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@JBK said:

@U1chicago said:
Many people understand that mistakes happen and will work with a seller to reach a fair resolution.

In your case, you did what you could but the buyer took advantage. If something similar were to happen, it would be best to offer the buyer to return the whole order (you pay return shipping), refund then if it arrives, and then send out the correct order after they pay again (this is a longer process but it better protects the seller). Also don’t worry about threats of negative feedback as that is one of the things that can get eBay to remove it since it’s not allowed.

Yes, sellers do have some protection. The buyer should have done a SNAD return and then you could ship the other coin.

Sellers don't want the defects that create a lot of problems with service metrics; buyers can open a lot of cases even with flimsy excuses which also raise defects. People of honor won't keep what's not theirs.

@bammbamm said:
As a Heritage client, I remember when that 1913 type 2 Buffalo Nickel struck on a $5 gold planchet came to auction. I think it is a fake, intentionally made to pass as an extremely rare error coin and to sell at a steep profit above the value of its gold bullion -- which it did -- it sold for $78,000 at Heritage in January 2021.

I am not a professional grader nor do I work for a TPG company, but I have seen many Buffalo nickels and U.S. gold coins, and the look of this coin does not add up to being what it is claimed to be nor having been produced by the U.S. mint.

Here is my evidence, but you be the judge:
1. The color of the surfaces of the coin look fresh and new, not 107 years old, as it was when it was "found" and encapsulated. In fact, the color of the surfaces look the same as the the gold in the test cut mark on its rim. There is no old skin tone on this coin.
2. The metal flow caused from long-in-use, old dies matches the metal flow of a 25% nickel/75% copper five cent piece, but it does not match the metal flow of any 90% gold/10% copper gold piece that I've ever seen.
3. The die clash from the chin, under the E Pluribus Unum, on the reverse matches the soft, rounded die clash of many Buffalo nickels struck on a 25% nickel/75% copper planchet, but it does not match the usually sharp-edged die clashes seen on any gold coins.
4. The auction description itself casts a few doubts: why old worn dies would have been used, and the unknown history of the piece that just happened to appear out of nowhere after 107 years.

My theory is that the coin was struck from dies that were made from a cast of a mold of a 1913 nickel -- and a worn, poorly struck one at that. This would explain the metal flow and the AU wear look.

I have always thought that was a strong possibility.
(Thanks for having the wherewithal to voice this opinion.)

Here is a copper counterfeit I own (photos taken just now):

On an added note, keep in mind there were some truly talented counterfeiters back in the day.
We are so inundated with crude chinese counterfeits today we possibly forget the skilled forgers of the past.

This is an example I own of a contemporary counterfeit that fooled many after these were struck and placed into circulation:

edited to fix photos

Many people understand that mistakes happen and will work with a seller to reach a fair resolution.

In your case, you did what you could but the buyer took advantage. If something similar were to happen, it would be best to offer the buyer to return the whole order (you pay return shipping), refund then if it arrives, and then send out the correct order after they pay again (this is a longer process but it better protects the seller). Also don’t worry about threats of negative feedback as that is one of the things that can get eBay to remove it since it’s not allowed.