Best Of

Wow. You've been around and much more involved in the buy/sell/trade than I can claim. I will take all this into consideration but that coun is beautiful and not at all what I consider an artificial look these days.

@MsMorrisine said:
i wouldn't call them scratches so much as some contact marks from some part of the moving machinery or it moving along the machinery

i wouldn't label something imparted from a wacky strike as damage. however, i also acknowledge the market would pay more for one without it

as far as metal moving on metal in machinery, the name for what you are seeing is chatter

chatter scratches? My feeling is that the straight grade of 65 is as good as it should get. That chatter scratch that runs through the eagle's legs to the rim is very distracting. It's damage.

@raycyca You stated: "As soon as I can possibly clarify 2 areas of information that I need to obtain from PCGS, then and only then can I tell the whole and complete story and ALL questions WILL be answered."

I can only assume you still haven't found out exactly what's going on.

The suspense is killing me.

Please give another update when you can.

For what it's worth, I hate that you had to go through this.

Years ago I sold a proof silver eagle if I remember right; the buyer left immediate positive feedback before receiving it; it came back to me for whatever reason. No communication from the buyer but refunded him, I'm hoping he's ok. This hobby is a brotherhood and I believe we should be honorable people, honoring our word and taking nothing unless we give the customer what they ordered.

Neat coin.
I am slightly surprised at the MS65 grade though.

@Mr Lindy said:
Was in NGC 65 holder for a few years, now PCGS. The thing I am curious about is the color. Likely toned, however I do hope it might be on Cupro Nickel, not 40% silver.

@braddick said:
Neat coin.
I am slightly surprised at the MS65 grade though.

There are nearly 2 grams difference in weight. If you have another IKE in same generation slab, you should be able to determine by total weights.

I did not realize it was the same as sold at Heritage. It sold a couple years before there for more than double.

Here is some additional information:

When I bought my 1927-S in 64. I paid over 65% above retail. I got into a bidding war. The strike was phenomenal and so were the surfaces and it looked better than most 65s that I’d seen and it was still priced less than a 65. I got it into my head that I HAD to have it. A Close Walker friend, at the time, chastised me and told me that I paid way too much. He meant well and was only saying it for my own good. You can call me a fool but that coin was unique and special and I knew that I would never replace it and I wanted a good, quality example for my set. Besides, at least one other person (The underbidder) recognized it’s high quality, as well. I still don’t regret it and prices have risen since then. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it..😉

That’s one of maybe seven times out of well over 100 times that I really paid more than I should have. Most other times I paid around PCGS retail. I have also gotten some real ‘you suck’ sort of bargains on extremely rare, high end material. Remember, there will always be winners and losers in your collection But if you show a net profit, you are ahead of the game. Also, if you are a specialist in your series and you recognize a coin with unique attributes, then paying up or paying more than fair market value is not always a bad thing.

The short answer to the OP’s question is:

Sometimes, you can’t avoid it but it is not always necessarily a bad idea.

The original package was returned because no one signed for it. I'm not sure sending another item that needs to be signed for is the best option. I might send a regular letter and see if it gets returned to sender.