My two dug large cents came back from PCGS as "Authenticity Unverifiable"

[nate7394]

PCGS grading dug coins "Authenticity Unverifiable"

Hello Treasurenet,

I am posting to this forum to see if anyone else has had a similar experience when getting dug coins graded. The local dealer I submitted them through and I were very surprised at PCGS's decision to label them "Authenticity Unverifiable" as both clearly have patches of corrosion that cannot be produced on replicas. I thought these two large cents were in relatively good condition for being being pulled from the ground so this is a disappointing result for me. I know I have seen other dug examples in poorer condition obtain a grade or at least a "genuine" marking on their slab so I don't know where this issue regarding these two is.

For the $110 it costed to send these in it seems pretty silly to pay the full rate considering that the service was not performed. Price is another topic but I am just curious if anyone's received their coins back marked like this. Any insight would be greatly appreciated! Thank you for your time. I am having trouble with pictures but will get the up momentarily

Old thread for the 1796 Large Cent below
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/general-discussion/517719-scared-clean-coin-what-would-you-do.html

 

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[ChampFerguson/TN]

WWID? I'd quit dealing with PCGS and encourage everyone who would listen to do the same. They're a bunch of elitist snobs imo.
How long does a coin have to sit on the ground for them to consider it tainted? What's the magic number?

And Nice Finds too!

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Congratulations on the nice finds! Sorry about the coin designation from PCGS.

 

[Duckshot]

What's wrong with those coins? Do they weigh too much or something? If they can't tell you a reason why they cannot be authenticated you should demand your money back.

 

[against the wind]

I know that your results are not what you were hoping for. Had the results gone the other way, I know you'd have been happy with a genuine encapsulated coin that was graded by PCGS.
Like it or not,, a PCGS grade is gospel and when they are purchased or sold at auction, you're getting the real deal.

 

[villagenut]

I do hereby certify that these two coins are authentic........done...That was easy.

 

[WaterScoop]

Gorgeous coins!



Sometimes I think they don’t want to add more coins to the “world inventory” so that their coins hold value.

Snobs is a very diplomatic term...I would have used a way more inappropriate non family friendly term.

I’m sure they had no problem charging you for letting you down...arghhhh...(in a best pirate voice)

 

[smokeythecat]

I'd send them to ANACS. I have an account there, and their turn around time is much quicker.

 

[Ammoman]

My brother sent two coins to them with similar results. I would have no problem with any conclusion given as long as an explanation is given for that conclusion? We pay for a service and "unverifiable" needs to be questioned. What did they do to verify it? what standards did they check the coin against? Did some yahoo just look at it for 5 seconds and say "not worth my time"?

 

[WaterScoop]

....Did some yahoo just look at it for 5 seconds and say "not worth my time"?

You got that one right friend. “The Yahoo” got paid for his/her(have to be politically correct LOL) time so accountability is mandatory or a service fee refund is obligatory.

A 3 year old toddler logic needs to be applied...

Why? Because_________
Why? You see...___________
Why? In our expert opinion...________
Why? .....more nonsensical boiler plate non customer service answers...

I don’t feel I received any services from you therefore I request a full refund.
PS. I belong to very large Treasure Hunting forum and the small refund I request will be outweighed by the bad PR this will generate for your company.

If you do not really care about my business please tell me so that I can share my experience with my fellow treasure hunters so that way they will not have to lose their hard earned money as I did.

That’s what I would do.

Cheers

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

PCGS must not have liked something they saw. I do spot differences in the proximity of the numbers of the Liberty Cap to the example on CoinFacts - but variants exist for most very old coin strikes.

Curious - here is an article from NGC that describes counterfeits of two very similar dates and types.

https://www.ngccoin.com/news/article/5007/Counterfeit-Cents/

 

[nate7394]

My brother sent two coins to them with similar results. I would have no problem with any conclusion given as long as an explanation is given for that conclusion? We pay for a service and "unverifiable" needs to be questioned. What did they do to verify it? what standards did they check the coin against? Did some yahoo just look at it for 5 seconds and say "not worth my time"?

You are completely correct. That is what I am most annoyed about.. It seems very unethical to deny a customer an explanation as to why they didn't receive what was paid for.

I will seek an explanation later this week and update if anything positive comes from it.

Thanks for the replies!

 

[sprailroad]

I had sent in a rare coin to be graded, it returned "Genuine" with no grade as far as detail, looking up their "Bar code" it meant "un-gradable, cleaned" It was disappointing.

 

[Carolina Tom]

Sorry about the grading situation.

I know the wasted money isn’t good, but you still have 2 beautiful coins. I’d be proud to own, slabbed or not. JMHO.

Congrats and good luck.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

I'm starting to wonder if there's not a subconscious bias , on their part, for anything dug.

I have seen this bias first-hand when going to old-school brick & mortar coin-dealers and showing them a coin. They might be optimistic, (grade high in the small-talk, etc...). But the MOMENT you mention it was found with a metal detector, the loop comes back out, and the sour-grapes fly .

I know you probably didn't tell him "found with metal detector". But I wonder if it was just subconsciously perceived, the moment the grader saw any ground kiss ? Another reason for the coins we find (that have too many tell-tale clues) to be cleaned (albeit properly).

 

[jerseyben]

Those 2 coins are obviously and clearly genuine. What is most confusing is why you sent them to PCGS in the first place. Best case scenario, they come back graded but with Details grades as Environmental Damage/Corrosion. Did you need PCGS to tell you what you already knew? I'm just not understanding what the "end result" was supposed to be for paying $110 to have 2 coins slabbed when you already knew what you had. Neither of them is worth any sort of big money. Unfortunately, this was worst case scenario and they did not grade them at all. They are both very nice coins. Stick them in a coin flip and enjoy them as is.

 

[nate7394]

What is most confusing is why you sent them to PCGS in the first place. Best case scenario, they come back graded but with Details grades as Environmental Damage/Corrosion. Did you need PCGS to tell you what you already knew? I'm just not understanding what the "end result" was supposed to be for paying $110 to have 2 coins slabbed when you already knew what you had. Neither of them is worth any sort of big money.

These two coins are what I consider my best metal detecting finds so I wanted them professionally graded for display purposes. What I was not expecting was for them to come back from PCGS listed as possible replicas. I would've been very happy with just a "genuine" marking on the slab.

 

[Honest Samuel]

Never clean your coins.

 

[Slingshot]

Nice coins! Bah-Humbug on PCGS!!

 

[coinshooter]

I had a 32 quarter that I got as a kid at the movies. The coin was held by me for 40 yrs before I sent it to them. They sent it back as "cleaned".
I think PCGS gets most of their $ by dealers who submit many coins at a time. They don't want to be bothered with your piddly coins.
Sent these to PCS, but to do this you need to join NGC. PCS will conserve and slab them even if they have environmental damage.
I am leaning towards keeping coins unslabbed. It is really only a value you are actually looking for and that is always negotiable when selling anyway.
Besides, anyone who is buying will have minimal expertise when it comes to whether they were cleaned or not, and if you cleaned off dirt without making any marks, you might even get more. If all you are looking for is a case to hold your coins, there are tons of those you can buy for practically nothing.