Collectors Universe

[steve B]

That's certainly possible, but an uninformed collector probably wouldn't be sending the coin for grading even now.

One thng I did think of though....

The ANACS certs before slabbing were similar to the stamp certs, and it was a matter of trust between the buyer and seller as the cert was basically just a COA with a picture. Some dealers would get a coin certed as MS 60 - basically a coing that hasn't been used but isn't all that nice, and swap one with very slight wear. That wasn't usually something you could tell from the small picture on the certificate. Before prices got really crazy the honor system usually worked few dealers would chance several years of legit business for a few dollars here and there. (The guy I know took back a coin that was altered after something like 10-20 years)

But once a few companies started pushing certain coins as investments and a difference between having one small nick or 5 was thousands slabbing to prevent swaps became necessary.

And the skills of the alterers have obviously kept up with the graders.

Originally Posted by smotan_02

Maybe he found a coin that was valuable and the dealer scammed him out of the $500 by downplaying the importance or grade. Valuable coins are floating around obscurely and uninformed collectors are more dangerous and self destructive than in other collecting hobbies.
My $0.02.