1901 S Barber Quarter That I Found. Serious Questions

The differences in the letters that you see are the result of the long-term exposure to acidic soil. The soil literally began to eat into the coin. Give it another 100 years in that soil and it probably would have been an unrecognizable hunk of silver. This kind of environmental damage is common in buried coins that have been found in acidic soil. When attempting to determine authenticity of a coin with this type of environmental damage, you want to pay attention to not the overall look of the coin, but the placement of hand-punched devices, such as each number in the date and the mintmark.

Oh man, how funny would that be if Dirt Digler or Pickhead put a counterfeit in the ground for you to find lol ?

I have been wrong before... but I see a GENUINE coin right there.
The comparison pics look a bit different due to differences in wear.
The Chinese fakes are getting better everyday, but they are not that close yet.

I would bet money (if I had any) that this is authentic.
I got 35 years of staring at these things under my belt.

I was told by all three coin shops in my area that it would be "ungradable" tagged genuine for environmental. Maybe they're right? Or maybe they're just low balling me so they can flip it. I'm getting 4-5k with one offer at $7200. Thoughts?

I believe you'll get either a "Genuine" or "Details" slab.
I think that we have all understood that from the get go.
So that really isn't 'news', nor is it a bad thing. You have
to realize you are getting only a couple of local offers from
people that probably have resources that are far more limited
than you might imagine. Nothing like the kind of diversity and
big wallets that will bid in an auction.

That said, a lot of good points have been made about getting
out of the coin now and avoiding costs/taxes/fees eating away
at you 'nickel and dime' style.

If it were me, I think I'd haggle that $7200 up to $8000, and
then run like heck.

Good luck.
I wish these were the kind of "problems" I had in my life.

I'd take the 7200$ and run. You have had two viable, legitimate offers. One at 5k and one at 7.2k$. That tells you your coin is worth somewhere above 5k$ but less than 8k$ to two people. Could you hold out for more? ..... Sure. Could you get more? I doubt it.

Think about it. No slabbing fee, no mailing fees, no auction worry. The difference between your highest offer and what it might bring at auction (10k$?) would probably be ate up in fees anyway.

Remember, that YOU currently OWN a "problem" coin that will always be a PROBLEM coin. Nothing is going to change that fact.

You have nothing but time and needless worry in that coin. I'd take the 7200$ and buy something I really wanted.

It's an extremely rare coin. Don't take the first offer that comes along. Remember, this will ALWAYS be an extremely desirable coin details or not.
If he's offering you $7200...and that seemed like a pretty quick offer, what are his intentions?
Hold out and hold on unless your hurting for $.
I know it's tempting.

I haven't put it on ebay yet, only because I don't think I'd get serious offers without it fist being authenticated