1905-D German Mark, gorgeous luster, strike, etc., but... [now sold]

gscoins

...some clumsy person put a noticeable ("staple"?) scratch on the obverse, running under the word "mark" to about 8 PM on the rim. Here are the photos:

Here's the back story: Earlier this year, I won two raw German marks from a Swiss auction firm: 1905-D (this coin) and 1906-D. The auction photos suggested they were extraordinarily nice and, for once the pix were accurate, at least for the 1906-D, as PCGS later graded it as an MS67 (a PopTop for this year and mint). But a quick look at the '05 revealed the aforementioned scratch. Since I had purchased it separately from the '06, I emailed the firm, told them about the damage and asked permission to return it for a refund. They got back to me immediately, stating that they didn't want to incur the return shipping costs and offered instead simply to refund my money, with me keeping the coin. This deal sounded perfect to me, except that I forgot about the fixed charges my bank levies on wire transfers of foreign currency, which ate up about 1/4 of the refund. Still, since the '06 came back as a 67, I have little to complain about.

Before I wrote to the auction house, I took the coin to my local B&M shop and consulted with the owner about whether the scratch would prevent PCGS from giving the coin a straight grade. He was quite sure PCGS would not give it a straight grade, a conclusion I regretfully have to agree with.

So, I have decided to part company with it. It is 60 euros in stempelglanz (BU) and my 2016 Krause has it at $110 in MS 63, but obviously not worth those sums in view of the scratch. Anybody want it for $15.00 postpaid? First PM gets it.

Thanks for looking.

MattTheRiley

Me!

MattTheRiley

PM Sent @gscoins

neildrobertson

I would have been all over this. Even with the mark, this is an exceptional coin. Really strong strike with good dies.

gscoins

Thanks for the comments and interest! MattTheRiley was first, so I'll be sending it to him.