I doubt this could this have really happened at a grading house!
Ringgy
Posts: 58 ✭✭
A few years ago, I came across an on-line auction that started a few weeks before the in person auction near my home, there was a coin I was looking for listed, a 1912 S Liberty nickel, it was graded F 12 in a slab, ( I don't remember who graded it) so not much to look at, but it is a somewhat rare coin . The price on line was at $40, so I decided to look at the coin closer, I had the 1912 D, and as anyone who knows this series, only 1912 had mint marks D and S
The slab had 1912S and yes, as I recall the letter S was that close to the number 2 but when I looked at the reverse of the coin, there was no mint mark S, so the $40 was already about $38 over its value, I felt obligated to go to the auction in person and tell the auctioneer in charge of the issue, their response was, " We had Experts look at all the coins" The expert clearly looked only at the slab and not the coin, so I went over to inspect the coin in person just to make sure the internet picture was exactly what they were selling,
it was.
So I sat through the auction until the Philadelphia Coin was on the block, it went for about $250.00 and as soon as it was over, I approached the person who won to tell him of the bad news, and told him to at least look at the coin!
He said he was an auctioneer buying it for someone in another state and that he was confident everything was fine.
I can only beleive someone swapped out the 1912 S for a 1912 and got away with it, I would think this sort of thing can't be easy to do, but someone in Kentucky got robbed
Comments
Grading companies make mistakes.
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I don’t think anyone at a tpg would swap out a coin
Lots of people look at the slab without looking at the coin
Sounds like an unfortunate mechanical error. They aren’t common but the TPGs are people, too. In the end it is the buyer who should at least verify the basics of a coin before buying.
It happens. I own an NGC 1851O 3CS marked as 1851.
The funny thing is I bought it from a dealer who didn't notice the difference, WHILE we were discussing the idiot across the aisle who was trying to sell an 1951S Franklin in MS63 marked 1951 for $500.
Our wives know each other, and no, I've never told him I cherry-picked him. Although in that grade the 51O was worth about $20 more than the 51.
ANA 50 year/Life Member (now "Emeritus")
If this was a grading house error.
What is incredible to me is, who in there right mind would send a low grade almost valueless coin in to be graded? Or do people do this hoping the grading house has that same opinion " only valuable coins come in" so it must be the more valuable version, so it is graded as such. I guess people see what they want to see sometimes, whether it's a grading house, or a buyer of a rare coin that's not.
I'm so glad I started this discussion, it made me think more about mistakes that can happen
Thank you everyone!!!!
Many Years ago, I was at an estate auction(not just coins), there were several gold coins in the auction. I noticed that just about all of the 5-6 coins were fakes incl the $3 piece. I informed the auctioneer and he basically said the same thing as above, we have professionals review the coins. Knowing a few of the people in the room I informed everyone I knew about the coins, and word got out, and when the coins came up , nobody bid. The auctioneer was so mad, and asked me to leave and never come back, and just about everyone there for the coins walked out behind me, and they basically just shut down the whole event I was told.
That’s X-Files talk.
Whoever mAde the label made a mistake.
Also, there are a number of coins in holders that cost less than the price of admission
You are surprised at a TPG mistake, why be surprised at a submitter mistake
I once bought a 1839 seated half dollar on ebay , ANACS labeled as With drapery but was actually the No Drapery scarcer variety. Got a good deal on it!
I bought a 1911-D Indian gold $10 where the slab label said that it was a 1911-S. The mintmark on this particular issue is quite small so I can see how this happened. I just took a fine tip Sharpie and made a notation on the slab as to the correct mintmark.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
I bought an 1870 Seated dollar in AG which turned out to be an 1870-CC in Good.
An authorized PCGS dealer, and a contributor to the Red Book.
Mistakes certainly happen... we have seen many shown here. What bothers me though, is the individuals not listening to the inputs and at least calling in an 'expert' to clear up the issue. Cheers, RickO
mistakes happen and some people are just too smart to help. another example of "No good deed shall go unpunished" and thanks for sharing it.