You gentleman were RIGHT about Ebay.
No....I didn't get any chi-com fugazi's, i'm dumb, but not that dumb....no, something a tad more insidious.
Mostly I stack for intrinsic value of Ag, as insurance against paper money.....not so much numismatic, However, in late 2015, since I have raw rolls UNC's, I thought, "why not" go thru the stack, check the PCGS trading, and if I feel I got some "high value" numi's, send them in, to be graded, slabbed, and traded?.....why not?...
so I spent the $14.95 a month to join PCGS's "coin facts"....great website, always you to see not only the market, but to focus in tight on the coins they grade in all grades, and I spent a long time, just to get my "eye" up to snuff.(lol)
Then I joined the PCGS for a year, and received 4 "comp" gradings.
Spent a LOT of time in the stack, glassing coins, and I had bought in June 2011, two raw rolls of Morgans from "hsturn", that were posted as "CH GEM/BU's"...a roll of 82-O's and a roll of 89-P's. (hsturn has been selling mega amounts of raw Morgan and Walking Lib halves, in the 1940's solid date period....ALL of them, of course, termed "CH-GEM/BU's", and this was mid 2011, Ag was screaming higher, up to that $50 mark....and in his "defense" he does have a liberal return policy, probably because he KNOWS he's misadvertising, because he's a liar and a man of no honor)......so I paid up, no problem. I been trading since I was 22, (56 yo now), traded many many cars of pork, grain, etc....in the pits, spread trader I've always been, and say, when I bid July bellies $2 over selling July Hogs, and a guy hit me, said "sold!"....we didn't have lawyers in the pit...I knew that trade was good and would be honored by the other pit trader, and most of time, they'd go to the good, and the times, the trade would go to the bad, I wouldn't NEVER whine or moan, you just take your loss, and hopefully have the sense to take it quick.
Back to the Morgans from "hsturn" on Ebay....when I got the rolls, I weighed them all, checked them, they were 90%'ers, and then into the safe.....but now, i'm glassing them, I select, after hours of careful glassing (or so I thought) I chose 3 1882-O's, and an 1889-P....sent them in, stupidly thinking, at worst, they'd come back MS-63 or higher.
well, my grading "eye" wasn't as developed as I thought, because the three 82-O's came back graded at AU-58, 55, and 50, and to add insult to injury, the 89-P was ungraded, but still "certified. so...oh well, I aint moaning or whining, whenever I take a "loss", I regard as a tuition payment...I stopped buying rolls of 90's a while back, I think MAYBE early 15, I bought my last roll of 90's, because my stack was perfectly ample, along with my 40's.....now I stick with Maple Leaf's......the new variety.
and every man here that warned me about Ebay?....you were all right, and I was wrong.....off of Ebay, I got me a good stack of real silver, but not numi's...I learned, and I tell you all, stay away from "hsturn", he is a liar, and a man of no honor.
That's why this country...(and the world) is in the shape its in....many many men, both of high estate and power, and of lower estate, (not here on RC) have become SO BENT, they have lost the imperative, that what makes a man is his honor and his word of honor....it has largely fled this land, and that just breaks my heart. But you know what?......when a fellow is bent and just wrong, cheating, lying, scheming?.......someday, he ALWAYS will have to pay the piper, and that's what we see now in the global economy, every currency, save the dollar (for now) is hitting all time lows....Iceland the lone exception, coz that tribe in 08-09, got real, took their medicine, cod liver oil so to speak, and they put bankers behind bars.......
so I thank you all, and SLIGHTLY off topic, Mike S on his website posted a bit of wisdom to wire your scene down:
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archiv ... to-america
and I just saw a powerful film the other day, I highly recommend, its brilliant, "Sicario"....Benecio and Josh Brolin, Emily B are all brilliant, in fact this is Josh Brolin's finest role, he's so darn good, if I was in my 20's, i'd be tempted to join the agency he represents..lol....you guys will enjoy this, Happy New Year, and I pray safety and health for all ya'll and your kin, neil