Best Of

Well, folks, I ran an experiment, and this forum failed miserably. I posted a fake picture of a real eBay listing of a rare 1909 cent selling for around $59,000 to test whether anyone here would give accurate information on its rarity and value. Instead of offering real insight, every comment downplayed the coin’s significance, claiming it wasn’t rare or valuable.

What’s worse is that some of you clearly knew better. The so-called “investigators” here figured out the coin’s rarity but chose to stay silent or give vague, dismissive responses. Why? To avoid giving someone else credit for a valuable find? To downplay someone else’s success? It’s clear this forum isn’t about helping others learn — it’s about protecting egos and gatekeeping information.

I came here to see if anyone would give honest, accurate feedback on a well-documented rare coin, and instead, I was met with fake advice and outright misinformation. The fact that I had to fake a listing just to see if anyone here actually knew what they were talking about is proof enough that this forum is unreliable.

If you’re looking for genuine advice or honest guidance, this is not the place. It’s a community that thrives on downplaying others and withholding the truth. The moment I posted proof of the coin’s actual value, the silence and dismissiveness spoke volumes. This place is a joke — nothing but a circle of people pretending to be experts while keeping others in the dark.

Congratulations, forum. You had the chance to be helpful, and instead, you proved you’re not trustworthy. I tested you, and you failed.

@Fordee4 said:

@FlyingAl said:
A 1909 VDB Matte is a rather rare coin, and one that very few people have the expertise to identify based off of images. Hell, sometimes even the TPGs get it wrong with the Mattes. It also seems that more than one poster caught your little trick, which renders your point here completely moot.

Try your little "experiment" again with a DCAM 1866 $20 and see what some people say.

My point exactly!!! They knew the rarity and value but chose not to give information instead they chose to be negative Nancy about the cent and assumptions and downplaying

You've managed to miss every single point I made.

yeah, the eye roll is not a mint standard response, but if they had a non-handwritten sign regarding this, then you have your answer

A nice seated half, carson city would be an excellant start 👍

Yes, thanks. What you are doing is very important.

Collecting coins is like having a classic muscle car. There will always be a market for both.

Very cool.

First off: never clean a coin and always handle by the edges. Secondly: take your time, don't be in a hurry and research is always worth the effort.
Dimes shown are silver and worth what silver is worth, nothing special.
Same with nickels, nothing special.
Key dates can be seen in your red book (hopefully he had one of those).

Peace and Morgans need to be researched for Vams: check on Vamworld.com. But, just because it is a Vam does not mean, necessisarily that there is added value. Check for top 100, 40, etc on the Vams.
Have fun hunting and researching. Auction houses cost a ton of money in fees or commissions. Be wary of that. Great Collections.com is a great way to sell the good stuff and they will get the raw coins graded for you prior to auction. Check them out.

good luck,
bob
When you do find something that you think is special be sure to check ebay completed sales for the exact same coin. Helpful for sure.

@NJCoin said:

@WQuarterFreddie said:

@WQuarterFreddie said:

@WAYNEAS said:
@WQuarterFreddie
I am not savy enough to post links as the http is like 100 characters long. lol
I just re-ran my search and now GC only lists 29 items and has moved some of the coins out to latter auction dates.
I did a Narrow your Search, search after using the Advance search blue link.
I listed in the coin search block 2019-w to 2020-w.
In the grading range, I used from grade 1 to 70.
I then checked the pcgs and ngc tabs under the grading services.
I entered Quarter dollars in the all denomination box and then hit the go button at the bottom.
If you get the results that you want, remember to hit the save this search button for the next time that you want to use it.
Best of luck.
Wayne

This GC auction for a 2019-W Lowell quarter with the "circle of death" damage raises questions in my mind.

Why would someone bother to have this graded by our host? Why would GC accept this coin for auction and more importantly set such a ridiculously high starting bid for a coin that is essentially worthless?🙄

https://www.greatcollections.com/Coin/1407086/2019-W-America-the-Beautiful-Quarter-Lowell-National-Park-PCGS-Genuine-Unc-Details

@ianrussell

I met you at the Whitman Coin Show in Baltimore a few years ago. I remember you as a very kind person and very willing to help a new collector.

If and when you have a few minutes available, I would appreciate your feedback on my questions regarding the above W quarter currently up for auction on your website. 🤔

To be clear, my questions are not intended as an attack on Great Collections as I respect you and your company.

They are meant to help me better understand online auctions and how they operate.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Thank you!😎

Didn't you answer your own question in the other thread? 😎

@WQuarterFreddie said:

@Goldbully said:
Talk about greedy.....#14 sold for $38k, the eBay seller is asking $100k.

Testing the waters or fishing for a sucker?

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SB Link
eBay Link

More like exercising their right to sell it for however much they want.

If someone wants to pay that much it will sell. If not, then the seller can choose to lower the price or keep it.

Lol, talk about irony. A pointless point from captain obvious. Sure, anyone has the right to ask for whatever they want, everyone already knows this. However, WE have the right to criticize or question their credibility if they choose to do so.

A better counterpoint might have been that the wildly inflated price could actually be a very effective marketing tool. Remember, there's no such thing as bad publicity. Perhaps I'll do the same with some ridiculous ask price on one of mine to draw attention too my inventory .

No PCGS no longer has a grading set, it was sold off pre covid if I remember correctly. Grading sets are only useful if the coins in the set are accurately graded. The question is do you want a grading set that reflects real grading or one that uses market graded coins. I don't own a grading set, but if I were to do one, I would choose CAC beaned or CACG coins as those are going to be in the top half of the grade a very high percentage of the time.