The Ack! Thread

scottgardener

I sent in my quarterly special, a 1903 $2.50 graded MS63 as a regrade, hoping for an MS63+ or maybe even MS64. But, I got a notice that it downgraded, with a buyback offer. As a consolation, I can now afford the next coin show, though my registry set has a huge hole blown through it. That, and if it went down when I expected an up, then I need to work on my own grading skills.

renomedphys

Ack! What did you miss? Photo?

scottgardener

I won't know what I missed until tomorrow, when I can call back. I got the email on a Friday afternoon. By the time I saw it, it was too late to call. All it says is that "unfortunately, it downgraded," coupled with the option of either getting it back raw with $650 or a flat-out buy-back offer for $1000. I plan to call tomorrow to find out whether it was just AU or in some way altered, such as improper cleaning. I suspect it's the later, since the offers included returning it raw rather than in a downgraded holder.

I don't have pictures since I took the coin down from my registry set, but if need be, I can find a place to put a picture and link to it.

scottgardener

Update: It indeed was certified Genuine Not Gradable. I phoned the customer service rep who emailed me the buyback offer, and she offered to email me back further details. I accepted the buyback; if I had opted to keep the coin instead with a check for the difference, they would have sent it back raw, not holdered Genuine, so it must have been pretty bad. I'm very curious, because the coin looked pretty sharp.

Perhaps it had been dipped, and on regrade they thought it was overdone. Whatever it is, it's something that was subtle enough to fool the experts the first time around, so I don't feel too bad.

Note also that I had opted to keep the coin, the check would have been for $350 less; that's quite a bit for a common date $2.50 with problems, so it was a pretty easy choice to make. There's a big coin show coming up in less than two weeks, but I'll be coming back from a vacation at Disney World, so I'll likely hang onto the money for the next month or two before I start looking to fill the vacancy in my set registry entry.

I've not had the best of luck with the $2.50 denomination overall. On my first submission, one returned Genuine and another not even that--it turned out to be a counterfeit, so the dealer who sold it bought it back. I had another one return Genuine. Then, I finally got one to grade--and it seemed to break the curse by coming back higher than expected. I bought it as an AU, a 1929 Indian. It's color was a bit muddied, but its features looked pretty crisp, and the only thing I thought keeping it from being uncirculated was a rub on the obverse figure's cheek. To my delightful surprise, it graded MS61, and when I got it back, I took a magnifier to the "rub" on the cheek, and it was on further inspection simply a bad scratch. After a series of trade-ins of other coins, I bought this coin in an MS63 holder, and it looked pretty sharp; I wondered why it had not graded higher. This buy-back was certainly unexpected, but at least I'm coming out a little ahead of what I paid for the coin, or what I'd get trading in a properly graded MS63 common date Liberty $2.50 as part of an up-trade for an MS64.

That, and I learn a little more about coin grading in general with each submission.

tradedollarnut

I bought this coin in an MS63 holder, and it looked pretty sharp; I wondered why it had not graded higher.

Many coins that collectors believe are PQ are actually silently net graded for a problem the collector does not recognize.

19Lyds

<< <i>I sent in my quarterly special, a 1903 $2.50 graded MS63 as a regrade, hoping for an MS63+ or maybe even MS64. But, I got a notice that it downgraded, with a buyback offer. As a consolation, I can now afford the next coin show, though my registry set has a huge hole blown through it. That, and if it went down when I expected an up, then I need to work on my own grading skills. >>