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 Replies: 22 / Views: 4,026 |
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Valued Member
United States
88 Posts |
So, Of the last 10 Morgans that I bought on ebay, 7 of them have been clearly cleaned, doctoered altered, polished, etc... Of those 10, none of the sellers listed their coins with even a shred of possibility that the coins were cleaned. When I list a coin on ebay, if I am not the sole custodian of its provenance over the last 120-130 years, I include the possibility that it might be cleaned, and I even sell some under the ASSUMPTION that it is probably cleaned in the title... Of course, I hear the choir in the backgrouind singing he hymn "Buy only Graded coins from the top 3 TPG's"...one of my favorite songs too....but sometimes, we want to buy a raw coin and assume it is pure! My question to the group - Is there a running list, a working group, or some sort of "In-Club" that you all have established, identifying which coin dealers sell mostly unaltered raw coins? "I yield back my time", and await a (hopeful) working knowledge of how all of you have been able to navigate the pitfalls of ebay and other sites, where relative newbies like me have failed! all the best, Keith *** Moved by Staff to a more appropriate forum. *** |
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Rest in Peace
United States
10625 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7375 Posts |
Also there's a thread for Recommended sellers. You will stand a better chance with one of these for sure. https://goccf.com/t/2393 |
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Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
Aside the recommended/not, your best bet is to limit yourself to coins with imagery of enough quality for you to form a reasonable opinion. Of course, that's only about one in twenty, on ebay.  Seriously, there's no magic formula. Every purchase is a risk, even for the most experienced among us. I don't get burned as often as I used to but it still happens. |
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Valued Member
United States
139 Posts |
I don't feel like the seller has any obligation to state if they think that a coin has been cleaned or not. It is always a gamble. That is why auctions with poor pics and small descriptions usually go for less money. I only include "cleaned" in my auction if it is very obvious. However, I pride myself on having excellent pictures from multiple angles, showing all details of the coin. I've bought plenty of coins with fuzzy pictures and BU+++ CHOICE AMAZING CONDITION titles just to get them and have a XF cleaned coin. However, by taking very good pictures, I think I end up selling them for a little more because the buyer knows EXACTLY what they are getting. Like SsuperDdave said, every purchase is a risk. A lower price point is the offset for assuming that risk. Heck, sometimes it is fun to buy a low price morgan with a fuzzy picture just to see what you get!
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Valued Member
 United States
88 Posts |
I feel like the seller has an absolute obligation to state this, so I respectfully disagree. The sellers seem to have NO PROBLEM stating Gem-Mint and Coice BU, so if they are compelled to make these statements, it would seem to me that they have thoroughly inspected a coin.... One cannot deem a coin GEM-BU condition without CAREFUL scrutiny; so if it is so convenient to arbitrarily throw such positive statements around, by carefully inspecting a coin, then I am certain that the other side of the coin (no pun intended) is attainable, in terms of defining an auction item. If they did state this, then there would be a lot less returning of items on ebay. This is clearly deceptive, sellers oftentimes are very very aware of what they are doing. They are Experts, so they are more than capable of honest analysis. I think the only thing that is going to fix this is to have every coin buyer return every item that is misleading, misrepresented in the title, and speak with the wallet. Items I have received are nowhere near the item I purchased, and I think that if this does Not have to be stated, then I do Not have to feel bad in returning every single one of them. Seems simple to me, the only person that wins is the post office, if we are not up front and honest. -Keith |
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Valued Member
440 Posts |
Unfortunately the majority of raw coins on ebay are not slabbed & certified because they are "details" coins. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1804 Posts |
EndTheFed====================== Quote:
.but sometimes, we want to buy a raw coin and assume it is pure! Let the buyer beware. To be safe === It might be best to ASSUME all coins are cleaned etc. and bid accordingly. That way you can only be surprised on the up-side. Or you might write the seller and ask some pointed, hard, serious, questions. Pin it down to what it is you want before your final bid. Maybe the last best hope is to only buy your coins in person. No buyers remorse that way. |
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Valued Member
United States
88 Posts |
All great advice, and much appreciated... I think I will stick to graded coins, to be sure, as it just got too expensive assuming that the item titles were accurate!
Thanks to all for your replies and insight, I truly appreciate it
-EndTheFed
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1804 Posts |
May I please add one more thing
Personally I think a RAW Morgan seller really does not know what the history is.
His motivation is more cash for his coin.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2368 Posts |
Quote:
His motivation is more cash for his coin.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2669 Posts |
Quote:Unfortunately the majority of raw coins on ebay are not slabbed & certified because they are "details" coins. Not really. Many coins are not graded because the cost to do so is cost-prohibitive in relation to the coin's worth. Many people simply cannot afford to slab every one of their coins. There are a multitude of other reasons why not: distrust or dislike of grading companies in general, wanting to be able to see and hold a coin without the plastic, putting the coin into an album, etc. |
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Valued Member
United States
88 Posts |
I do not quite understand why "motivation to sell" is being confused with blatant and obvious signs of cleaning? These are two completely independant issues. If the coin has Obvious signs of cleaning, list and describe it as such....Many times over, these are not visible in auction photos, but blatantly obvious even under 2-4x magnification.
Motivation or not, honesty will motivate me to not return an unethically-listed coin - every single one of them...and in particular the ones listed as Gem-BU or Choice-BU...These terms are tossed around like we are idiots, and I am losing my appetite to be part of the idiots.
EndTheFed
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Rest in Peace
United States
10625 Posts |
Do you have any links to recent ebay auctions you won that ended up being crap Morgans? There may be signs that you didn't pick up on that someone here may be able to point out. All part of the education process.  |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
726 Posts |
"Cleaned" by whom?.,.Most Morgans are well over a Hundred Years old- So good luck with that.,.100 Years is so long a time period, so many collectors collections,.ETc.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
589 Posts |
Quote:But if hard times comes to me. My plan is to ebay 'em === take at least 6-8 PICs === very few words of description, only to say "I am not an expert on coins, & you can judge the condition of the coin." Then let her rip. and 14 day return privileges. |
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Replies: 22 / Views: 4,026 |
Posted 07/05/2014 11:21 am
