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 Replies: 10 / Views: 3,603 |
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Valued Member
Korea, Republic Of
489 Posts |
I have seen many sellers on ebay and even sellers here in Korea that blur out or cover the serial numbers of their slabbed coins. Why do people do this? |
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Pillar of the Community
Korea, Republic Of
1881 Posts |
I've had a similar question about blurring grade cert numbers in online Korean numismatic communities. One reasons seems to be that the cert number can reveal a lot of things especially previous ownership, when and where it was sold online at what price. Andd in a smaller and more of a closed numismatic community like Korea (as for example, slabbed current Korean coins are mostly "circulated" inside Korea) this seems to have settled as something normal & accepted. And another reason for scarcer coins seems to be due to slab counterfeiting issues where cert numbers from real slabs are used to create fake ones.
Edited by Matteproof
06/06/2018 06:17 am
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
Two possible reasons, one is that it may be a stock image and you won't actually get the coin pictured. If the picture had the serial number and the one you receive has a different number you have a slam dunk complaint that they didn't send you the coin you bid on.
Two it could be a holdover for the the early days of the Registry sets era. Back when they first started a lot of people created fictitious registry sets by collecting serial numbers from coins imaged online and in auctions. This used to cause all kinds of headaches when someone would buy a coin, try to list it in their registry set only to find that it was already in someone else's set. There would be lengthy delays why PCGS would have to try and contact the other set owner to try and get confirmation that they didn't have it and to get them to remove it from their set. they would have to wait for contact back from them and EVENTUALLY when they got no response they would finally remove it themselves so you could put it is your sets. This could take a month. In some cases the buyer would just return the coin rather than go through the ordeal of getting the problem fixed. So to avoid the problem may sellers took to blurring out the serial number on the coins they sold. This problem has pretty much faded away now, but some sellers still blur the numbers.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
992 Posts |
Looks like several reasons for this silly practice, but the main reason is to tell the bidder to pass on the item and find something else.
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Moderator
 United States
187582 Posts |
Quote:
but the main reason is to tell the bidder to pass on the item and find something else. Exactly how I feel. If I cannot see the number, I pass. If I see "item pictured is representative of what you will receive, number will differ" then I pass. Stock photos, pass. |
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Valued Member
United States
434 Posts |
It could be either fraud or privacy. Here is the privacy reason (not for sale items): After you insert the serial number at the TPG verification website, increment or decrement the last two digits. This allows you to snoop and see what else was submitted as part of the original TPG submittal. For NGC, the last couple of digits represent the line number on the submittal form. The preceding numbers represent the form number. Below is a prime example. I have my name on the slab "Darryl Gomez Collection". If I ever display the serial number, one could see the other items (using the increment or decrement trick) in my collection that are documented on the original submittal form.  Edited by DrDarryl
06/06/2018 6:53 pm
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
Quote:After you insert the serial number at the TPG verification website, increment or decrement the last two digits. This allows you to snoop and see what else was submitted as part of the original TPG submittal. For NGC, the last couple of digits represent the line number on the submittal form. The preceding numbers represent the form number. Below is a prime example. I have my name on the slab "Darryl Gomez Collection". If I ever display the serial number, one could see the other items in my collection that are documented on the original submittal form. No they can't. You have to have the grade to look anything up on NGC now. Honestly though even if they could why does it matter? If it's such a grave concern I would have it reholdered to be called something else and have my real name removed from the label. |
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Valued Member
United States
434 Posts |
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If it's such a grave concern I would have it reholdered to be called something else and have my real name removed from the label. It does matter if you are in the process of making these "plate coins" in a book that is still in draft form. I'm researcher that discovered, organized, and formed this US Mint series. The medal shown is the first-ever Dwight D. Eisenhower Newport medal graded by NGC. The Darryl Gomez Collection is to be featured in an upcoming book. Privacy is key until the book is published. Also, when it comes time to disperse my collection these plate specimens will command a premium.  Edited by DrDarryl
06/06/2018 7:04 pm
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Valued Member
 Korea, Republic Of
489 Posts |
I never thought of these reasons for covering up the serial number. I can see why folks would do it, but it still seems a teensy bit counterproductive.
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CCF Advertiser
United States
1533 Posts |
I do it because I don't want some internet detectives searching the net to find out what I paid for the coin.
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
The only actual legit reason is stock generic type listings like condor had mentioned like generic ASEs
If something is so secretive that it can't have a certbshown it shouldn't be posted. You don't need a cert to find a coin.
What a dealer pays doesn't matter. Anyone overly concerned about that can find the coin anyway if the dealer bought it online.
It does dealers more harm than good. Almost no one is buying anything of value with a hidden cert
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Replies: 10 / Views: 3,603 |
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Posted 06/06/2018 12:01 pm
