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 Replies: 12 / Views: 1,563 |
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Valued Member
Germany
116 Posts |
I bought a coin that looked good, from a reputable dealer in the Numismatic industry. The coin has great eye appeal and was guestimated grade-wise as being in the 60-62 realm. After receiving the coin, true to its photos, it had some nice luster around the stars and lettering and very little chatter. All indications were that it was a nice coin in the grade that it was advertised.
I recently sent in an NGC submission of coins and decided to add this to the list. I was expecting it to grade AU-58 or better. The coin comes back as "AU Details CLEANED". I never cleaned it. I held it in my hands on more than one occasion, but that is it.
Of course, I will not buy from this dealer again, but should I take action of some sort? Should I slander this company, and leave a bad review? Or should I contact the sales associate that represented the sale? What are my options in this case?
Any advice for a relatively new collector would be most appreciated.
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Moderator
 United States
56855 Posts |
Buyer beware should be everyone's moto. Quote:
Of course, I will not buy from this dealer again, but should I take action of some sort? Should I slander this company, and leave a bad review? Or should I contact the sales associate that represented the sale? Do not slander anyone. Contact the sales rep and inform them of what happened. Unless you were guaranteed a proper grade when it came back from a TPG, like for example they would reimburse you if it did not slab like the seller said it would you have no real recourse...IMHO. John1  |
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Valued Member
Canada
242 Posts |
There is no objective truth in coin grading. There are only opinions.
Some people sell you coins, other people sell you their guaranteed opinions.
The coin dealer was one of the former, not the latter, and, in his opinion, the coin was MS 62.
You have now paid for and receive some one else's guaranteed opinion on the same coin.
This is a rhetorical question, but, why would you hold to the same standard someone whose business model is to give opinions, and someone whose business model is to sell you coins?
As almost everyone here will tell you, buy the coin, not the holder.
If you were happy with the coin before, be happy with it now. Break it out of the slab if the "details" annoys you.
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Pillar of the Community
Russian Federation
1557 Posts |
I'm afraid the blame will be shifted to you. I agree with John1, contact a representative and tell he about what happened. I can still assume that the TPG estimate could be wrong (but it's not accurate). |
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Bedrock of the Community
 United States
18657 Posts |
and this is why if you buying coins you need to know the series and be able to determine if a coin was cleaned or not and be able to grade the coin yourself, even if its slabbed. he/she may not have know it was cleaned, some are so difficult to tell even TPG's get it wrong and even an AU58 coin can look better than a MS63 coin. I'm sure dealers dont spend a lot of time grading every coin they have and the main reason they usually just still to the old grading. G,VG,F,VG,XF,AU etc... why dont you post it here and let everyone see why it graded that way. lesson learned and sooo many of those here have done that. you could ask the dealer if they would take it back. but other than for good will I wouldnt blame them if they didnt best advice. learn how to grade the series. understand the difference between an AU coin and an MS coin and if a coin may have been cleaned. you can also ask the dealer if you take a photo of the coin and review it before purchasing. post it here if you are unsure |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
735 Posts |
I agree with all of the above posts
I've been collecting for a couple years... Favorite Coin's are Standing Liberty quarters, Working on my type set | Coffee, Corvettes, Coins & the CCF what could be better? |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
19147 Posts |
Interesting discussion. Agree with all above.
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Valued Member
 Germany
116 Posts |
I think the coin deserves to stay in the slab as it is recognized for what it is. If I break it out because I'm unhappy with the determination, then I'm lending it to someone else to be misled or misrepresented.
The coin is still at NGC. It's still a beauty and because it is a gold coin, it still represents a reasonable value.
I appreciate what has been posted here. I'm not one to "slander", so I don't know why I phrased it like that. But this in fact the second and last coin that I've bought from this company that was told to be a higher grade than its actual outcome.
I did not know the grades until I had purchased both, one was "Cleaned" and the other was XF instead of AU. So shame on me I guess.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2228 Posts |
The more experience, the more you can spot a cleaned coin. But even coin dealers with years of experience can be uncertain if a coin has been cleaned or not. Some will misrepresent, try to deceive a buyer, others just don't know for sure if a coin's been cleaned. Buying collectable coins already graded/slabbed helps avoid disappointment, but even the TPG can get it wrong. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5178 Posts |
I personally have a "one-tollerance" attitude towards coin dealers.
If they sold me a problem-free coin that turns out to be cleaned, I assume it is an honest mistake and I will do business again. However, if it happens a second time I will no longer do business with them.
Remember the proverb: "Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, shame on you".
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
6244 Posts |
@SoundBeing. I will go back to this scrappy dealer and look for reimbursement. An dealer who sell gold coins and do not know is clean? I doubt. Is sad for me I see here we take the side of this junk. You sell what you have, you add your %, but do not fake the true.
For you is also a lesson. You has to open the eyes and also to know what you want to buy.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1479 Posts |
Buying raw coins is exciting and can offer some fantastic deals way under retail but its sure tricky and even seasoned collectors get a stinker now and then. I've bought quite a few stinkers in my days. Today those cleaned and damaged coins are few and far between I can spot then about as well as anyone and unless a steep price cuts offerd I pass. My dealer will offer buy back credit on gold if it comes back counterfeit but on cleaned coins he won't. We have made several verbal agreements on raw coins that he guaranteed grade/originality and they came back at grade or sometimes higher. I've just had better experience with brick and mortar coin shops and buy very few coins on line anymore.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
19944 Posts |
Also, keep in mind, just because a TPG says a coin is "cleaned" doesn't necessarily make it so. It's your job as a buyer to determine if a coin is cleaned. Don't take it out on the seller regardless of who they may be. Lincoln Cent Lover!VERDI-CARE™ INVENTOR https://verdi.care/
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Replies: 12 / Views: 1,563 |
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Posted 09/02/2022 07:55 am
