1930-S standing liberty quarter

shawn

On March 18th 2017 I saw a 1930-S standing liberty quarter for sale in BU for $239.57 in APMEX'S inventory. I snagged it. To me the coin is beautiful, but when I sent it to PCGS for grading, it came back with the following grade?: "PCGS Genuine Questionable Color-UNC detail" I included a file of the coin below. Comments are welcome. Shawn, the bewildered coin collector.

Insider2

The coin is a toned BU. However one grading company thinks the color is not normal. So, AMPEX cannot be faulted (their employees may not be as expert as the TPGS ) and the grading service is OK. Why, not contact the seller and let them resolve it?

Insider2

@shawn

Tough love: You are not qualified to have a valid opinion on anything you see in an internet image!

A friendly suggestion that is based on the experiences many of us have gone through as beginners. DON'T BUY ANY RAW COINS until you have learned how to grade for yourself and that should take a long time without professional instruction. I think you will find the collecting experience more rewarding if you only by coins already graded by NGC, PCGS, ICG, or ANACS. I can make a good case for using either of these services; however, everyone has a favorite. You can read all the comparisons on the Internet forums. If there is a coin club in your area, join it. Listen to all you are told but test it for yourself. I have found that many folks giving opinions are not qualified no matter how long they have been dealing or collecting! Have fun and no raw coins. There are no good deals out there for beginners.

shawn

thanks insider2, most coins i have bought have been coins i saw and liked them...so i bought them. I have also bought lots and lots of silver bullion..just because. I agree with ya and have been thinking about joining a coin club locally. I watch the legend auctions too and for a short time now i have been buying coins i have seen in some of those auctions that have fetched a good deal of money. so i went out and tried to get coins that are the same or as close as i can to them. for example i bought an 1880-O morgan about 4 days ago and a seated liberty quarter 1853-O also i bought a 1937-D buffalo nickle. I guess i'll have to learn the hard way. knucklehead that i can be at times.

Insider2

Go easy, most of us did what you are doing. That's why we suggest "Buy the book before the coin." If you can, the least you may wish to do is to post pictures and the price you paid so members here can give you some feedback. Have fun. I wrote my opinion.

Kkathyl

revised: I see your APMEX picture and it is nothing like the one from coinfacts. It shows 3 visible lines going across and it has a un natural color sequence. If you look at books on the natural color by metal you will see the difference. Study up.

shawn

Thank you Kkathyl , I appreciate your input.

shawn

Ok, so PCGS thinks my coin was artificially toned. Now back to Apmex I guess, or just bite the bullet so to speak. This is good stuff to know. Thank you Kkathyl!!
"Coin graders determine coins with questionable coin toning. Such coins would have unnatural colors as the result of treatment. The “sea green” hue is one the most coveted tone of the naturally toned coin. Tampered coins, or those who have undergone artificial coin toning, would yield a shade darker and do not have a cartwheel luster. Fake toned coins usually have burn marks because of the strong chemicals used."

http://www.2-clicks-coins.com/article/what-is-coin-toning.html

shawn

Hi insider2, I did contact apmex, but that went no where and was frustrating. I just thought, since apmex was the former owner of the coin they might have a bit of history about the coin. I admit my experience with coin collecting is less than novice, however, the grade the coin recieved perplexes me and when I have seen many many many other toned coins get a decent grade why this coin got -- 5780 1930-S 25C N1 0 1391, N1 being the grade. https://www.pcgs.com/SetRegistry/mysetregistry/myitems (my set registry) I are absolutely stumped on this one. Thank you Insider2 My hope for this coin was to eventually get it in an auction. I appreciate your reply.

shawn

My coin is as nice as this coin. http://www.pcgscoinfacts.com/Coin/Detail/5780 at least i think so.

shawn

Hi ever BUDDY,
These pictures are of my 2 newest purchases. Please forgive my lack of photography professionalism. I have a mikkerscope that takes pictures but I couldn't get it to take a picture of the entire coin. The morgan dollar sure looks nicer in person, all shiny n stuff, and the quarter looks pretty much the same as it does in the picture as it does in person. the 1853-O costed $135.41 and the 1880-S costed $57.28 So there it is, my hobby in pictures. as time permits I will photolize my entire collection. Y'all have a blessed day

shawn

This one here is a nice one. One of my smarter buys.

vplite

Welcome to the board! We all start out making mistakes. Just chalk it up to education expense, and read everything you can, including this board. Good Luck!