VDB? I don't see it

http://www.teletrade.com/coins/lot.asp?auction=3164&lot=1058

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

you see them with the VDB weak sometimes, and I even try to stay away from those. but i'm not seeing it at all in these pics... might be a error by the grading company?

 

That's a high dollar grading error then

 

What if teletrade messed up their pictures?

 

Oh, I've seen six figure grading company errors first hand! This one isn't too bad

 

And it wouldn't be considered to be a grading error. You buy it and send it in under their guarantee and it would be a "mechanical error" and the guarantee doesn't apply. And if they crack it out and correct the error it probably wouldn't be returnable either.

This is a real white elephant. No one is going to pay the high cost for the "error" slab, and the TPG won't buy it back, so the owner is stuck with an "SVDB" that no one should pay more than 1909 S money for. Be interesting to see if it doesn't sell, sells for 09 S money, or if someone buys the slab label and not the coin.

 

Slightly off topic, but I was reading Teletrade's return policy and guarantees and dang if that isn't a bunch of odd language. If they were to sell a fake slab, I honestly couldn't tell what they would do. I'm guessing you have the same 7 day return policy, but beyond that, I don't think I could find anywhere where they guarantee that they are NOT selling fakes. Thoughts?

 

I don't see and vdb. I don't collect Lincoln cents, but if I did, I'd stay away from this one. I wouldn't be surprised though if someone bought the holder without even looking at/thinking about the coin itself.

 

It's marked as "not sold" this morning, either it was not bid high enough or received no bids. NGC's website shows that slab # as an s-vdb so I'm not sure what to think.

 

Personaly, I never buy that kind of coin without seeing it first hand. The coin shown does have a questionable mark on it where the VDB should be but that picture isn't clear enough to make a good decision.

Sent from my PD_Novel using Tapatalk

 

But there is an upside to the Weak VDB coins. A few years back in Dalton/BRNA show a fellow came up with a 1909-S VDB, Weak VDB, that he bought as a 1909-S. The seller hadn't noticed the weak initials on lower reverse. No I wasn't interested in buying it, but still he got a 1909-S VDB for 1909-S money. It was a raw coin, about 63BN.

 

A mechanical error, say the person who opened the invoice accidentally typed in the VDB by mistake, would carry through and it would still show as an SVDB on the confirmation website.

 

I guess I would wish to see the coin in hand to make sure its not a VDB. I may not be an expert like some others, but I have seen these coins where head on like this its hard to see the VDB, but tilt the coin and you can see the initials.

Now maybe that would be classified as a weak VDB, and not as desirable, thats fine. I am just relaying my experience that on some of these you need to tilt the coin to see the initials clearly.

Chris

P.S. Lol, TPG won't even back up the date on the slab, yet they are our savior in this hobby, huh?

 

I bought a 1909 vdb MS65RD (no s) off teletrade a while back. I could not see it in the picture, but sure enough, when I got the coin it was there.

I think Teletrade's pictures could be better and on coins like this, they need to include a closeup picture of the "v.d.b"

 

Good information. I am glad I am not the only one who has to have these in hand sometimes to see the VDB. It seems the initials were put on the curved area near the rim, not directly on the field, so straight on shots sometimes can be hard to see them.

 

I can see it there for sure. I can't tell if it's weak or not, but I see it plain as day. Maybe if you zoom in you see it as well.

 

Just for the info, why would a weak VDB be less desirable than a strong VDB? After all, if it's identifiable as a VDB then that's what it is. If anyone has a weak SVDB that they don't want, contact me.

 

Very simple... when the price difference between the 1909-S and the 1909-S VDB is at least tenfold, and the only difference between the two coins is the V.D.B. initials on the reverse, most collectors want to be able to clearly see that difference that adds so much value.

I still don't think this is just a weak VDB, even when weak, you can clearly make out the letters. It's not a lighting issue as there is plenty of light near the lower reverse rims... and if you think you can make out the letters when zooming in, it's just your eyes playing tricks on you wanting to see letters. The lettering should be as clear as the lower tips of the wheat stalks, even on a so-called "weak VDB." I think NGC just screwed this one up.

 

A week VDB would only be more desirable if you were the one who cherrypicked it as a plain '09 S.

 

if this coin is a 09-S rather than an 09-S VDB, it is worth more as an error slab than it is as an 09-S