Speaking of PCI holders

cosmos66 · October 17, 2003 6:22AM

I just got an 1884 O Morgan today that I bought off Ebay and guess what? It is in a PCI holder. I only first heard about them today and here I get one in the mail! Lucky me eh?

morganbarber · October 17, 2003 6:25AM

If you bought it thinking that it was raw, then the PCI holder is not a drawback. If you bought it because the seller assured you that it was "certified", then you may or may not be in trouble.

kamehameha00 · October 17, 2003 6:25AM

Ain't as bad as getting it in a NTC or SGS holder,if it was it would be graded MS69DCAM DMPL

JohnZ · October 17, 2003 6:35AM

I have a number of coins in PCI slabs. I agreed with the grades, so I bought them.

No big whup.

Barry · October 17, 2003 6:36AM

It doesn't look terrible. 64 may be a stretch with the chatter on the cheek. I presume the slab has the gold border? The early green ones were pretty conservatively graded, late green so-so, and gold fuggedaboutit.

cosmos66 · October 17, 2003 6:43AM

<< It doesn't look terrible. 64 may be a stretch with the chatter on the cheek. I presume the slab has the gold border? The early green ones were pretty conservatively graded, late green so-so, and gold fuggedaboutit. >>

Actually this holder looks a few years old and has a green border that looks like money.

Draco · October 17, 2003 6:49AM

Just because it's in a PCI or NTC holder doesn't mean it's over-graded junk. Even the top three make their fair share of mistakes and I never buy any coin sight unseen and neither should anyone else.

airplanenut · October 17, 2003 6:50AM

Green might not be such a bad thing

Have a picture so we can date the slab?

Jeremy

cosmos66 · October 17, 2003 6:53AM

<< Green might not be such a bad thing

Have a picture so we can date the slab?

Jeremy >>

Unfortunately my new camera has not arrived yet and my scanner is at my sisters house. I will post a pic as soon as I can.

FC57Coins · October 17, 2003 6:55AM

I just purchased a very nice 1916 MS64 Buffalo in an old PCI Black holder. From what I could tell of the coin it was properly graded - no major hits - well formed horn - good detail on the tail - just not enough luster to warrant a 65. Oh yeah - it has really neat pastel/rainbow colors

I'll have the coin next week for pics

Barry · October 17, 2003 7:30AM

Is the serial number 9, 10 or 14 digits? It's on the back.

cosmos66 · October 17, 2003 7:32AM

<< Is the serial number 9, 10 or 14 digits? It's on the back. >>

Here is the serial number in its entirety: 00001096270082 so it is 14 digits. What does that mean?

Barry · October 17, 2003 7:36AM

The following from an old post on rec.collecting.coins. You may want to save it for future reference:

Green Label, ten digit serial number- Very conservative grading, at all grades. These slabs with a
PQ designation almost always upgrade a point at PCGS. All PCI slabs seem to be lumped together on
eBay as far as price goes, so you can find some real steals on these slabs.

Green Label, fourteen digit serial number- Accurate grading up to MS65. Very liberal on MS66 and
above. Again, great deals can be had on these, but stay away from MS66 and over.

Green Label, nine digit serial number- The serial numbers on PCI slabs went to nine digits when the
ownership changed. Grading became atrocious, usually Morgans overgraded by at least two points,
cleaned coins with no mention on the holder, and altered coins slabbed as genuine. Absolutely stay
away from these slabs.

Gold Label, nine digit serial number- Same as above, atrocious grading.

cosmos66 · October 17, 2003 7:39AM

Thank you for the valuable insight. This one is an 1884-O morgan graded at MS64. I am no grader but it looks good to me. Blast white with few if any bag marks. I will post a picture as soon as I can.

braddick · October 17, 2003 8:20AM

<< The following from an old post on rec.collecting.coins. You may want to save it for future reference:

Green Label, ten digit serial number- Very conservative grading, at all grades. These slabs with a
PQ designation almost always upgrade a point at PCGS. All PCI slabs seem to be lumped together on
eBay as far as price goes, so you can find some real steals on these slabs.

Green Label, fourteen digit serial number- Accurate grading up to MS65. Very liberal on MS66 and
above. Again, great deals can be had on these, but stay away from MS66 and over.

Green Label, nine digit serial number- The serial numbers on PCI slabs went to nine digits when the
ownership changed. Grading became atrocious, usually Morgans overgraded by at least two points,
cleaned coins with no mention on the holder, and altered coins slabbed as genuine. Absolutely stay
away from these slabs.

Gold Label, nine digit serial number- Same as above, atrocious grading. >>

Or, you could simply look at the coin and judge for yourself.

kieferscoins · October 17, 2003 8:23AM

<< Or, you could simply look at the coin and judge for yourself. >>

I agree with Braddick. That might be a guide, but shouldn't mean you should go out and buy all 10 digit slabs you see. Let the coin speak to you and not the label.

Cameron Kiefer

airplanenut · October 17, 2003 8:26AM

Frank- BLACK PCI???

cosmos66 · October 17, 2003 8:27AM

This coin came as a complete surprise to me. It was not listed in my normal ebay emails that I save for record keeping purposes nor was there a feedback entry for the person that shipped it to me. It took awhile before I remembered that I had brokered a deal with a seller in which I got the coin for $10 less than his reserve price and he even cut the shipping in half! If I remember correctly the photos of the coin on ebay did not show the slab.

cosmos66 · October 17, 2003 8:45AM

Here are two scans of the coin. I dont know how much you can tell by looking at them.

bennybravo · October 17, 2003 8:47AM

Hey Cosmos, look at the "6" in "64".If it's slanted like the one pictured here from another ebay auction, then it's the older and much more conservative incarnation of PCI.That's not to say that all slant "6" green labels are graded conservatively, but many are.Anyway, regardless of it's slab, if you like it, thats all that matters.

Older Green Label holder

bennybravo · October 17, 2003 8:49AM

Oh well, beat me to my post.Anyway, thats an attractive dollar.Congratulations.

Conder101 · October 18, 2003 12:38AM

Hey Frank, I'm with Jeremy - Black PCI?? Do you mean one of the four varieties of PCI photoslab?

Speaking of PCI holders

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