Whew! I got a "refund" on the tuition I thought I paid.
Barberian
Posts: 3,778 ✭✭✭✭✭
At least 10 years ago, I purchased this 1878-CC half raw with no returns allowed. It was, and still is, the most I'd ever paid for a raw coin. I knew it wasn't perfect but it was a VF and looked OK to me. I checked it carefully to see if it might be fake (proper type for the date and lettering, die lines, bubbles, etc.). EVerything seemed OK so I took a chance.
When I got it in hand, looked at its surfaces, and compared its mintmark with other 78-CC's, I thought it was a fake and that I'd paid $1800 "coin education tuition". The surfaces were porous and it showed signs of cleaning, thinking it was for hiding the work on it. Finally, the mintmark looked too fat for a 78-CC to me. So I put it directly in my Dansco and back into the SDB, too afraid to give it a soak fearing the mintmark letters would fall off, and essentially ignored it or cringed at it when I saw it. I feared sending it off to a TPG for the final verdict.
Examining my coin against 1878-CC diagnostics in Bill Bugert's catalog of die marriages for Carson City Seated Liberty halves, I now feel some confidence that it's actually real. The diagnostics that I can see check out as real. The mintmark wasn't too fat and was in the proper position, most die markers were visible, it passes the ring test, After the final reed count (143 reeds), I finally relaxed. I didn't get burned on tuition nearly as badly as I'd feared.
I doubt I'll ever put out that kind of money for a coin that doesn't have TPG approval for at least its authenticity. I'm just thankful that it's real and I didn't get burned for $1800.
Has anyone else with a similar experience misdiagnosing a real coin as fake, only to find out it's real, or am I a special kind of stupid?
Comments
I believe I read where somebody misidentified one of the 1913 Liberty nickels as fake.
Yes. It was believed to be lost, but the family of the owner had it the whole time. It was one they had on their possession but assumed was fake.
@Barberian... That is a great story, with a great ending. Many collectors have the reverse experience.... the one you 'thought' you had initially. Glad it worked out for you. Cheers, RickO
I love a happy ending.
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 like the coin !
It's got a great look.......
You can never go wrong buying the book before the coin. Your coin is great proof of that saying(beautiful coin btw). I buy books for coins I will probably never own, but they make great reading and knowledge is power or so I've heard. I'm so glad you came out unscathed. Great luck.
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
I once thought I got burned on a "rim bump" on a 37-D Oregon Half. I later learned it was a die diagnostic and it graded MS66.
Great coin! Just the right amount of 'dirty'.
I once put out a BST request for some counterfeits to use as educational aids in our local club. A fairly prominent dealer sold me some supposedly bogus Barber halves he picked up at an estate sale for a tad more than the cost of shipping. Turns out, they were genuine semi-key date coins. I made a decent amount selling them after they were successfully graded by our host. Life is funny sometimes.
The bummer is, I didn't end up with any counterfeits to use at the show.
A "beautiful coin" at a distance perhaps but not if one looks closer and sees the corroded surfaces. This coin has unacceptable environmental damage for straight grading, IMO. Cleaning off the black crust exposed micro-pitted surfaces. I'm sure that's why it was for sale as a raw coin.
I realized the coin had some issues but it was an opportunity to get a decent-looking higher grade coin (it has VF details) for a Dansco collection for a low price. Nowadays, it looks like a problem coin to fill the hole, and I'd rather have a quality, no-problems G-VG for the same price.
I've adjusted the color to better match the coin in hand.
I'm trying to figure out why I felt the mintmark size looked smaller than those in other photos of 78-CCs. It must have had something to do with differences in lighting. I don't see differences now in comparing my coin with those shown in Bill Bugert's (2013) CC die marriage book. His book wasn't out yet when I bought the coin.
@Connecticoin I understand what you're saying about the Oregon half - the weird fat rim on the obverse at 3:30 I wondered that as well until I saw it on other Oregon halves and I realized it is characteristic of them.