PCGS And CAC Incorrectly Graded My Coin

Makes one reconsider sending in coins to PCGS either as the submitter or through a third party such as an auction house or dealer. Even as a buyer, who would otherwise be eligible for the guarantee, PCGS can fall back on the 'mechanical error' argument to void it.

Earle42 nailed it on page 3 of this thread. The guarantee is essentially useless the way it is worded.

GC doesn't need the consignor's consent to cancel a sale.
https://www.greatcollections.com/forms/coins.pdf "Consignment Terms and Conditions"


https://www.greatcollections.com/main-terms "Terms and Conditions" (buyer)

These all seem relevant to the OP as both a consignor and a buyer. You're just not going to get any money out of a coin because it could have sold if only it was what you thought it was. The recourse is also specifically spelled out - take it to arbitration.

The sale was over but not finalized as the astute buyer realized the attribution problem and exercised his return option. GC then returned the coin to PCGS to be corrected. The coin will be relisted and when that sale is finalized the OP will be credited.

Interesting, red eyeing it through some fine print it appears (as I am sure some others have stated in this train wreck post) the responsibility rests on the purchaser of the "certified" coin.

GC clearly puts the responsibility on the buyer in this clause of their stated terms:



And PCGS' guarantee is between them and the "purchaser".



I understand there may be some good will involved here between GC and the buyer when/ if they allowed the return, but it appears the buyer should have been on the hook for the issue, not the seller.

The Return Policy appears to be based on speed of payment; what is not clear to me is when the seller receives payment or if there was an advance made in this case. Regardless, when GC allowed the return and cancellation of the transaction, I would think logically that was their decision and responsibility, not the Seller's.



To further confuse it, it is not clear if PCGS would consider this error under their guarantee; not sure it would fly as a "mechanical error", as it is clear by their own definition(s)- "The key concept is how obvious the error is to the naked eye. If you can easily tell just by looking at the coin that the description on the holder is wrong, then the coin/holder combination is not covered by the PCGS Guarantee". Not sure this is obvious as stated.



One thing I am struggling with is that I have consigned coins from my previous collection to an auction sale in the past. But, I knew what my coins were and had approximate values and goals for each for the sale. And as a counterfeit researcher and documenter I understand the importance of accurate attribution. I don't take the TPGs word as the final, as I believe I need to know more than them on a particular example, not blindly send it in. I understand the seller didn't submit the coins, but I feel he is still responsible for knowing what he had, but maybe that is just me.

Trying to put myself in the same shoes; I send in a coin for auction that I didn't know its attribution and receive more than it is worth without knowing it; I hope I hadn't spent the money.

It's not clear whether GC pays a consignor before they are paid for the coin or a buyer has decided to return the coin. It doesn't seem like good business to pay out before you've received the funds, but who knows. There's about a two week window for GC to make that decision. The kicker in this case is that going off the PCGS value guides, 1866-P VF30 is valued at $2000, and 1866-S VF30 is $700. You could get up to 60% as a cash advance - $1200 - and end up with a $700 coin to pay it off with.

The GC item# is posted earlier in this thread but the listing no longer exists. I don't know how else to get at the original cert# unless the OP or GC wants to reveal it.

Jack, remember that counterfeit 1901-S 25c in a PCGS slab? This whole thing reminds me of that. I wonder if the last buyer ever found out that it's fake.

The cert# was provided back on page 4 by GC, in the image of the coin. I wouldn't expect this to happen every time but the original listing (from the GC item#) happens to be saved at the Internet Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/2023053...coin/1352178 (edit to replace functional link).

The label in the original listing is the same as GC provided earlier, showing "1866" (PCGS# 4643) but PCGS currently lists the cert verification as "1866-S / Weak S" (PCGS# 543974, variety of 4644). This page is not Archived so I can't tell if it was always this way. https://www.pcgs.com/cert/46742602

paralyse, that is going to depend primarily on what sort of contract exists between the seller and Bob. People don't consign items to auction in a legal vacuum. The possible actions might also depend on lawyers. I am acquainted with several situations where superior litigators were able to enforce fuzzy notions or escape from seemingly ironclad agreements.

Thank you Alpha2814, you deciphered part of my confusion!!! But, I was hoping to find an image of the slab with the cert noted "weak S".



Past GC auction and slab as 1866 "P":





Apparently recerted under the same # and added to CoinFacts as the "weak S" including CAC: