Advice on newest shipment... =(

cypher

Ok I finally received my 1940 PCGS MS66FS Jeff that I've been waiting on for a while for my type set. So as I open the padded envelope, loupe in hand ready to go, the slab was inside of the invoice taped shut. Ok, no big deal, but as I started to remove the tape from the paper wrapped around it, I felt the slide move in a way it shouldn't have. With shaky hands I remove the tape and open the paper and find the slab cracked in two. The kind of thing to ruin your thanksgiving. So after studying it more, it seems that the coin is truely Ms66FS and has not been switched as only the top section was broken off. The bottom half with the coin has been unaltered. Anyone ever run into this? How often does this happy with the USPS? Is this something he could have done, hence wrapping it in paper and taping the paper shut to deceive me?

I guess my main question is, where do I go from here? I'm about to email him and alert him as to what happened. This was insured also. So, do I have to deal with USPS now? Or deal with him directly? Since the coin is there and the coin itself is fine, just the slab broken, what do I do now I suppose is what I'm asking. Any suggestions? I would have posted a picture but I left my digital cam at work Wednesday so I'm without. Thanks!

ClarkOfKent

Might be easier to just send it in for a re-slab.... if it's broken in such a way that the grade label couldn't have been switched, and the two halves match up where it's broken.

cypher

I've never sent anything in before is my problem. Should I really be laible for shipping and the reslab if none of this was my fault though, or would it be easier because of the other routes I would have to take to get this taken care of?

Placid

I would try to get a refund if the coin is not really hard to find in that grade.
If it is I would probably keep it if it has not been damaged.

The postal service is probably going to claim the item was not packaged right and that is why it was damaged.

DCAMFranklin

I had a similar incidence with a 1957 PCGS PR-68 Franklin that I thought had enough Cameo contrast to make the Cameo grade at NGC. When the coin arrived here, the PCGS holder had been cracked diagonally from top left to bottom right. I went to the Post Office and obtained a claim form. I sent it to the seller for his completion and signature. I completed my information, signed it, included the PACKAGE it arrived in (my postal clerk told me that was important) along with the coin and submitted for reimbursement. Less than 2 weeks later, I received a full reimbursement from the Post Office.

If the coin had as much Cameo contrast as had been evident in the seller's scan, I would simply have submitted the coin for grading to NGC. Upon examination, the reverse was not up to the Cameo grade.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

BNE

Sorry about the bad luck, Jake!

This happened to me once. I had bought a nice proof Jeff from David Lawrence, and the slab was cracked when it arrived. Pretty much horizontally. I called them and let them know about the problem, telling them that I would appreciate them sending it back for re-slabbing. They were very nice, said "no problem," I shipped it back to them, and a few weeks later I got the same coin back, reslabbed. My only cost was the postage back to David Lawrence. I could have done it myself, but I viewed the "fault" -- if there was any, as not my own, and I didn't want to get stuck if there was some issue related to the reslabbing.

What you do here may be somewhat related to whether the seller is an individual, or a larger dealer (who wouldn't be fazed by such a request). I would try to have the seller do the reslabbing: it really is his responsibility to ship properly. And even if he balks, as a courtesy, he ought to know that his current shipping practices may not be sufficient to protect the coins he's selling.

If he says "no," I think "neutral" feedback is appropriate, explaining what happened. Then, send the coin to PCGS, explain what happened, and pay the $5.00 reslabbing fee.

The coin I had a problem with was only a $50 coin, but customer service like I got from David Lawrence definitely builds up loyalty.

Hope this helps.