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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Insider, post: 8281948, member: 24314&quot;]AMEN.</p><p><br /></p><p>Decades ago, all that was needed to authenticate <b><font size="5">US coins </font></b>was a fluorescent light and a stereo microscope. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie8" alt=":D" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>Now I&#039;m telling on <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie25" alt=":blackeye:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> myself.&nbsp; To the best of my knowledge (based on &quot;returns for authentication mistakes&quot;) on coins I personally examined from 1972 to 1985, I only made two extremely <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie30" alt=":bucktooth:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> bad errors - both out of complacency!&nbsp; I missed an embossed mintmark on a Buffalo - once. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie3" alt=":(" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> And the first time the 1959 &quot;Mule&quot; was seen at the service, <b><span style="color: #b30000">it was sent out as a normal 1959 cent!</span></b> <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie46" alt=":facepalm:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /><img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie45" alt=":eggface:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie15" alt=":arghh:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /><img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie15" alt=":arghh:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> Due to familiarity, it never dawned on us that it was special.&nbsp; That is until a news reporter called the office. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie57" alt=":jawdrop:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> I like to tell the story of this coin in each authentication seminar to stress the need to be alert.&nbsp; Every coin is sent in for a reason.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now to Jack&#039;s point.&nbsp; As soon as TPGS had to make decisions on coins that were corroded, damaged, and had highly altered surfaces, authentication became much harder.&nbsp; Combine that with the highly deceptive fakes of today it is even harder.&nbsp; Now, throw in ancients and foreign coins that most professionals are less familiar with and forgetaboutit.&nbsp; The job is really hard today and we don&#039;t have the option of holding coins until we reach a decision.&nbsp; Furthermore, I cannot imagine how anyone who has not been examining the microscopic surfaces of coins for decades can even do it to a high percentage (99%) of accuracy! </p><p><br /></p><p>Thankfully, TPGS have always had help from consultants <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie26" alt=":bookworm:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> and collectors<img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie26" alt=":bookworm:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> like Jack and his group to help get it right in the end.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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