My GSa story

[toneddollars]

So , about ten years ago I bought six unopened GSA dollars off Ebay. When the packages arrived I inspected them very closely to see if I could tell if they had been tampered with.

A few years after I bought these coins, prices went ballastic. I sold two for almost what I paid for the lot of six from a couple of years earlier. The remaining four went into the black hole

so to speak. I was looking in my safe the other day and saw the four of them just begging to be opened. I know that opening them would reduce the to open their value by half. Since I was playing

with house money(almost), I decided to open them. I opened one a day. The first was a nice looking 1884 with good fresh luster and would probally grade 63. The second I opened the next

day and it was a dog. Flat, no luster, scuffed to the max. A real basil grade GSA. So the following day I opened coin number three. After slitting the box I noticed that the end of the GSA black box had a

blemish on it. A small section on the end had the outer cover pealed off. I opened this one and wow, another real dog, maybe worse than the other one. Again this is a 1884 just like the first two. I the look and there is

a scuff mark on the obverse of the case. I pulled it out of the holder to look at the reverse, and bang, there it was A STICKER, like the type dealers put on their coins. I been had. The outer box was perfect as far as

I could tell. After this I was not going to wait to open the last one. As I opened this last one it was stuck in the box. I'm thinking the worst , as the box has been attached by extra glue from resealing it. I finally removed it and opened it up and the card was for a 1883. Removed the card expecting the worst, and ...... well this one is a 65 shot 66.

 

So, beware out there when buying these as I was fooled and I could not tell at all that one or more of these had been opened before.

 

TD

[BillJones]

This should be a lesson to those who buy "unopened" boxes or envelopes of anything. Beyond the chance that the item was dog from the get-go or went bad because of improper storage, the possibility always exists that the item has been opened and carefully resealed.

 

I only bought an unopened item once, and that was with a group of five 1952 Proof sets that were sold together with the original outside mailing wrapper still with them. Two of the five sets were unopened, but I took the chance because the sets were sold to me at Gray Sheet "bid" at the time, and I have never seen anything like that before or since.

 

I have not opened the two sets. It just seems like a sacrilege to do it although my mind does not work that way usually. I think that there is a zero chance that any of the coins will be cameo coins. The other three were fairly typical for 1952 Proof sets, which are often quite bright with tons of die polishing that was done to make them look that way. The die polishing removed whatever cameo might have been there, and sometimes removed some of the details on the coins as well.

 

By the way these coins were addressed to a Catholic priest in Dorchester, Massachusetts . Surely a item from a source like that would be totally on the up and up.

 

 

No offense intended.

[jerseycat10]

I was always tempted to buy an unopened GSA on ebay, but never did because of this possibility.

[RWB]

Did you get a booklet of indulgences too?

[cpm9ball]

I've never bought an "unopened" package, but I have bought unsearched bags only after checking them very carefully with a loupe to ensure that the stitching was not tampered with.

 

Chris

[JeremiahB]

TD,

Did you purchase all of them from same seller?

 

This reminds when I bought an "unopened" 1958 proof set (Mothers Birth Year),

and me being the first to open it, and when I did..

The 1st thing I noticed was the dime was cut open in cello packaging and taped backed up (I assumed replaced with another dime) imagine my disappointment . ?

[toneddollars]

Yes same seller over three days bought four the first time and then two more. Maybe the last two were the basis for this thread

[#]

NLT

[toneddollars]

I've said it before and sorry to be repetitive but, when ANYONE says there's no way to know what's inside well that's not true. My neighbor is a dentist and has played with a few via X-ray. Some here will say it's not possible but I know what I saw. This on top of every single unopened box I've heard of is 84, 83 or 82. Just my two cents.

In fact if any sees one for less than $200 LMK and I'll buy, X-ray it and post the pics. I'm just not willing to pay $300-$400 for a $150 coin.

David

They bring $190-$200