I bought a slabbed Anacs coin graded as AU Details with damage and chop marks. I was lucky the dealer I bought it from refunded my money but it bothered me it was slabbed. I even contacted Anacs and they verified the serial number as belonging to a 76S trade dollar. Is it possible I jumped the gun in sending it back? Here is a picture of the reverse. Notice all the bumps on the fields.
My opinion -- look at the "S" in Grains --- pure FAKE. The chop doesn't look right, either; looks like it was added last Tuesday.
If for any reason you had cause to believe the best thing for you top do was send it back, then you made the correct decision.
That large lump down beside the D in Dollar, I don't know what it is but that's not from any rusted die. Nor would it be found on any genuine coin unless there is a corresponding indentation on the obv. Is there ?
The coin may have spent years in the sea and suffered because of the salt water and other things on the bottom of the ocean. We have had 100's of them over the years with really thick black gunk that must have been oil that sank with the coins and formed a tar like substance that coated the coins.. These bubbles may also have been caused by heat from the sinking ships or trying to remove that tar.
I think it would take more than a chop mark to do that. I've seen many coins with chop marks and not one ever had corresponding marks on the opposite side. Now a countermarked coin, yeah, they have corresponding flat spots on the opposite side, but never lumps like that.
When a coin is graded with details, does it come with an explanation of what those details are? (I only have 2 slabbed coins & neither have details.) Thanks from a newbie.
Well, kinda but not really. NGC will add a short note that may say - harshly cleaned obv or whatever. And PCGS puts a code number on the slab, and it is up to you know what the codes mean. They are found here - http://www.pcgs.com/grades/
Those lumps are probably occluded gas. If you poke them with a stick, they'll give. It's a planchet issue and not something that can be used as a diagnostic for a real/fake coin. They can also be caused/exacerbated by application of heat, although any discoloration that would have resulted seems to have been cleaned away. You may have jumped the gun returning it, but if you really didn't like the coin, you did the right thing.
In a modern coin I'd accept that as a possibility, but in a Trade Dollar ? It's not something I've ever even heard of let alone seen in a 19th century coin John.
