What happened to Gitbud Numismatik?

Now you have:

 

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Understood, but may I point out along with authentication Mr. Sear adds quite a bit of the coin's history, inter alia rarity & grade.
I would think that the most important point is that the coin isn't a fake...and then you go from there.
As I mentioned, to each his own.
J.T.

 

I agree with this. Third party grading companies are rather more competent than incompetent or malevolent auctioneers, and are rather less competent than the best numismatic companies. They are no more or less competent than the person who looks at the coin. But with one big difference. High end numismatic sale companies such as CNG and NAC have to refund fakes. TPGCs offer no guarantees and no refund of a coin purchase price.

I prefer the views of a high quality professional numismatist, selling something that he might have to refund, over a grader who has "no skin in the game" anyday.

And as said on a parallel thread, if a defect is visible on a photo, then the coin with defect is what you are buying whether or not there's text that also mentions it. The photo is what's informing you. Read it. Don't buy a coin with an obvious crystallised edge break, send to NGC who looks at it 1/4 second and notes crystallised edge break, and then expect to go back to the seller who already provided you with a photo showing this info.

This is a connercially highly risky hobby that requires some element of personal responsibility and eventually expertise to judge who to buy from and what defects are on a coin. If you haven't the expertise then buy from NAC or CNG or a few other of the largest companies. But if you buy from some small company whose numismatists also aren't great, then sending the coins that you buy to NGC is just gonna make you unhappy

 

Hello sand,
Welcome to our discussion group.
David Sear offers the same caveat that NGC does regarding a 'guarantee' of authentication.
Basically acknowledging that we all are fallible, although with his many years of experience, number of Ancient coin reference books, & being quite possibly the most noted coin scholar in the world, his opinion carries considerable weight.
J.T.

 

Can we see a picture of the fake coin?

 

Thanks J.T.. I have greatly enjoyed reading the many interesting threads on this forum.

 

Thanks again, Ed.

 

https://www.numisbids.com/n.php?p=lot&sid=1904&lot=61

 

Man I love Cointalk. Excellent post sir, thank you.

 

Solution for @tartanhill : consign the coin at Lanz and surely it will be considered genuine coin

 

You are welcome

Sometime Cointalk threads need a dose of plain talking from old hands about the need to gain expertise to know what you're buying, and to find out whom is good to buy from. The caveat emptor principle and personal responsibility to closely examine and check what you're considering buying, doesn't have any fallback insurance. By all means slab your coins but a slabbers view provides no comeback in a seller dispute.

 

Well, last October I bought another hekte from Bertolami and sent it in to NGC as soon as I received it. It too came back as not genuine. I immediately contacted Bertolami with a picture of their listing of the coin and a picture of the coin returned to me in the NGC holder showing it as being not genuine. Within a week my refund was in my bank account. There was no dispute about whether NGC was right or wrong, so I assume Bertolami took their word as to the coin not being authentic. Without the backup from NGC, how would I have ever proved the coin was fake?

 

I'm hardly a proponent of slabbing ancient coins, but fair's fair and this obvious and well-known cast in an NGC holder doesn't "prove" anything at all about the current practices and success rate of NGC. Yes, once upon a time NGC Ancients was notorious for egregious blunders like this--I've also seen Caracalla misidentified as Elagabalus in an NGC slab and vice versa--but all that was before David Vagi reorganized the department from top to bottom, joined more recently by Barry Murphy. Of course Barry and David aren't perfect because no one is, but I guarantee you NGC isn't making mistakes like this now. Not even once in a while. Not ever.

Phil Davis

 

IDK, maybe an opinion of another expert? Mr. Murphy and Vagi are fine men, and I listen to their opinion, but they could think its fake or simply are unsure and unwilling to take the risk. There are others who are as expert or more in the series.

 

Does David Sear today in 2021 look at and approve every coin submitted to his company for certification or does he employ a staff? Many people get to his age and consider retirement. Below is a Sear certificate dated 1976 and signed by Mr. Sear. I probably lowered the market value of the item by cracking the coin out of the flip but the staple was rusty and I was more interested in the coin than the paperwork. With or without the original staple, I suspect the paper is worth more than the bronze. When I got this one two other CT members bought other coins from this period. I do not know if they removed them or not.


Like slabs, 45 year old Sear certificates make it hard to get a good photo unless you crack them out. The image below shows the coin, correctly described on the certificate, and adds a coin of the undertype to assist in reading what was going on here. This was the cheap (40p) version without photograph. Mine is numbered 2036 but I do not know if he started with 0001 (anyone?). Who here has a lower number? I believe the coin to be genuine and as described so I won't be seeking redress for the price I paid for the coin. I assume David Sear's eyesight is holding up better than mine and I'm a few years younger.

 

Agreed. I would trust Barry and David's opinion over any numismatists with 'skin in the game' any day.

 

Amazing I can't find a Wikipedia article about Sear? But must be hitting 80 at this point I am thinking.... so he was around 35 when the ticket was written.. quite a career...

 

If I well remember helios had problems with coin from Illecit provenance, their problems started from there. many coins were confiscated after one of their acutions.

 

And still going strong! He is working on a new series now published through Spink, and serves on the KOINON editorial board.

 

Why not write one?