Before I tell you the Grade - please check out the Note from these un-retouched scans that I took. I was ecstatic when I received the Note because it was so pristine and is rather rare being a Tombstone and even more rare being a Tombstone with the ornate back: (click to Enlarge) OK, so - the PMG grade is VF 25 with Minor Repairs. I don't get it ?? In the first place I cannot find any repairs even using a jeweler's glass and scanning for 10 minutes. The seller also said he could not find any repairs (of course). Obviously there MUST be repairs but they are not visible. The note, to me, looks much better that a 25. There is one pinhole and NO visible folds. I bought this with no Grade Holder then looked it up and to my surprise it was graded. So somewhere along the line, one of the previous owners removed it from the sleeve. I imagine he had the same shocked response to the Grade that I am having and just could not stand to leave this gorgeous Note inside of that "25" holder. Was it wrong to remove it? Probably but I can understand why. But the Grade - what in the world is going on here !! I want to keep this. Should I resubmit? Or does PMG rarely ever change a Grade ? I don't wanna waste $35 bucks. Even worse . . . I could end up with an "Apparent" which is the kiss of death. What would you guys do ?
I currently collect small-size notes, and was entertaining the idea of collecting large size notes. A good friend and very experienced paper money guru advised me to "Only buy third party graded notes with good eye appeal that you like, buy the best grade you can afford, examine each and every note carefully, be patient and start with the less expensive large size notes until you gain confidence in your grading abilities". Once PMG enters the FR. # and serial number, they will see their previous grade and notations. Will PMG change their grade ? I'm guessing it's doubtful. At this point you could take your chances sending it to a different grading company for their opinion, or leave it alone. It's not unusual for notes to be removed from holders, repaired or improved and regraded or resold, being described as nicer than the previous assigned grade. I think the note has excellent eye appeal, with great colors and clean paper. Some of the expert note doctors can do minor repairs undetectable to you and I, but not hidden from the expert graders working for the third party grading companies. I'm a small size collector, and would also like to hear what some of the large size collectors have to say.
One way to see if it had been repaired is to look at it under a strong LED light, or ultraviolet light. If there had been a repair, sometimes it shows up a darker color, or black under those lights. Other than that, I'm with the others with this grade. Looks better than 25.
Thanks for the tips. I'll have to try the Black Light trick. They must use some special glue that has no shine to it and just sort of melts into the edges of the paper, bonding it invisibly. I guess since I have no immediate plans to sell, the best thing is just leave well enough alone and just be happy that I have a nice looking Tombstone.
