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Well, PCGS is vying with ANACS for unreliable

I just got coins back from PCGS, one of which included the nicest 1959 nickel I've ever seen, still in mint-cello and I sent it in that way, in the cello, never opened, inside a 2x2. Got it back ungraded in a plastic 2x2 and there's a VERY visible fingerprint on the obverse!!!!!!!!!!! Either it's a substitution or it's INEXCUSABLE. I am furious. I also sent in at least one FBL Franklin, got back no FBL.

Linda Abrams

Edited to fix where I had "slab." The nickel didn't come back in a slab, sorry!

Comments

  • Many people including myself, have found the lack of quality control at PCGS very disturbing.
  • MadMartyMadMarty Posts: 16,697 ✭✭✭
    Pics please...
    It is not exactly cheating, I prefer to consider it creative problem solving!!!

  • Re: Pics

    I'm trying to get a whole lot of coins listed as fast as I can right now on ebay because I broke my left elbow and hip 3 weeks ago, both had to have surgery, and it's going to be a 4-6 mo. ordeal. At least my fingers work. Anyway, I'm going to be selling off just about everything if I can get it listed on ebay (TEDIUS!) to raise money, the ship's sinking fast. So pics here will have to wait til I can get to it because frankly, I don't know how to do that right (on here). Sorry. I've been able to put one up as a link before but then everybody said I didn't put up a pic (it showed if you clicked the link. I just don't know how to do the kind that show up right when you see the post.)
  • ziggy29ziggy29 Posts: 18,668 ✭✭✭


    << <i>I'm trying to get a whole lot of coins listed as fast as I can right now on ebay because I broke my left elbow and hip 3 weeks ago, both had to have surgery, and it's going to be a 4-6 mo. ordeal. At least my fingers work. Anyway, I'm going to be selling off just about everything if I can get it listed on ebay (TEDIUS!) to raise money, the ship's sinking fast. So pics here will have to wait til I can get to it because frankly, I don't know how to do that right (on here). Sorry. I've been able to put one up as a link before but then everybody said I didn't put up a pic (it showed if you clicked the link. I just don't know how to do the kind that show up right when you see the post.) >>

    Hi Linda,

    Sorry to hear about your accident.

    Frankly, if you want to get the best prices for the coins you throw up on eBay, you should probably get good pictures of them *before* you sell them, and then use those images in the eBay auctions you put up.
  • BlindedByEgoBlindedByEgo Posts: 10,754 ✭✭✭✭✭
    What many of us do to post a picture is to:

    -Open a free account on Photobucket.com

    -Upload the photograph to pbucket

    -Insert the [img] tag into the body of our message.

    Works great, and it's free. Good luck with your efforts and your operation!

    P.S. Sorry to hear about your coin. Might want to email HRH, send in for review. Good luck!

    Edited to correct my html error
  • CORRECTION!!!!! The Franklins I sent in came back slabbed, highest PR66 (1), and MS64 (1), the other 6 were lower and no cam, dcam or FBL. The nickel came back in a styrofoam sort of square thing inside a flip, marked "minimum grade" and not slabbed. What I sent in was in the original mint cello broken out of a mint set, inside a 2x2, so there's no question it was never cleaned, etc. and it definitely did NOT have any prints on it when it left here! Grrrr. I paid $30 for them to grade that ONE nickel, the rest were the "8 free." I doubt I'll be renewing. I was going to spend the $1450 to get an entire set of Franklins (my best ones and a complete set) graded but you can bet I won't now.
  • Ziggy and Blinded, thank you for the replies.

    Sorry for all the blank messages. Evertime I hit reply, the only thing I saw was to enter username/password so I did, then I'd hit "enter" not realizing the "reply" box was below and should have been filled in first.

    Thanks for the photobucket tip.

    Re: pics on ebay. I'm making pictures of all the coins, that's been really time consuming and I haven't gotten to the ones I got back lately from PCGS, yet.
  • ziggy29ziggy29 Posts: 18,668 ✭✭✭


    << <i>Re: pics on ebay. I'm making pictures of all the coins, that's been really time consuming and I haven't gotten to the ones I got back lately from PCGS, yet. >>

    Okay, that's good. I definitely recommend getting good pictures of what you plan to sell there; it will effort well-spent.

    I'd be curious to see a couple of the coin images posted here, asking us what we think the grade would be. Maybe we could see whether we agree with you or with PCGS. image
  • robertprrobertpr Posts: 6,862 ✭✭✭
    The print isn't necessarily from PCGS. Coins have been known to have been printed by the mint prior to sealing in cello. Once the cello is broken open and the prints are exposed to air again, they can become visible.
  • You need to immediately cut your coins out of the cello from the mint on the old sets. This stuff has PVC and will harm the coin. These coins deserve a nicer home like a capital holder or non pvc flip.


  • << <i>You need to immediately cut your coins out of the cello from the mint on the old sets. This stuff has PVC and will harm the coin. These coins deserve a nicer home like a capital holder or non pvc flip. >>



    This stuff has PVC Link please.
  • mrearlygoldmrearlygold Posts: 17,858 ✭✭✭
  • 19Lyds19Lyds Posts: 26,492 ✭✭✭✭
    Uhhh............... PVC in mint cello? I think not!
    I decided to change calling the bathroom the John and renamed it the Jim. I feel so much better saying I went to the Jim this morning.



    The name is LEE!
  • ShamikaShamika Posts: 18,785 ✭✭✭✭

    Cello and PVC are NOT the same thing. There should be 0% PVC in mint cello.

    Buyer and seller of vintage coin boards!
  • The cello didn't do anything to it. It was STELLAR til I got it back from PCGS with a fingerprint on it, body-bagged.
  • Steve27Steve27 Posts: 13,275 ✭✭✭
    Mint "cello" is not cellophane, it's Mylar, and there's no PVC-plasticizer in it.
    "It's far easier to fight for principles, than to live up to them." Adlai Stevenson
  • ColonialCoinUnionColonialCoinUnion Posts: 10,087 ✭✭✭


    << <i>The cello didn't do anything to it. It was STELLAR til I got it back from PCGS with a fingerprint on it, body-bagged. >>



    I don't think you really mean body-bagged, do you?

    Its possible PCGS got as fingerprint on it, its also possible it was inflicted at the mint and/or you either didn't see it or it became more visible once removed from the wrapper.

  • Well I had a Wisconsin High Leaf coin come back from PCGS with a finger print on it and it is in a MS65 holder! Are there any recourses for that? I don't think it really would qualify as MS65 in its current state!
    TheZooKrew
    Morgan, modern sets, circulated Kennedys, and Wisconsin error leaf quarter Collector
    First (and only - so far) Official "You Suck" Award from Russ 2/9/07
  • RussRuss Posts: 48,514 ✭✭✭
    Something isn't adding up. First you say the nickel is in a slab:



    << <i>the nicest 1959 nickel I've ever seen, still in mint-cello and I sent it in that way, in the cello, never opened, inside a 2x2. Got it back in the slab and theres a VERY visible fingerprint on the obverse!!!!!!!!!!! >>



    And then you say it is not:



    << <i>The nickel came back in a styrofoam sort of square thing inside a flip, marked "minimum grade" and not slabbed. >>



    Also, the minimum grade scenario only happens if you specified a minimum grade on the submission form, and it did not meet that grade.

    As for fingerprints, that sometimes happens at PCGS, but plenty of these proofs have latent prints from the mint that don't appear until after the coin is removed from the celo and exposed to the air for a period of time.

    Russ, NCNE
  • michaelmichael Posts: 9,524 ✭✭✭
    The print isn't necessarily from PCGS. Coins have been known to have been printed by the mint prior to sealing in cello. Once the cello is broken open and the prints are exposed to air again, they can become visible. image
  • I didn't know how to edit posts at the time. Guess I could now (you may note the umpteen empty messages, too). Everything else I sent in came back in a slab but the nickel came back in a plastic holder inside a foam thing. I was ticked when I was typing so saying it was in a slab was a typo, which I didn't even notice til you pointed it out. I'll go fix it.

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