay too high prices for stuff with no market.

 

He has some cool stuff, but alot of it is low interst. I sold a 64Red 1961 D/D Horiz about 2-3 months ago for $105 or so.

Some of the rpm's and stuff can bring some nice money. I was very happy with that sale.

 

Well... just because it's not 'general interest' doesn't mean there isn't a market for what he sells. There are a fair number of people who collect die varieties whether that is doubled dies, repunched mintmarks, over mintmarks, "wide AM" cents, etc...

You mention the 1955 DDO as being of interest, probably you'd consider the 1972 DDO also to be of interest; it may surprise you to know that there are many other issues with highly sought-after doubling on them, for which you would have no trouble finding a later buyer.

 

I'd like to say that with what I've learned and also knowing how I like variety coins myself (different variety though) I can see where the market would be for this coin and Mr. Potter didn't hide the letter from the Treasury Department, where it said it wasn't rare for it to occur, so he is at least honest with this little endeavor of his. :smile That says a lot about a person!

Ribbit :smile

 

Agcollector made some good points here.
What may not interest you may greatly interest another. Will I buy one? - NO, but until this thread I didn't even think about them. Had never heard of them.

Mail order since 1973. Let's see, works for a living, no internet, no time to run a coin shop. Mail order was the way to go man.
If I'm not mistaken Ken Potter has also found a few varieties on his own.

Now this may be boring to you. Hell, it actually is to me for the most part, but I won't knock it. I look at all of the coins I get. Just not as closely as some. I just found my RPM book by James Wiles. Man, have you ever seen that book? There's like a gazillion different RPMs in there and people took time to find and categorize them.

As for the auto worker comment. So?
I paint for living and if I find an unusual item, put it up for sale and back it up with a money back guarantee does that make me a scammer? Sure hope not as I have a few auctions running now and I have a pretty good reputation.

....and there you go Toad. He's not hiding anything.

clembo

 

The Toad has been licked !

Seeing any colors, Clem ?