• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Bought a Pig In a Poke, $2.5 Gold Indians and the grades are just in..

7 posts in this topic

I bought a set of $2.5 Indians in a capital plastics holder where they have been in my bank until now...

 

I agreed to buy a set for 10K form a "friend" who had bought them from an estate. When it came time to do the deal, I looked at the coins and what the $%#&*! I said I remembered them in a black holder and in better shape. Now I find out that there were 2 sets and the first set, the one that got me worked up, he said had already sold. I was not happy. The second set was not at all like the first. Each coin in the first set had had rich luster, so I remember... The second looked about AU at first glance. I offered 7K and he came back with 7.5K. It was housed in a BLUE capital plastics holder and I had to try to grade the coins on the fly. All I really focused on was the 11D. It had the wire rim obverse that is diagnostic of the real deal, so I was okay there. The 11D looked to be an AU-58 or MS-61 or 62. Now almost 10 years later I finally decided to find out how I had done with my pig in a poke. I took all the coins to the Dallas ANA for NGC to grade but only PCGS was doing "on-site" grading, so I submitted the 11-D and 14 to PCGS and sent the rest to NGC. I guess it was not a bad deal after all. The set ranks all the way up at 150 in the NGC Registry, and I am just fine with that.

 

To see the entire set go to http://coins.www.collectors-society.com/registry/coins/SetListing.aspx?PeopleSetID=188559

 

I had a total of 5 out of 15 come back "improperly cleaned" and after careful review I actually agree with 4 of those 5. the 5th coin will go to PCGS or I will just sell it raw.

 

Here is the run downof the original 15 coins is submitted:

1908 AU "improperly cleaned"

1909 AU "improperly cleaned"

1910 MS--62

1911 MS--61

1911--D MS--61 (PCGS)

1912 AU "improperly cleaned"

1913 AU--58

1914 AU--58 (PCGS)

1914--D AU "improperly cleaned"

1915 MS--62

1925--D MS--62

1926 Unc "improperly cleaned"

1927 MS--63

1928 MS--64+ (of course the most common date)

1929 MS--62

 

What does the term "buying a pig in a poke" refer to? The word poke means bag and if I am not mistaken, the phrase is English and refers to the open markets were one could by a piglet in an unopened bag. The term came to connote buying something without knowing what you're getting because crooked farmers would substitute a cat or dog which had little or no value as consumable meat for the pig.

17350.jpg

 

See more journals by JTO John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The context is that the deal took place 10 years ago. So, if the 1911-D had come back Unc-"Improperly Cleaned" the deal would have been a bust. That is scary, for me. And on that note NGC seems to me to be getting "tougher" on coins calling more and more problem coins. Maybe it is just me. I had 10 years and I should have looked closer. But, I thought, "these are original coins pulled from circulation they wouldn't be problem coin's..." Wrong. Fortunately not the key date for the series.

 

Also I just noticed I crept in to the top 20 overall, I would have never thought that possible.

 

John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Glad the 11-D was genuine. Many $2.50 sets were put together in the 60s and a lot had fake 11-Ds.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The photo shows the wire rim on the obverse from 11 o'clock to 5 o'clock to look for.

 

John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It does tend to be present on most examples though. Apparently they set the dies in such a way that the fin was produced and they didn't change the die settings for the whole mintage.

Link to comment
Share on other sites