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Remember that fake "1804" Large Cent PCGS certified?

Started by James_OldeTowne,

12 posts in this topic

James_OldeTowne

James_OldeTowne

Posted
Posted

Ron Guth stated in the most recent Penny Wise that PCGS bought the coin back from the person who purchased it on eBay for the full amount that he paid for it.

 

Good job, PCGS! This only adds to the good faith in TPGs.

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ziggy29

ziggy29

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There's little doubt that PCGS takes their reputation very seriously. Eating the occasional big mistake is what continues to give the market extreme confidence in its product and why people aren't afraid to bid/pay strong money for PCGS coins.

 

 

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BankNote1

BankNote1

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The only question I have is why did pcgs slab the fake in the first place. Doesn't pcgs have several "experts" look over the coin before it is slabed??? This doesn't do much for my trust!

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bsshog40

bsshog40

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The only question I have is why did pcgs slab the fake in the first place. Doesn't pcgs have several "experts" look over the coin before it is slabed??? This doesn't do much for my trust!

 

I agree!

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stinkycheese1

stinkycheese1

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The only question I have is why did pcgs slab the fake in the first place. Doesn't pcgs have several "experts" look over the coin before it is slabed??? This doesn't do much for my trust!

 

I agree!

 

I wonder how many other coins in PCGS slabs are counterfeit, waiting to be discovered.... hm

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James_OldeTowne

James_OldeTowne

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The only question I have is why did pcgs slab the fake in the first place. Doesn't pcgs have several "experts" look over the coin before it is slabed??? This doesn't do much for my trust!

Remember, it was a genuine coin - an 1803 with the last digit altered - and therefore a very deceptive fake. Ron Guth mentioned in the article how it happened. An old trick for authenticating these coins was to see if the "0" in the date is exactly opposite the "O" on the reverse. It was in the case of this coin. Apparently, they didn't actually attribute the Sheldon variety, which would have instantly shown the mistake.

 

Guth concluded by stating that PCGS would now use other diagnostics for the 1804s.

 

Every grading service has made it's share of such errors. What's important is that they back up their service with a reliable guarantee.

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gmarguli

gmarguli

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The only question I have is why did pcgs slab the fake in the first place. Doesn't pcgs have several "experts" look over the coin before it is slabed??? This doesn't do much for my trust!

 

I agree!

 

I wonder how many other coins in PCGS slabs are counterfeit, waiting to be discovered.... hm

 

Hundreds probably.

 

Based just on the massive numbers of coins certified by all the services, if even 1/1000 of 1% of the coins certified are counterfeit, that's still hundreds of examples.

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TJ'S Coins

TJ'S Coins

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This is a chilling point you are making Greg. Coins like this can be bought and sold for years. The person who it will ultimately bite is the one who discovers it. But it is good that the top TPG's make good on their guarantees. :wishluck:

 

Otherwise knowledge is power and you have been encouraging us to get all the knowledge that we can before purchasing a coin. Can't argue with that! (thumbs u

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ziggy29

ziggy29

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Every grading service has made it's share of such errors. What's important is that they back up their service with a reliable guarantee.
The problem is that a lot of early copper collectors prefer to collect raw, and as soon as they crack the coin out of the holder, they're SOL.

 

So what you say holds true as long as someone never plans to liberate the coin from its plastic tomb. That excludes a lot of early copper collectors.

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James_OldeTowne

James_OldeTowne

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Every grading service has made it's share of such errors. What's important is that they back up their service with a reliable guarantee.
The problem is that a lot of early copper collectors prefer to collect raw, and as soon as they crack the coin out of the holder, they're SOL.

 

So what you say holds true as long as someone never plans to liberate the coin from its plastic tomb. That excludes a lot of early copper collectors.

Fortunately, most any copper fanatic is going to carefully reattribute the coin before even buying it (much less before he cracks it out), and that virtually always reveals a coin with an altered date. In the case of the subject coin, attribution would have definitely proven the coin to be altered.

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ldhair

ldhair

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Anyone have an image of the coin? It must have been a great job if it got past.

I'm sure the graders give a coin such as this an extra few seconds of time.

Even with that they still missed it. Would love to see this coin. :)

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