Well, I Won It. But It Didn't Come Cheap!

I know that this will never happen...but...I wonder what CAC would say about this coin, if the label insert was hidden?

I have placed a small post note over the slab insert on coins to play "guess the grade" with dealers to see what they thought of coins in hand versus images and I have encountered several different opinions. What you have received from NGC is just that...an opinion.

Mike: You mentioned in an earlier post that several dealers looked at the coin raw at the FUN show and one offered you 64 money for it. You went on to say that it was an open ended offer. Have you thought about contacting him?

I should add another note about NGC in case you guys didn't pick it up in my previous response. When I called their customer service line, I asked some very pointed questions that the lady was very well prepared for. I asked how many graders review each coin. Her response was 'usually 3-4 graders'. I asked her if they outsource their grading or do all graders work in-house. She said in-house. I then asked how many graders work for NGC. Here response was 30-40 between US and World issues.

So then why does NGC only have 21 employees including executives listed on LinkedIn? https://www.linkedin.com/company/nu...corporation/

And of those 21 employees, why are there only 8 total graders of various specialties? So let's say 25% of their graders don't have a Linkedin profile. That brings the total amount of graders they employ to 10.

I'm no spring chicken and I know BS when I smell it.

Wow. Certainly not the outcome any of us saw coming, although we are judging this coin from images and not in hand. Off to PCGS she goes, and not in a batch of messed with coins. Let's see what they have to say about her without prejudice.
Interesting to note that all who have seen this coin in hand have loved it as much as those who have only seen images.
A coin I would be proud to have in my collection.

wonder what you will all say when PCGS agrees and it comes back details?

The details grade would explain the unusually smooth surfaces of the coin. I've thought this coin was a 58 from the beginning and still do. Since evidence of a cleaning isn't obvious and it's retoned nicely, Anacs gave it a straight grade but knocked it down a notch to 55. It's hard to make a definitive judgement about a cleaning (possibly very old) without the resources and experience that the TPGs have.

I don't know if I would spend good money after bad by sending it to PCGS, who have a reputation as being the toughest graders on the planet, if I weren't planning to sell.

I'd send it to PCGS and see what they think.

Thanks for all the feedback, gang. I will get the coin back on Saturday. NGC gave me a free complimentary reassessment. I'm going to contact some of the higher ups tomorrow and see where it goes.
Also I spoke with the gentleman at the coin outfit Chester recommended. He viewed the heritage images and didn't see any red flags but wanted to see the coin in hand so that's another route I can go.
@Baseball, I tried your suggestion in Virginia but I spoke with some dingbat lady that sputtered out sentence fragments that were mostly composed of the word uhm. She sounded like she didn't want any part of it.

Also, even in the images I uploaded to CCF, you can see the frosty luster in the fields. That doesn't happen on a cleaned coin.