help a newbie: FAKE?

maheik · June 30, 2010 9:47AM

hello everyone!
great forum, great comunity, i learned a lot the last few days reading and i need your help.

I grew up collecting world coins as we travelled, and as a kid thought the value of the collection is in its quantity not quality, but recently i started investing in coins and learning the ropes. I had never heard of coin certifications or slabbed coins, and as soon as i discovered that i went on ebay to buy a few...

I bought these 3 coins from the same seller for a total of almost $150 and as soon as i received them i suspected something fishy going on here.

ebay1 ebay2 ebay 3

the first red flag was that all three slabbed coins haave the exact same bar code (identical) and no other numbers on there. so i looked at the guy's profile and saw that only 2 people have complained that the coins have been cleaned/dipped. the second red flag was that NAS's slabs on their website look a bit different (and at least have a number along with the bar code). so i called the number for NAS and the number does not work...

so i have a suspicion that the coins were cleaned/dipped and then fake slabbed with high grades...

the interesting thing though is that the morgan looks like a really nice with the eagle's chest feathers very prominent if that is the right term to descibe them... i can take high res pics and post them if that helps.

any feedback is apreciated... i can return those coins and get my money back, but i would like to really hear some expert's thoughts and possibly report the guy if he is a fraud since he is selling a lot of coins
Thanks!

doh · June 30, 2010 9:51AM

Well, the coins are all real, but the Peace and Morgan have been cleaned and/or polished and are basically junk silver at this point. They are not even close to the grades on the holders. The 2010 eagle certainly isn't a 70 either...you paid about $10 more than it's worth probably.

Thankfully you're not paying too much for your education. Return the Peace and Morgan if you can, but if you can't it's not a huge loss.

Welcome to the forum!

lcoopie · June 30, 2010 9:53AM

welcome,
the 2 most reputable companies to get slabbed coins is
PCGS and NGC

yours were not, and likely cleaned and self slabbed

return them

read here for a while before another purchase

WoodenJefferson · June 30, 2010 9:55AM

Welcome....the coins are real, they are over graded probably by 2 full points (MS-60-MS-70 range) the company probably does not even exist because these coins were probably self slabbed by the person actually selling the coins. It would be in your best interest to return these US coins to the seller (make sure you can prove they were sent) and stick with a nationally known numismatic company.

Good luck.

morgandollar1878 · June 30, 2010 9:57AM

Welcome to the forum.

Well the peace and the morgan look cleaned, and I don't know about the silver eagle but I can be pretty sure that it is not MS70. Get your money back. The top three grading companies are the ones that you should be looking at. But first you need to take some time and learn about what you are getting into before you just dive in. It can be real easy to get burned buying coins. I am sure that there will be many others chime in here and pretty much everyone is willing to help and give advice.

coinguy1 · June 30, 2010 9:57AM

Welcome to the forum.

The Morgan Dollar and Peace Dollar appear to genuine, but circulated and cleaned. It is likely that the seller either graded and slabbed the coins himself or bought them from someone else who did. They are worth quite a bit less than you paid for them.

If at all possible, you should return them and not spend any more money on coins until you learn a lot more about grading, self slabbers, do's and don't of buying, etc. Best of luck to you.

nankraut · June 30, 2010 9:59AM

<< <i>Well, the coins are all real, but the Peace and Morgan have been cleaned and/or polished and are basically junk silver at this point. They are not even close to the grades on the holders. The 2010 eagle certainly isn't a 70 either...you paid about $10 more than it's worth probably.

Thankfully you're not paying too much for your education. Return the Peace and Morgan if you can, but if you can't it's not a huge loss.

Welcome to the forum!

>>

I agree 100% with "doh". I would send all three coins back for a refund. The slabs mean nothing. IMHO, the only slabs with any credibility are PCGS, NGC, ANACS (in that order).

But, you are learning; and that's what it's all about.

lcoopie · June 30, 2010 10:04AM

you see how great this forum is

JazzmanJAB · June 30, 2010 10:46AM

Welcome.
I agree with all above.
There is a lot of sarcasm here as you will find out, however, there are a lot of experts here that are more than willing
to help you with most anything.

I Like Gold.

al410 · June 30, 2010 10:56AM

All 3 appear to be genuine, the Morgan and Peace look circulated and cleaned. If possible let seller know Immediatly that you will be retuning them. Make sure you get signature confirmation and do your emails with the seller thru the ebay msg system. PCGS NGC ANACS are trusted names in the grading of coins.
AL

MsMorrisine · June 30, 2010 11:20AM

if that is a mark on the most vertical ray of the sun on the obverse, then that will exclude it from being a ms70 right there. In fact if you can find any abrasions or dents on it anywhere, that'll keep it from a ms70.

and this is probably whoever's basement job, and that's why the price is way under what a regular ms70 from the top 3 graders would bring.

divecchia · June 30, 2010 11:28AM

I would agree that they are all genuine, but the grades are another story...

Donato

bidask · June 30, 2010 11:28AM

Stay with original raw world coins......seriously,

Lots to learn in the hyped US coin hobby, so unless you are prepared to make mistakes like this, I would stay with world coins....

19Lyds · June 30, 2010 11:47AM

This fellow makes money preying off of people who don't really know what "certified" means as your silver dollars are simply cleaned up junk silver slapped into a cheap plastic slab! The SAE is MS69 at best and about as common as dirt and those silver dollars are worth melt at most.

Return them for a full refund and stay away from this crap! (which is what it really is!)

mikeyg · June 30, 2010 2:56PM

Been said here a few times.Certified coins from PCGS and NGC always offer the best value.Anacs is also highly regarded by many people.Any other TPG company should be avoided until you are comfortable with the knowledge of what to look for in terms of the coins condition.

lkeigwin · June 30, 2010 3:16PM

It's easy to get caught up in a bidding frenzy, when you see a dozen or more folks vying for a coin you are considering. Ignore the fact that there are 20 people bidding on a coin, particularly if it is a 3rd world slab or self-slabbed job. Anyone can assemble 20 idiots. There's a lot of junk out there.

If you must buy before you learn, focus on less expensive PCGS examples. It will hurt less down the road.

Welcome to the forum! Stick around and you will learn a lot.
Lance.

maheik · June 30, 2010 6:20PM

thanks guys for all the responses and support!

NAS was on a list of recognized certifier that i found on some coin collector website... but now i know!

I returned the coins for a full refund... it was the urge to actually own nice uncirculated coins for the first time ever but i guess that will have to wait.

ricko · June 30, 2010 8:43PM

Welcome aboard... the foregoing advice (given and taken) is excellent. Get some books, ask questions here, talk to other collectors. It is a learning process... Cheers, RickO

help a newbie: FAKE?

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