I have a saved search still on eBay for "ngc Netherlands 10G," so I get notified when one pops up without having to search myself all the time. I continue to hope an 1885 or 1886 will pop up one day to help me complete that set. But... 90% of the time I get an email and it's an 1875... or an 1877.
I just got an email for my 10G search and it's an AU55 in a new holder, and I just can't help but shake my head and think, someone was REALLY disappointed when that posted the grade results.
The 1875 accounts for over half the total mintage of the Willem III 10Gs with over 4.1 million made. It is insanely common. You can almost always find 2-3 in gem uncirc grades, already graded by NGC, for little premium attached to the grade/ the coin being graded. In that context, an AU55 is sad. It shouldn't have been graded. The coin is established as genuine, but will carry no premium over melt.
And you know how this probably happened. Someone saw this thing, thought it had nice, clean fields and few marks and thought it would probably get a 65 or 66... and they missed the rub in the high points... and there's about $40 they'll never get back out of that coin.
Alternatively someone just thought a 145 year old European gold coin had to be rare and valuable and worth grading! Totally! For sure! - Not so much.
On a similar / related note I've been seeing a lot of Venezuelan and Zimbabwe notes popping up lately in the 55 to 65 range. As more of these things get graded however it's increasingly clear that anything below 66 is just junk that shouldn't have been graded. And it feels weird to say that - because it feels strange to say that a 65 is effectively junk. But the 66s, and 67s and 68s are so common and that makes the 65s so undesirable that they actually sell for less than the discounted bulk grading fees - a complete disaster for someone submitting to resell.
There are exceptions, of course. Like for the traveller's checks I recently graded a 63-65 is pretty solid and a 66 is a top pop. But for a 2nd or 3rd Zimbabwe dollar note a 65 is an instant, guaranteed loss - just like that AU55 1875 10G. I suppose the P72 is one exception I shouldn't ignore though.
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