Looking To Purchase Another Sgs Coin, Need Your Help.

Hi Isaiah and Happy New Year!

I'd stay away from aboncom and his homemade slabs. It's unlikely this coin would grade over MS64 from a legit grading service and without better reverse pics, there's no way to tell.

My guess is it would be a MS65RB at best, but that's only a guess with this seller because it could be AU!

Thank you for the replies.

I agree it is nowhere near MS 68, and have asked the seller if he could provide better pictures of the reverse.

Thank you for the kind words, Sir Ferrari. Here's a few more, and you may find them shocking.

I've bought from this seller, and I will probably buy from him again.

He horribly overgrades the coins in his slabs. However, by and large, his photos are accurate enough for a knowledgeable collector to make a reasonable decision as to the true grade and quality of the coin, and if the prices matches that grade and quality, what's to stop you?

This is not a seller for the inexpert collector. Do not shop here if you don't know your stuff. I suspect the vast majority of his customers don't fall into this category, but I am not by any means the only serious collector who watches his offerings. That's partly because the competition with other good collectors is less fierce.

It would be nice to get all up in arms and stuff, and get this guy thrown off of ebay. That's been tried, and it hasn't happened. ebay knows what side their bread is buttered on, and this seller spends some serious coin (pun intended) with them. Example: You would expect ebay traffic to dwindle over the holidays, and judging from the listings (I spend hours each day on ebay), it has. All the same, this seller sold 162 coins on ebay yesterday. 162 sales, on New Year's Eve. Think about it.

He's not going away. He offers a whole lot of stuff. He usually posts clear pics of what he's selling, and he sends you the coin he's pictured. Caveat emptor trumps any other sage advice I might give, but that phrase is about knowing, not avoiding.

As to the coin in question: I don't know Lincolns. This one may be Mint State, it might not. It seems like I see wear in the hair. However, in any event, it won't do any better than MS63-64 in my opinion, and if your knowledge allows you to make a clear judgement about it, I wouldn't risk more than MS60-62 money on the chance. They're not that uncommon.

As everyone knows I usually search for specific VAM's on ebay and I don't care what slab the coin is in or even if they are raw, if I see something I need and if I think it meets the grade I am looking for I will bid on it, if it goes over what I think the coin is worth because of the inflated grade on the slab then someone just paid to much for it in my opinion. I always look at these basement slabs as a raw coin (which is what it will become when it arrives anyway) but the only thing I have to say is that I have been caught with problem coins that you couldn't tell were problem coins while they were in the slab. I have a VAM-70 that I purchased in a basement slab that looked great even DMPL but once taken out of the slab it had a rim ding (that wasn't visible because of the surrounding covering holding the coin into the slab and once its removed from its original holder returning the coin is not an option. So there are some good deals to be had in these basement slabs but one MUST be able to determine the grade themselves and also be aware that just because you don't see any problems doesn't mean there are not any hiding, and if you weigh those options and bid accordingly then sometimes you can win big and sometimes you can also lose big. Its the people that don't really know allot about grading or a specific series that takes these companies as a true 3rd party grading service that I worry about because not only are their grades inflated sometimes you find fake coins in their slabs which can cost the buyer allot of money. So as a rule of thumb I try to tell all the new collectors to stay away from these basement sellers until they feel comfortable grading and authenticating themselves then after that there is some true values to be had in these slabs but not before

Well said Bryan1315

Same as us....he buys boxes from his friendly neighborhood bank

Snaz, I was banned from cointalk, due to their abusive moderators. I am still on coinforums, and here. I have only been banned once, and that was unfair. I appreciate SGS, for their abilities, I do not wish to argue about this, and remember, I am a collector. That is why I am on multiple coin forums. Thanks.