Coins Back From NGC. Ouch!

The 3 as well as the mintmark don't sit well with me. I am very suspect of that coin and would have made the same call NGC did.

The mintmark didn't look exactly right with me, there is something about it.

From what I see I think the S may be the wrong style for the 31-S and I also find the bust of Lincoln has a low relief mushy appearance. The genuine 31-S cent seems to have a higher sharper relief than that.

Always great pictures, DVC..

Also, look at the mintmark.

Well done! The mint mark and numeral layout are definitely a problem. They are good things to look at, but I always look at the '3' first. I am not saying my way is the best way, but just the way I do it.

Well, thank you for the many responses. This has been a difficult time. I didn't even share with you guys the fact that I had sent several others as well. Most came back one to two grades lower than what was quoted to me by the seller. I'm not sure if this is overzealous grading on the part of the seller or ultra conservatism on the part of the grader. When I pay $300 and more for some of these coins, I'm expecting it to be right. I only buy from a couple of people because I trust them. That means that when they quote a grade that it is right.

I take responsibility for some of this because as a collector I should be versed on grades. At least the grades I am buying. Especially the die variances and nuances that occur from year to year with the early Lincolns. I bought the 31-S from an auction house that I was not familiar with. It was the only time I ever did that and I guess this is a good reason why. When I received that particular coin in the middle of last year, I called them immediately because they described it as GEM/BU but it was clearly not. I felt it was closer to VF-20 but they refused siting that the grade is in the eye of the beholder. They clearly didn't care about one person complaining. I took it as a lesson learned and now to find out that the coin was probably a fake tans my hide. (Maintaining composure...breath...breath :-) ) So, I will share with you now who that auction house was so that perhaps you guys will not have to suffer the same fate. One day I was searching for online auctions and found a place called auctionzip. I think it is a site that shows most of the auctions in the USA. They display both online and real physical auctions. I don't necessarily blame auctionzip. They actual seller was K.D. Smith Auctions. That is who I contacted and ran into issues with. Frankly I probably won't bother contacting them this time since they wouldn't even take responsibility for their grading. What are the odds they will take responsibility for a fake coin? No, I think it is all just education. I chose to try a new place for coins and got burned. When it comes to coins that cost a bit more, it pays to know the seller. That was a $110 error.

Now the altered color coin is more complicated. This coin was bought from someone whom I have trusted. It is the one person that when I lay down $300 or more for a single Lincoln, I know that he has my back. When I received the coin, I thought it looked fine and frankly I saw no reason to return it. It is as I said, one of many that I have bought from him. I sent out several of his coins to NGC and they came back 1-2 grades lower than his opinion. So what do you do in a case like this. I feel as though I have to take some responsibility because he does offer an inspection period whereby I can look at the coin and return it if I am not pleased. Having never run into an issue, I have never returned any. But now with NGC telling me that they are less than what they should be, I guess it's on me for not knowing my grades. Either that or NGC is being ultra conservative in their opinions which may very well be the case. I just don't know.

In regards to the 25-D with altered color, I have contacted the seller and we are working on a solution. He has told me that he did not clean or alter this particular coin in any way. He does clean/conserve coins and so the question was raised but I have to take him at his word. This coin cost me $350 so it's no small investment and with NGC's grading lower on every one of his coins so far, it is troubling, no question about it. This guy has been around a good while though and is well respected so I have no doubt that he will make it right. I will let you guys know the outcome when I hear.

Getting back to the the 31-S for a moment, I did hear back from Lisa from NGC but......what she tells me is that the graders do not take any notes or anything that can be pulled up after the fact to see how they arrived at their consensus. It sucks badly. They should be able to tell me what it is about the coin that makes them believe that it is fake or, "not genuine". What the heck does that mean? I know the coin isn't worth that much but I'm honesty tempted to send it to PCGS out of spite. Although since this K.D. Smith Auctions acted like they did, who knows, maybe they are faking coins. I'd sure like to know the truth though.

You can not hold the seller to blame if his/her grades are not exactly the same as a TPGs. Especially if its only a matter of a grade or so. The line between high VF and low EF can be very thin as an example. Now if they were calling something AU and it is clearly VG, then yeah. But that does not seem to be the case here.

As for the fake, regardless of response earlier, I would certainly be raising a HUGE stink with them now that you know its a fake.