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 Replies: 75 / Views: 12,675 |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
3098 Posts |
Back in February I posted photos of the beautiful 1857 Flying Eagle cent I'd recently purchased. Here's the link to that post: https://goccf.com/t/170158&SearchTe...g,Eagle,CentI sent the coin in to NGC along with another 1857 Flying Eagle and several other coins. My hopes for the coin were dashed today when it came back.  I would never have guessed the coin was not real. I even did a search when I received it on fake Flying Eagles and didn't find anything to rouse suspicions. The only unusual thing about it was the little die chip out of the T in CENT. I've emailed the seller, but after nearly three months I don't know if he'll give me a refund knowing the coin is a fake. At least I didn't pay MS money for it. The good news is that the other 1857 Flying Eagle I sent in, the one I paid $122 for last year as a brown AU, came back in a pretty slab labeled MS-63. That makes up for this disappointment. I'll post a photo of it later. After all my good buys on ebay I guess the numismatic gods had this one in for me. This is a good fake. It sure had me fooled. But I'm glad I sent it in and know what it is. Think of the hassle had I tried to sell it as real! Paul Bulgerin
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1023 Posts |
Oh man what a bummer! Sorry to hear. I bet you were very excited to get it back.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
8137 Posts |
It fooled me too. Very disappointing. At least your other one was real.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3486 Posts |
At this point, would submitting it to ANACS be an option?
Just for a second opinion.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
940 Posts |
It fooled me. Hopefully the seller will agree to a refund despite the time since the purchase.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
8904 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
3098 Posts |
It looks like this will have a happy ending. I just heard from the seller and even though it's been nearly three months he is going to refund my money. He said he had no idea the coin was not real and I believe him.
The seller is: biged86440
I appreciate an honest seller like that.
Paul Bulgerin
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Valued Member
United States
291 Posts |
Good to hear the seller is doing the right thing. Nice to know their are still some honest people out their.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3098 Posts |
The seller said I could keep the fake coin. I'm wondering if there is anyone on the list who is a Flying Eagle cent specialist who might like to examine this coin in person and let the rest of us know what to look for so others don't get fooled. Any suggestions? Paul Bulgerin
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10045 Posts |
I'm a bit surprised, but I'm glad it ended well for you, and creds to the seller!  It would be very helpful to get this coin documented with closeup photographs. I'm sure there are some markers that would give it away--but I'm not the guy for FE cents. Edited by DVCollector
05/06/2014 11:49 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5207 Posts |
I'm not an expert on FEC but other than the unusual rim where the denticles meet the edge it looks good to me.
Luckily the seller has agreed to refund your money (less the grading cost of course)
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Pillar of the Community
861 Posts |
I'm NOT surprised that the seller is refunding and letting you keep the coin. A few years ago I had purchased a complete set of FE/Indian cents on ebay. I immediately realized that they were fakes and the seller refunded and told me to keep the coins......I later found out why. 1. It is a Federal crime to send counterfeit coins in the mail 2. If they didn't refund, they could be looking at 20 years in Federal Prison 3. If they had YOU return the counterfeits, in the USPS mail, they again would be looking at a long prison term 4. The amount of elapsed time, since your purchase, has a 5 years statute of limitations, thus, the seller would have no choice but to refund. |
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Pillar of the Community
Korea, Republic Of
1881 Posts |
Even if he did indeed refund the money, I'd stay far, far away from that seller. g048406's post sounds quite logical and reasonable. There are many, many other excellent sellers on the Web that don't sell counterfeit coins, intended or by mistake.  BTW, congrats for the MS-63 FEC! |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3453 Posts |
I am sorry to hear it was fake but at least you will get your money back. Quote:I'm wondering if there is anyone on the list who is a Flying Eagle cent specialist who might like to examine this coin in person and let the rest of us know what to look for so others don't get fooled. Check out The Black Cabinet http://fakes.numismetrica.com. A CCF member runs it and he may be interested in documenting it. I will reach out to him to take a look at this thread. Edited by CoinsKelly
05/07/2014 06:23 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2757 Posts |
WOW, thank you for sharing this story. Very glad it has a good ending. Your cost to have it slabbed was worth the education. I am very interested in the weight on this coin - do you have a scale?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
8137 Posts |
I just compared yours to a real one from photograde and I think the 8 in yours is a bit thicker than the one on photograde.
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Replies: 75 / Views: 12,675 |
Posted 05/06/2014 10:00 pm
