I Was Outbid! Fantastic!

Been there. Done that

Great result for you! Somebody else's problem now

Things usually happen for a reason. Think it's a case of good karma.

But your earlier instincts may not have been wrong. For many collectors, it's perfectly fine to buy a "detailed" coin, since you're not being fooled, and can then have a lovely coin in your collection with great eye appeal, often at a price that's much lower than the equivalent coin in that grade that's straight graded. The key is how it looks, and as you said, the auction hi resolution photos looked nice, AND the PCGS True View photos also looked real nice. Chances are high the coin does indeed have real nice eye appeal, but does have surface issues that caused it to be graded "Detailed".

Would you be happier buying a "Detailed" coin that did not look as good?

There's a LOT of merit in buying an attractive straight graded AU55-58 coin, so that's good. But the "Detailed" coin you passed on is no doubt a gorgeous coin, and not ugly in any way. There were three bidders within $75 of each other (the underbidder was only $25 less than the high bidder), and obviously, their way of thinking is OK too - for THEM - obtain a gorgeous Proof coin with a drop dead hammered strike and watery mirrors with luster so brilliant you need sunglasses to keep from getting blinded, at a fraction of the price a Proof coin with similar eye appeal would cost had it not been "Detailed". While like you, I would not buy a "Detailed" coin, as long as a buyer understands the grading issue, I fully understand why some collectors would like to have that coin with phenomenal eye appeal in their collection, especially if they're going to crack it out, perhaps for their unslabbed Type Set.

Suggestion: Be patient and wait for a nice AU58 instead of an AU55. The difference in pricing is only about $30, and a nice AU58 should have much nicer eye appeal. Pops are pretty high, so it shouldn't be tough. If by chance you get lucky and find one of the very few graded as AU58+, consider grabbing it if you like it's eye appeal - it probably won't cost a lot more than an AU58 without the plus. The problem is, there are so few of those.

Happy Hunting!

While my collection is 100% PCGS, and while there are always exceptions, I truly believe the experts at NGC will have no problem at all recognizing the problem with this coin.

My worry/concern is if instead of keeping it for their own collection (as I hope they do), that they might crack it out and sell it as a raw coin on ebay without disclosing the problem, to an unsuspecting collector. Shame on them if they do that, as it's things like that that turn potential collectors off from our hobby.

Be nice.