USPS cracks 'em for ya!!

Askari

I finally broke down and competed on eBay for the first time. I won a nice, scarce Goetz pattern coin for less than half price. Sadly, "someone" named Virgil Brand saw fit to entomb it in a plastic coffin ... and didn't even notice that NGC mislabelled it.

In any case, I received the coin today and it's as nice as Staples' picture. Thanks to the USPS, the slab came pre-cracked for me. Fortunately, the coin wasn't damaged! It was shipped in a Safe-T-Mailer in a regular envelope, insured, and marked "DO NOT BEND" (in large, unfriendly letters) ... so, the USPS crushed it instead. In fact, I'm surprised it arrived so promptly. I knew they couldn't ship until they returned from Long Beach, yet the Zip code was incorrect (wildly so) and my name and address almost completely smeared off by whatever did the damage.

So ... take care how you mail slabbed coins -- the USPS is earning their higher postal rates!

itsnotjustme

A safety mailer inside a regular envelope is no way to ship a slab. Envelopes go through mechanical sorters. Bad things happen when they get to the slab.

prooflike

Awesome coin!!

gmarguli

You need to ship them in a padded mailer. Those don't go thru the normal stamping machine. Those machines will smash any slab. I had a fellow board member return a PR69DCAM Kennedy to me that got smashed.

Your coin: The reverse looks nice. The obverse looks like what a foreign coin should look like.

Pushkin

I've had the same thing happen to me. But, it was really the seller's fault. Poor packaging. Its easy to blame the USPS, but in fact the sellers should know better.

The seller gave me the usual BS, tried to blame the Post Office, but he was just lazy and didn't wrap the slab properly.

Just my two (broken) cents.

RNCHSN

I've had a few ANACS slabs get cracked the same way. I'd have to pay for regrading on some of them because they are cracked right in half and you can seperate the pieces and remove the coin.

Askari

<< <i>Awesome coin!! >>

You bet!! See what you're missing by not being on the Dark Side, Prooflike?

<< <i>Your coin: The reverse looks nice. The obverse looks like what a foreign coin should look like. >>

Yep, I got it for the reverse ... the obverse is no better than any typical US design -- which is likely why it remained a pattern.

I agree, the seller should have known better. I sent him a nice email on that point and gave him a favorable feedback rating. I do wish, though, that the USPS hadn't done the job only half way. The cracks run diagonally across the face of the coin on the obv., but fortunately mostly bypasses the rev.

Any advice from the cracking experts on how to safely complete the job without risking damaging the coin?

lordmarcovan

I remember the coin well, O Thou Mightiest of Dark Ones.

Thats a @#*%ing shame that the sl*b was cracked, though.

(Explanatory note to the Lightsiders: that four-letter word sometimes has dirty connotations on the Darkside, so over there, we spell it " sl*b ", so as to not trip the Darkside censors.)

I had a PCGS Ike dollar come that way once (back in my misguided modern coin collecting days when I actually bought Bald Guy Bucks, heheh). The sl*b was busted clean in half, fortunately without ill effects to the coin, which I returned for a refund, since the seller was a nice guy about it. (I had decided I didn't want an MS66 Ike, anyway, since if I gotta buy a Bald Guy Buck, it'll at least be a DCAM proof.)

Sorry that your very first eBay purchase was flawed in a way- but you got a helluva nice piece, there, as I'm sure you know.

Spooly

Any advice from the cracking experts on how to safely complete the job without risking damaging the coin?

It's a foreign token... does it really matter? Use a hammer!

mids1999

I can tell you from experience with usps that the best way to mail any coin is to
put it in a well padded box and send it registered mail. That mail is treated much differently then
standard or priority mail.

The do not bend written on the envelope will most likely do nothing as the bending is usually done
on the usps sorting machines and almost every envelope goes through one of these machines at one
or more points in the shipping process

Certified boxes do not go through these machines. They are handled by a person through all stages of the
shipping process.

My father works for the usps and this is his advice.

lordmarcovan

<< <i>It's a foreign token... does it really matter? Use a hammer! >>



Spooly, wash thy blasphemous mouth out with soap!

Sacrilege! Beware lest ye anger the Powers of the Dark Side!

Petescorner

There was a letter to the editor in the most recent Coin World that was responding to the difficulty in cracking PCGS slabs. The author basically said that the rollers in the USPS sorting machine do a great job!

itsnotjustme

Askari,
I take a hack saw to the slab just below the insert. Once the top is off, I pry it apart. I think that would work for your coin too... just may need to pry a little lower wear the breaks end.

Dog97

That's a cool & great looking coin. What is that in front of Wilheim's nose, a lint mark or fuzz on the scanner bed? SaftT mailers in a regular envelope are no way to mail slabs. If the slab means anything to you it can be reholdered at NGC for $5.

littlewicher

I recently got a PCGS PR69 DCAM silver state quarter in the mail that had its holder smashed. I was mad. The seller just put the slab in a padded mailer and that's it! I usually wrap the slab in bubble wrap and put it into a padded mailer. I'm going to send the coin back.

Conder101

I don't thik you can blame Virgil Brand for entombing that beauty in plastic. He died something like 60 years before that slabbing company was formed.

koynekwest

Make sure the seller packs 'em right-they'll get through OK. You DO need more than a Safe-T mailer and an envelope.

crito

about had a heart attack when PCGS sent my four freebies back in a safe-t mailer inside a flat envelope. no cracked slabs tho

gmarguli

PCGS uses registered mail wh9ich does NOT go thru the postal machines. They are done by hand.

SLQ02

"Thanks to the USPS, the slab came pre-cracked for me."

Thank the seller. That's where the blame lies. Of course it's always easier (and fun) to bash the USPS.

Askari

Just got back from a business trip and I do have to say I was disappointed that I didn't even have a response from Staples.

<< <i>That's a cool & great looking coin. What is that in front of Wilheim's nose, a lint mark or fuzz on the scanner bed? SaftT mailers in a regular envelope are no way to mail slabs. If the slab means anything to you it can be reholdered at NGC for $5. >>

Thanks, Dog!! The fuzz in front of Wilhelm's nose was on Staples' scanner. I don't plan to re-sl*b it, though I guess I ought to pass the unfortunate news onto NGC so they can correct their census.

Thanks for the advice, Brian! I've been leery of doing that since I'd have to grip the cracked part and I doubt it would survive the strain ... and I don't want it taking its anger out by scratching my pattern proof. I'll have to jury-rig something up this weekend to ensure the safety of the coin while securing the sl*b from the other end.

Mids is quite right. Any valuable coin should be sent certified or registered. I hope our newbies learned something!!