Well that's interesting! First real buys since January. And kudos to PCGS and Stacks btw.
Stork
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I won a lot, a slabbed Japanese koban, at the Stacks Hong Kong auction. Was emailing about something and was told they were removing that item from my invoice as PCGS notified them it's a counterfeit and it was getting returned to PCGS. (I had not paid my invoice yet).
Interestingly, within a few hours I got an email from Heritage that an auction I was watching for a Japanese oban was withdrawn from their upcoming auction.
Kind of crazy that two old Japanese gold coins like that were pulled at the same time. I thought the one I won was a bargain price but now I suppose it's because someone in person may have identified it as a fake. Kudos to PCGS and Stacks for handling it BEFORE I paid for it. But I am seething with curiosity over the backstory. My imagination is running wild.
That said, I am excited about my purchases. A really cool date was buried in a multi-coin/mixed lot, plus a good upgrade, AND a super cool variety that seems to have been overlooked by other bidders. I haven't bought a coin that I can recall since NYINC so this was fun.
And on that note, anyone interested in a 1916 Russian kopek? It was bundled with a couple Japanese coins, one of which was super cool and the other is pretty darn cool.
Comments
I’ll bet a Japanese saw it at lot viewing and tipped off Stacks. PCGS probably had nothing to do with it.
Was the HA lot also certified by PCGS?
I'm guessing that too, but the Stacks guy (Matt) made it sound like PCGS was being proactive. Perhaps he was being kind. And yes, the Heritage lot was also certified by PCGS. Makes me wonder if it was the same submitter. Stacks (and PCGS) made sure I dodged. They could have let the sale go through and I would have been none the wiser.
Their customer support and quality controls have degraded so much over the last couple of years that I would be honestly shocked were this the case.
8 Reales Madness Collection
Did you happen to get the cert numbers?
Could be one bad submission as you mention. Or a new counterfeit type that just appeared.
I'm not used to perusing PCGS cert numbers. I grabbed screenshots. And let's hear it for preview or you would have been privy to the full screenshot, and would have died laughing at how many tabs I keep open
. ETA different types, and honestly now that I've gotten my proceeds from Stacks, I just might have bid on the Heritage one too! I may hold out for one with a JNDA cert too.
The Stacks one. The price really was too good!
The Heritage one:
https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-11XCD2/japan-koban-1-ryo-nd-1859-ansei-era-pcgs-ms-62
The auction I won. Catalog (JNDA and the new JC) value is a lot higher than the sell price.