Lincoln Small Date? Really?

Wow...either PCGS made a serious mistake, or that's a fake/modified slab. Either way--it's not a small date.
Very good catch

Here's a blowup of the date area--obviously a LD from the markers I use:

Definitely a Large Date.
I really do like the toning, very stunning!

"I really do like the toning, very stunning!"
I'm glad someone could put a positive spin on this!

The seller actually shouldn't have to do PCGS's work for it. Assuming it's a genuine slab, PCGS is on the hook for this one. I am not going to notify them or the seller, but somebody's going to have to work something out at some point.

Unless they say it was a mechanical error because "It was obviously not a small date". Yes, they can get out of it that easily

Just looked on their website for their guarantee and they have gone to great lengths to try and hide it but it is there. And it is much better than it used to be. It used to only discuss grading but after much nagging by myself and others it now includes language taking resposibility for authenticity as well and in a recent addition they hve extended it to cover attributions as well. (Attributions used to not be covered.) HOWEVER, they still have some nice loopholes.

From the guarantee:



and


"Well obviously this is a large date not a small date, it's a mechanical error and the guarantee does not apply"

I'm not saying they will try to get out of the guarantee, just that they could.

"consequently the PCGS Guarantee does not cover obvious clerical errors, what we call "mechanical errors."

But their end product is what you see on their slab; essentially that's their final word. If they can't guarantee veracity there, their long-winded assurances don't matter. So it's like people say--look at the coin, not the slab.

Very true. Usually though they are very good at standing behind their product and for lower value items the bad publicity they would get if they didn't make good on them would cost them ore than the coins do. But they have used the "mechanical error" excuse in the past. You may not like these parts of the guarantee, but it is much better than what the old one was. No written guarantee of authenticity, and no guarantee at all on attributions. There is even some question of them having tried to get out of the grading guarantee a couple of times. One worth mentioning was the 1964 cent graded PF-70 that either had or developed spots. It had been purchased for over $30,000 and was put up for auction. Since the coin had PCGS's guarntee the bidding was going through the roof. After all you couls say you had the only PF-70 Lincoln Cent (at that time) and then later you could always send it back to PCGS and "get your money back" under the grade guarantee. Well the early bidding was approaching 50K when PCGS publicly announced that their grading guarantee would not cover this coin. Well the bidders all withdrew their bids and the coin didn't sell. PCGS then made a deal with the consignor after the auction to buy it back. (I don't know how much.) Their pulling of the guarantee meant their liability was much lower, but potentially kept the wner of the coin from receiving as much as he would have from the sale.

Buying the coin if they hadn't made their announcement could have been a big gamble as well.


Under the guarantee PCGS alone is the one who decides how much the compensation will be based on what THEY think the fair market value is. What you paid for it, what they are selling for at auction, or even what they list for in price guides including PCGS's own price guide does not matter. It is not unusual for PCGS to offer less, sometimes considerably less, than the amounts shown in their own price guide. (If it sounds like I am picking on PCGS I'm not. The other major servics are pretty much the same.)