How This Could Be?

I agree with Conder, you should have left it in the slab. By cracking it out, you just potentially lost hundreds of dollars. If they downgraded it when sent in for a regrade and it was in the slab, they would have to pay you the grade difference.

Also, the crackout game is not to be played by amateurs or people who cannot afford a multi-thousand dollar loss. Yes, you could get a multi-thousand dollar grade bump up but unless you have 20-30 years of expertise grading not just coins but that particular series, you will wind up losing almost every time. Even with that experience, it is a calculated gamble.

Your only choice at this point if you do not want to accept a significant monetary loss is to send it back again and possible again and then spend alot more money in grading fees until you reach a grade that you like or you could even try sending it to PCGS.

Conder101. Yes, I was thinking, may be it was graded 64 and then was read as 1. :)

I will send it for regrading and will post the outcome.

I have to agree it's a nice coins, and I don't think it's a 61 though. Personally, you should have just sent it to them for review rather than cracking it out. Keep us updated when you resend it back to them(also, did they use the new slab on it?).

Newby question

What's 'craking out'?

Hi Varord,
I agree this coin should grade at least MS-63. Please let us know how the NGC review turns out. I've never asked for a grade review and would be interested in how it works.

The PCGS price guide shows values of $2700 and $5300 for the 1853-O in MS-63 and MS-64, respectively. This coin appears to have all the features of an MS-64 example. If you are not satisfied with the NGC review, considering the value difference I'd say it's worth another try at re-grading. I'd try PCGS if it were my coin.

That's a good point about possible damage. Your photos are very clear and by comparing the returned coin to those images you should be able to confirm whether the coin was mishandled during the grading process. If you can, please post new photos when you get it back and we'll help you look!

Dimetime,
those are two different coins- the first one is owned by the OP and the second one is from Heritage Auctions archives and it is just an example of a MS61

BTW,

Slabbing a coin is usually done to authenticate it. It's main purpose is to make the buyer feel comfortable about buying your coin for the condition you state it to be. Like with this gold dollar, it's worth more in 63 than 61. If it wasn't slabbed, someone might not want to pay the full price because they don't know if it's a 63 and if it doesn't have any unseen damage to it.



Warord, Keep us updated with what NGC says.