Surprising PCGS assignment of a provenance

Boosibri

For the 1765 Guatemala Pillar I have been posting, PCGS assigned the ex. Richard Stuart Notation to the slab despite the previous holder making no reference to the collection nor me providing documentation. The coin is not imaged in the NGC gallery. The coin IS in fact from the Stuart collection but was sold prior to any NGC labels or NGC gallery being created.

Make no mistake, I’m happy they assigned it and prefer it but could offer no documentation to substantiate it myself.

PCGS either knew the coin and proactively assigned the provenance or assumed as much which seems less likely. Either way, pleasant but puzzling surprise upon opening my package.

Abuelo

I doubt they assumed. Nice surprise!

pruebas

What a beauty!

SaorAlba

My guess is that the so called "sniffer" ie their image database hit a match. That is a nice suprise!

TwoKopeiki

@SaorAlba said:
My guess is that the so called "sniffer" ie their image database hit a match. That is a nice suprise!

Or the graders / finalizer(s) read the forums.

Nice surprise.

Boosibri

@TwoKopeiki said:

@SaorAlba said:
My guess is that the so called "sniffer" ie their image database hit a match. That is a nice suprise!

Or the graders / finalizer(s) read the forums.

Nice surprise.

I dont think it was the sniffer as the coin was in the Stuart collection from the early 80’s from what I can surmise and was submitted to NGC with the sale.

My best guess is that this coin was sold to Stuart by Don Canaparo (who vaguely remembers the coin) and that it was sourced from Dom Domingo Irigoyen (based on what Carlos Jara suggests).

Interestingly, this Freeman Craig sale from 1981 notes a “near UNC” example (note, the other highest graded coin is an AU50 today), which was being offered by a collector for $15,000. Surely a reference to this piece.

Boosibri

Yorkshireman

Congratulations, Brian

asheland

Excellent coin!

Rexford

Amazing condition for a pillar 8R. Congrats!

bidask

What a GREAT surprise ! Congrats

scubafuel

Glad it worked out. I feel that if the collector does not specify a provenance, it’d make sense for PCGS to shoot them a quick email confirming that they want it on there.

MrEureka

@scubafuel said:
Glad it worked out. I feel that if the collector does not specify a provenance, it’d make sense for PCGS to shoot them a quick email confirming that they want it on there.

Agreed. No harm done, of course, but still good practice. FWIW, I’ve had the same thing happen ATS. In my case, with a less useful provenance.

pruebas

Certain dealers “launder” coins to remove the provenance and change the cert number. It would be interesting to see this practice backfire....

scubafuel

I just know one of these days I'll send in a raw piece and get a congrats on my new Hansen provenance.

Clio

Great news and stunning coin! I have often wondered how difficult Provenance is to get on raw coins with auction tickets. Seen a few hit eBay and was unsure.

brg5658

Beautiful coin @Boosibri !