Barber Quarter Collectors - BEWARE !!

[Elbesaar]

 

A good friend, JMW, called me about an 1901-S Quarter that he has been hunting, for some time.

He spotted this one on eBay for "just" $28,000.The seller is in the United Kingdom.

 

 

The seller has a feed back of "5" - and he also had two other coins at auction:

1856 FE Cent in PCGS PR 62 and an 1893-S Morgan - PCGS 50.

 

Red flags - and JMW and I said something is wrong.

 

I checked out PCGS Cert Verification - and sure enough,

the serial number is legit ... HOWEVER... PCGS now offers

links to when a CERT # has sold - with a link to the auction:

 

Here is what is in the correct PCGS Holder:

 

 

 

 

Just goes to show ya - be careful out there -

[BillJones]

Unfortunately these guys are making their fake holders look better and better. The coin inside does not have the right look, but one could see with a bit of "circulation," say down to the grade of VG or so, that an item like this could be even more deceptive. Even in VF this coin has a Gray Sheet price of $7,850.

 

If you have an account on the PCGS site, you really should post this there. PCGS is aware of what is going on, and giving them more evidence to go after these crooks has be a good thing.

 

[RWB]

This was posted on PCGS earlier today.

[Elbesaar]

 

Before I posted it here - I did post it ATS -

and thought it prudent to do the same here.

 

BTW - the auction was shut down.

 

I have not noticed that the NGC holders are

getting the same bad press as the PCGS ones are.

 

Has anyone run across fraudulent NGC holders ?

If so - any link to the thread ?

 

 

[BruceS]

Before I posted it here - I did post it ATS -

and thought it prudent to do the same here.

 

BTW - the auction was shut down.

 

I have not noticed that the NGC holders are

getting the same bad press as the PCGS ones are.

 

Has anyone run across fraudulent NGC holders ?

If so - any link to the thread ?

 

 

Ive been searching for A fake NGC holder for some time. i have even been on those Chinese sites, but as of now, I have not seen nor heard of one being found. I dont know if thats good or bad, maybe there that good and we cant spot them, I highly doubt it. But always on the look out. If anybody else has a confirmed NGC conterfit I would like to see it also.

[morganguru]

Who was the seller? Good catch!

[Elbesaar]

 

I forgot to write it down !!

[Conder101]

Fake NGC slabs were first seen back in August of 2007. NGC confirmed it in Feb of 2008. They released their new Hologram and counterfeit resistant labels in April 2008 and started the photo database of every coin they slabbed in either late 2008 or 2009 and we haven't really seen much new on counterfeits for NGC slabs since then.

[Elbesaar]

Seems as though a fake 1901-S in an NGC 58 slab was sold on eBay today

...originally asked $34,000 but accepted a Best Offer.

 

The OBV is style A... It's the shape of the MM that caught my eye as being wrong,

it's too elongated - no S mint mark from 1901 looked like that.

 

I can't attach the thread ATS, as I am on my iPad. Check it out !!

 

[Eric Hazen]

Anytime you plan on dropping that kind of cash its a good idea to check. I hope I'm safe in the under $1000 per coin area. Can't see anyone doing a toned Washington fake :-)

[e1cnr]

Here is another from a few weeks ago and the guy cancelled all the bids

 

1901-s barber quarter

[benjmurts]

Why would you start a $5,000 coin at 99 cents and risk it getting sold for $1, not likely but possibly

Unless it was fake

 

[coinman_23885]

Why would you start a $5,000 coin at 99 cents and risk it getting sold for $1, not likely but possibly

Unless it was fake

 

This actually happens fairly regularly. The eBay seller knows that he can always end the auction early (regardless of whether I agree with the practice or not, I do know that it can occur as late as 12 hours before the auction ends) and two, the coin will obviously sell for much more (assuming genuine, good photos, etc.). One dollar starting, no reserve auctions are popular, and if created correctly, can attract fierce bidding among collectors. Some collectors, myself included, refrain on bidding on items with reserves or those that are already priced at retail. If I am going to pay full retail, I can look to several other sources where I can see the coin in hand before purchasing, etc.

[e1cnr]

The coin I linked is a fake slab, probably a sandwich job for the coin.

 

Cancelling auctions is not as common as it was, eBay now charges fvfs at high bid after 1st during a year.

[MarkFeld]

Seems as though a fake 1901-S in an NGC 58 slab was sold on eBay today

...originally asked $34,000 but accepted a Best Offer.

 

The OBV is style A... It's the shape of the MM that caught my eye as being wrong,

it's too elongated - no S mint mark from 1901 looked like that.

 

I can't attach the thread ATS, as I am on my iPad. Check it out !!

 

I think there's an excellent chance that the coin is genuine. And that some of the posts knocking it might have cost the seller (a lot of) money.

 

There is a fine line between responsibly alerting others to potential counterfeits and scams, vs. being unfair to sellers. I don't claim to know exactly where that line should be drawn, but I do believe it is crossed too frequently.

[Elbesaar]

Seems as though a fake 1901-S in an NGC 58 slab was sold on eBay today

...originally asked $34,000 but accepted a Best Offer.

 

The OBV is style A... It's the shape of the MM that caught my eye as being wrong,

it's too elongated - no S mint mark from 1901 looked like that.

 

I can't attach the thread ATS, as I am on my iPad. Check it out !!

 

I think there's an excellent chance that the coin is genuine. And that some of the posts knocking it might have cost the seller (a lot of) money.

 

There is a fine line between responsibly alerting others to potential counterfeits and scams, vs. being unfair to sellers. I don't claim to know exactly where that line should be drawn, but I do believe it is crossed too frequently.

 

Right you are Mark. I relied upon someone else's valued opinion - and as a result,

I very well have been mistaken. My observations were correct, there is something odd

about the shape of that MM. Seems the coin sold to an astute collector and he's thrilled

with it. No money was lost to the seller as the discussions were after the coin was sold.

 

 

Now, in the opening post, that was simply a case of fraud being perpetrated on the

collecting fraternity.

 

Always on your toes, eh Mark ??

 

[MarkFeld]

Seems as though a fake 1901-S in an NGC 58 slab was sold on eBay today

...originally asked $34,000 but accepted a Best Offer.

 

The OBV is style A... It's the shape of the MM that caught my eye as being wrong,

it's too elongated - no S mint mark from 1901 looked like that.

 

I can't attach the thread ATS, as I am on my iPad. Check it out !!

 

I think there's an excellent chance that the coin is genuine. And that some of the posts knocking it might have cost the seller (a lot of) money.

 

There is a fine line between responsibly alerting others to potential counterfeits and scams, vs. being unfair to sellers. I don't claim to know exactly where that line should be drawn, but I do believe it is crossed too frequently.

 

Right you are Mark. I relied upon someone else's valued opinion - and as a result,

I very well have been mistaken. My observations were correct, there is something odd

about the shape of that MM. Seems the coin sold to an astute collector and he's thrilled

with it. No money was lost to the seller as the discussions were after the coin was sold.

 

 

Now, in the opening post, that was simply a case of fraud being perpetrated on the

collecting fraternity.

 

Always on your toes, eh Mark ??

 

Thanks - I'm relieved to hear that the seller was not harmed financially. And I appreciate your ongoing efforts with respect to listings of bogus coins, like the one pictured at the top of this thread.

[Treashunt]

Look at the face on the fake.

It looks like Liberty is sneering

[Treashunt]

Seems as though a fake 1901-S in an NGC 58 slab was sold on eBay today

...originally asked $34,000 but accepted a Best Offer.

 

The OBV is style A... It's the shape of the MM that caught my eye as being wrong,

it's too elongated - no S mint mark from 1901 looked like that.

 

I can't attach the thread ATS, as I am on my iPad. Check it out !!

 

and it sold?

 

Wow

 

sad