| Author |
 Replies: 10 / Views: 455 |
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
2332 Posts |
ebay started a new program to guarantee authenticity for coins valued $500+. I didn't know about it when I recently bought a Concepcion shipwreck 8 Reales coin on ebay, NGC graded. The seller sent the coin to PCGS USPS. PCGS had it only one day, looked at it then sent it to me Fedex. It added a few days for me to get the coin, not bad. In the package was the coin, the salvager COA, tag from Sedwick auction when it sold. There was nothing in the package saying PCGS looked at it. The only things different were the slab was in a small ebay box and a ebay sticker is on the baggie the coin came in. The sticker has a QR code on it to check it online with warning not to damage it. I carefully pulled the flip up. The QR code part is perforated so it stayed on the baggie. I'll keep the slab in the baggie but I wonder how well the flip will pull up years from now without sticking to the baggie. I may put a small piece of Saran Wrap or similar between the flip and the baggie. I like the coin, Potosi Bolivia mint. It has saltwater damage which is common for shipwreck coins to varying degrees. It's double struck off center with part of the date showing (1)63(?). The Concepcion sank about 80 miles north of Dominican Republic in 1641. Coins were slavaged from it several times. This one was found in 1993 by Tracy Bowden team. It might not have been necessary to have PCGS look at this coin because of it's provenance. But there are fake COA and fake slabs. At least I wasn't charged extra for PCGS to look at it. I don't know if ebay or the sellers will pay for PCGS opinion. I assume if a coin is found to be fake it will be sent back to seller and buyer will get refund.    Edited by livingwater
09/09/2026 06:49 am
|
|
|
|
Moderator
 United States
194888 Posts |
Interesting. Thank you for sharing your experience.  |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
858 Posts |
Very nice Coin.
It is interesting to see how that process works.
|
|
Bedrock of the Community
United States
78480 Posts |
Nice coin! It's very interesting that ebay started a new program to guarantee authenticity for coins worth 500+$. Never knew about it until now. Errers and Varietys.
|
|
Valued Member
United States
134 Posts |
Great coin livingwater! One interesting case study to watch - the below coin sold on ebay a couple days ago. It is a modern forgery slabbed by NGC. Will be interesting to see if PCGS catches it in their review or just rubber stamps that the slab is genuine.  |
|
Pillar of the Community
 United States
2332 Posts |
I don't know how the public will be able to know what PCGS does with each coin. As of now there's no ebay database to search the ones that pass with QR code or the ones that fail. Only ebay, PCGS, the seller and buyer will have this information currently. When I used the QR code it takes me to ebay showing it's been authenticated. But there's no access to any other coins that I saw. Edited by livingwater
09/10/2026 5:38 pm
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
6841 Posts |
|
|
Moderator
United States
194888 Posts |
Quote:One interesting case study to watch - the below coin sold on ebay a couple days ago. It is a modern forgery slabbed by NGC. Will be interesting to see if PCGS catches it in their review or just rubber stamps that the slab is genuine. Quote:For the record... https://www.ngccoin.com/certlookup/.../NGCDetails/ ... I believe the coin and slab fake   |
|
Valued Member
United States
134 Posts |
I should have looked up the slab when it sold, but looks like it already has the "Contact Customer Service" grade, so that's good they're aware of the issue.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
 United States
8040 Posts |
Fascinating from a business viewpoint: https://readingroom.money.org/ebay-...ee-to-coins/So ... ebay must have seen a decrease in sales of high value coins due to fears of counterfeits and forums like CCF reinforcing that buying coins on ebay is riskier than buying from trusted sellers. PCGS gets a huge slice of new business: this must add up to thousands of submissions per month, maybe even per week. Turning the submissions around in a day means the process s highly automated, and likely applies AI tools. I wonder how all of that gets paid for if neither the seller nor the buyer is paying? |
|
Moderator
United States
194888 Posts |
Quote:
Turning the submissions around in a day means the process s highly automated, and likely applies AI tools.  Quote:
I wonder how all of that gets paid for if neither the seller nor the buyer is paying?  |
| |
Replies: 10 / Views: 455 |
|
Posted 09/08/2026 5:27 pm
