What's the most you ever got burned on a coin?

Numismanic

Mine is $250.00 for a 1934 Washington quarter. I bought it raw from a local dealer who advertised it as an MS67. The coin looked fine to me, blast white and very satiny. I figured it might go 66 at PCGS so I submitted it. It came back BB (Not Genuine). I would never buy a key date coin raw, but a 34 quarter! I could have received my money back from the dealer, but decided to keep it and chalk one up to experience.

Don

mgoodm3

about $250. A 1838 h10c. Billed as MS, body-bagged for cleaning. Cleaning's pretty subtle but visible with a loupe.

ss350camaro

<< <i>It came back BB (Not Genuine). I would never buy a key date coin raw, but a 34 quarter! I could have received my money back from the dealer, but decided to keep it and chalk one up to experience. >>



For $250 i would have marched right back in to the dealers store and got my money back! If he's reputable he should have no problem refunding. Especially since it was authenticated by a reputable TPG.

Just my opinion tho :-)

Russ

Got burned on a few ACG slabs when I first started, but none were more than $30 or so. Thought I got burned on a bust half for $60. eBay picture showed a nice original coin, but a harshly cleaned POS showed up. Later sold it as a harshly cleaned POS for nearly what I'd paid.

Russ, NCNE

DHeath

Lost $150 on a 1811/10 Bust half with a whizzed patch on the obverse under toning. I've had several that were sucessfully returned that could have been far worse. Last year, I bought an 05 proof Barber half for $650 (way too cheap) that had also been whizzed and retoned. There were actually brush marks in the bottom of the neck crevices. Wish I'd have saved the pics. The one pictured also was returned sucessfully. It's a 21 Peace dollar that was much more subtle. I did save a pic of this one. The pic on the left is straight on, and the one on the right reveals the hairlines.

Zorman

It cost me $350.00 for what i was told was a walker 1942 d ms65+ 1941 d ms65 1942 ms65+ I asked the guy if i should have them graded because i would like them slabed to keep them in good shape. This is his reply.


These are absoluetly choice coins which you bought. Many people have many varying opinions regarding grading services. I personally don't enjoy coins in the certification holders because they lose a little of their appeal in viewing. I would get a nice Dansco album and keep them stored in that. They are easier to store and can be viewed all at once rather than pulling out individual slabs and comapring them side by side. Just be careful of the slides in the album, opening and closing them can put minute scratches on the coins surface so make sure the coins are seated in the album all the way before closing the slide. Thanks again I will assist you in anyway I can so do not hesitate to ask me questions.

so i bought them and sent them in. Thay looked good to me but i guess not. ouch ouch ouch.

1941-d au58 1942-d ms64 1942 au58

rhedden

Bought an 1879-o Morgan that looked MS-63+ and had faint yellow toning over much of the obverse. The dealer bragged to me about his friend who is a coin doctor and does AT while I was buying from him. That should have been the point where I got up and left. A couple months later, I looked at the coin and decided it was AT. So I dipped the coin. What did I have to lose? Semi-PL, original UNC better date dollar, toning was very light, albeit fake. Well, the coin was covered with hairlines under that AT. I can't believe to this day how well the fake toning (which was very light) covered up all those little micro-scratches. I honestly believe it would've fooled PCGS or NGC had it been submitted. Now I have an ugly dog net AU-58 that would bodybag at ACG. It's sitting in my junk box.

Russ

<< <i>These are absoluetly choice coins which you bought. >>



Zorman,

The word "choice" means MS63 which, with some dealers, translates to "slider", which means AU58.

Russ, NCNE

cosmicdebris

First Gold coin I bought raw from a local dealer. 1900 $10, dealer told me it was MS62, paid MS62 money for it. 2 years later PCGS said it was an AU55.

Russ

<< <i>I honestly believe it would've fooled PCGS or NGC had it been submitted. >>



I doubt it. You'd be amazed at how good both of them are at detecting cleaning under toning on a Morgan. They see them by the boatload day in and day out.

Russ, NCNE

Zorman

The dealer is the one that posted them at ms65+ thow there are a lot of terms i dont know yet. Thanks.

dorkkarl

1934 is a common c/f, & just you like describe it, the fakes have excessively satiny luster.

i lost $300 on a single pcgs-certified buff. it's been my worst actual loss to date.

K S

ealandg

Way too much money for a cleaned bust dollar. I can't talk about specifics because I will start wigging out and break my PC into a thousand little pieces.

paigowjohnny

Haven't added it all up, but probably a bit north of $1000 on dipped slider Morgans and Walkers from the famous Coast to Coast, Skyline, and Coin Depot.

ss350camaro

I bought two raw gold coins off ebay a couple years ago. Had them for about 5 months and decided to re-sell them.
A guy in Florida bought them both. I shipped them out and a week later he gets in touch with me telling me they were both counterfiet.
You can guess my shock, I was looking at a $300+ refund. I went around and around with him for a couple days. Asking him how sure he was, blah blah blah. He decided to send them to NGC. They came back "body bagged", as i've heard the term used.
He sent them to me in the NGC flips with all of the documentation.
Luckily, in the mean time, i was able to do some research and figure out who i had bought them from. I contacted them and they agreed to take them back and refund my purchase price. With the NGC documentation they were also able to track backwards and get thier purchase refunded from thier seller.
This one turned out good but i'm sure there are horror stories out there that didn't fair so well.
A definate learning experience for me. I'll never buy a loose Gold Coin again unless the seller is a well know Gold dealer and can verify authenticity to my satisfaction.

Theop

<< <i> I could have received my money back from the dealer, but decided to keep it and chalk one up to experience. >>



I am having a really hard time understanding your rationale here. I don't think the experience and the getting ripped off would in any way be mutually exclusive. If anything, it would just reinforce that dealer's motivations to sell coins like the one your purchased (assuming he knew it was a copy) or would deprive him of the knowledge that he bought a counterfeit (assuming he didn't know it was a copy).

Numismanic

<< <i>I am having a really hard time understanding your rationale here. I don't think the experience and the getting ripped off would in any way be mutually exclusive. If anything, it would just reinforce that dealer's motivations to sell coins like the one your purchased (assuming he knew it was a copy) or would deprive him of the knowledge that he bought a counterfeit (assuming he didn't know it was a copy). >>



Theop, The dealer I bought the coin from was fooled just like I was. I have done business with him for 20 years and he has been very honest with me. He would gladly refund my money, but once I lose possession of it I could not guarantee that it would not find its way back into the marketplace where it would continue to cause further harm. So ethically I have two choices, either destroy it, or keep it as a reminder of my inexperience at detecting such a fake.

Regards,
Don

ss350camaro

<< <i>Theop, The dealer I bought the coin from was fooled just like I was. I have done business with him for 20 years and he has been very honest with me. He would gladly refund my money, but once I lose possession of it I could not guarantee that it would not find its way back into the marketplace where it would continue to cause further harm. So ethically I have two choices, either destroy it, or keep it as a reminder of my inexperience at detecting such a fake. >>


Don,
Maybe a good compromise would be to talk with the dealer friend and try to come to a mutally agreeable settlement. Something on the lines of a 50% refund and you both agree that the coin is to be distroyed. One of you destroy it in front of the other in his shop.
Seem fair? That way both of you end up somewhat happy and your loss is cut in half.

Thoughts ?

Numismanic

<< <i>Don,
Maybe a good compromise would be to talk with the dealer friend and try to come to a mutally agreeable settlement. Something on the lines of a 50% refund and you both agree that the coin is to be distroyed. One of you destroy it in front of the other in his shop.
Seem fair? That way both of you end up somewhat happy and your loss is cut in half.

Thoughts ? >>



Doug, thats a good possibility, but for now I would like to keep it for educational purposes and maybe help others to be able to detect such a fake. As for the financial hit I have probably offset the loss by cherrypicking his stock boxes over the last 20 years!

Regards,
Don

Theop

Thanks for the reply.

I wasn't trying to be jerk, I just made the incorrect assumption that you didn't let the dealer know the coin he sold you was a fake.

It makes sense now. Thanks.

keoj

I think that I have most of you beat. $1200 on eBay about 6 years ago. Thought I was buying a very rare variety and the second that I got I identified it as a counterfeit. Seller refused to refund money saying that the coin was genuine (it was quite obvious that it was not). Then I started my effort to get the money back:
- Brought case to eBay (they eventually pulled him off eBay)
- Attorney General of the state where this person was from
- Better business bureau
- Attorney - It was going to cost me more to bring suit than I was going to get from the guy
- ANA - In proving the coin was a fake
- Secret Service

In the end, I wrote it off. It really hurt but I generally haven't lost faith in humanity.

keoj

dan1ecu

I've been lucky - I bought a $50 Morgan in an ACG holder that turned out to be "Altered Surfaces." Oh, well. It was a cheap lesson!

Dan

airplanenut

I've never really been "burned"... here are my two stories:

My first 09-VDB (unc) I thought was silver toned... turned out it's plated. Dang, $5

An 1842-O half I got (VG-10/F-12) for VG money. Nice album toning, so I like it. Some have said it's tooled. Even if it is, turns out it's a rare variety, so heck, it's worth much more than VG money... about 100 known!

Jeremy

coinlieutenant

I lost 160$ on a PCGS Proof 66 dime once...
Nothing too exciting...

Veep

I got burned once for $600, by myself. Sure, I bought the High Relief $20 certified as AU58 by one of two leading grading companies and from a large, well-respected dealer but I should have known that it was an AU50 at best. I hemmed and hawed about keeping it and finally did. Then, everytime that I looked at it, I hated it. I wound up selling it for $600 less than I paid, took my medicine and moved on. Lessons learned.

pontiacinf

495.00 on a 68-98 mint set deal off of...ohhhhhhhhh do I say it..QVC