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 Replies: 65 / Views: 5,055 |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
6449 Posts |
I have often seen the veteran folks on this forum repeat the adage, "Buy the coin, not the slab." The more I quest for interesting coins on ebay, the more I appreciate the truth of this advice. I thought it might be fun to catalog badly graded coins in TPG slabs. This isn't a thread to shame TPGs, but rather to serve as a running cautionary tale to folks who just might trust slabs too much. Include the TPG and slab number if you wish. Let's see your atrocious straight-graded coins! =) To kick things off, a 1941 silver quarter in an NGC slab, straight graded at MS66, with a reverse shredded by Coin Wrapping Machine Damage:  |
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Moderator
 United States
187446 Posts |
Very interesting!   |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
73577 Posts |
Very interesting thread idea. I hope it'll take off. Errers and Varietys.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
19108 Posts |
Very cool. For max context, suggest posting pics of the full slab--along with other necessary photos. Thanks.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2829 Posts |
I'll tag along to see what else shows up.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2213 Posts |
If you want to include label errors here's my 1993 silver Libertad NGC labeled as a 2010. It's photo is on NGC. I bought it on ebay. Don't want to send it in to correct cause I think it's funny, shows the graders make mistakes.  Edited by livingwater
07/14/2025 7:32 pm
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
19108 Posts |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
73577 Posts |
Good example, livingwater. Errers and Varietys.
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Moderator
United States
94636 Posts |
great idea Bran! nice start so far. |
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Moderator
United States
187446 Posts |
Very nice! |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
6449 Posts |
  A pair of incorrectly attributed inverted-S cents that we discussed on
another thread. These are actually just skeletal trumpet tail S mint marks missing a bottom portion. A real MS65RD 1946-S FS-501 inverted mint mark cent is worth $250-300 in a PCGS slab. An ordinary 1946-S cent, slabbed and in the same grade is worth $5-10. As someone interested in variety hunting, this is why I am very leery of buying expensive variety coins in slabs unless I can clearly authenticate the variety from the pictures. Many sellers just snap blurry pictures of the slabs and no coin close-ups, but TPGs get attributions wrong all the time. The TPGs also provide no guarantee about the correctness of an attribution; the buyer is 100% on the hook with no recourse. |
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Moderator
United States
187446 Posts |
Good example! |
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Moderator
United States
94636 Posts |
nice example Brand, I agree completely, If I were to buy a variety like that, and cannot see what the seller is 'advertising' I will pass on it. Although, I do ask for a better image first.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6449 Posts |
Edited by Brandmeister
07/24/2025 5:32 pm
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
73577 Posts |
Nice example, Brandmeister.
Errers and Varietys.
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Moderator
United States
187446 Posts |
Quote:
Worth adding to the list: an 1835 half cent—either damaged or tooled—and slabbed as 1825. |
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Replies: 65 / Views: 5,055 |
Posted 07/14/2025 1:21 pm
