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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 863688, member: 19463&quot;]I am concerned that people seeing this thread and especially the quoted post will not realize that the linked sales were for fake coins.&nbsp; The second one even describes the coin as fake commenting on what a good fake it is.&nbsp; The first one has a giant red flag beginners need to learn before bidding on anything.&nbsp; When a seller says that he knows nothing about coins, is selling the coins for a little old lady as a favor or something <u>may</u> be a real coin, take it as a sign to run (not walk) in the other direction.&nbsp; It usually mean that the seller knows the coins are fake or at least suspects it because someone he doesn&#039;t trust told him they were bad but he figured he can salvage something from the mistake he made buying them.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Collecting struck coins is a fun hobby but one that comes with less than 100% guarantees.&nbsp; Dealers that make guarantees are just saying that they will take the hit if it later turns out that they were wrong about the coin. The biggest and most respected houses make an occasional mistake and have to pay out good money to correct it.&nbsp;&nbsp; A trick used by some sellers is to offer 10 coins that are known/probably/possibly fake with guarantees that the money will be returned if the coins are proven fake. Of the ten, five may come back which means the other five were sold to someone who may never try to sell the coin or never believe the people who, years later, tell him the coin is bad.&nbsp; I never plan to sell my collection.&nbsp; Any fakes it contains will be subtracted from what my heirs get for the coins assuming they sell them.&nbsp; Several of the dealers I have patronized since I started in the 1960&#039;s have passed away so any fakes I bought are mine all mine.&nbsp; If you want a sure fire investment product that requires no risk and no study to guide your purchases, ancient coins are a bad place to look.&nbsp; That is why David Vagi and other honest slabbers are in the business.&nbsp; They are offering, for a fee, a little comfort to those who want to buy coins beyond their own abilities.&nbsp; Few of their coins are sold to experienced collectors but the target market is people who want a little hand holding as they enter new waters and are willing to pay for it.&nbsp; I do not know what percentage of NGC&#039;s coins are actually expertised by Mr. Vagi or how qualified the rest of his staff are.&nbsp; It is not a concern for me since I would not own a slabbed coin for longer than it took to pry the thing open.&nbsp; Fortunately I have never seen a slabbed ancient that I wanted badly enough to pay for a service I don&#039;t value above the value of the &#039;Raw&#039; coin.&nbsp; I hope that will continue to be the case for a long time to come.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Do realize that not all slabbed ancients are NGC and possibly worth even less than the plastic boxes they come in.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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