An Interesting Barber Quarter Experience

Howdy, friends!

I've been doing eBay for several years now. After a 25-year spell of doing
absolutely nothing in the way of collecting, I decided to put together a set
of Barber Quarters in G-VG. I bought a number of them on eBay and in a year
or so, I had gathered up all but the "big three" in that series. I bought
the 1914-S from an eBay vendor. When I received the coin, I didn't like the
way the mint mark looked. I wrote to the seller and told him that I was a
tad uneasy about the mint mark. He said that he had looked it over when he
had bought it and he felt that there was no problem with it.

A week or so went by... I continued to have misgivings and still was not
pleased with it. (This has been more than three years ago, so I may not be
remembering everything with razor-sharp accuracy.) I wrote and told him that
I would like to return it for a refund. He said that he would take it back
if I was not pleased with it. He then said that he had something in mind and
for me to wait a few days before I sent the coin back. Several days later, I
received a parcel from him, with perhaps a hundred coins in it. Most were
Barber coins, but there were also some SLQs and Franklin halves in the lot.
Enclosed was a note saying that he was grieved that I had not been happy
with my purchase, and that he wanted me to select and keep any four of the
coins as a goodwill gesture from him.

At that time, I had just started a set of G-VG Barber Halves. So I picked
out four halves that had nice, full rims, and at least three of the four
were solid VG coins. I sent the rest back, as he had instructed. Before I
sent them back, I got to thinking that this guy was really bending over
backwards to ensure that I was pleased. In consequence, I decided to go
ahead and keep the 1914-S quarter... I figured that the 4 halves were worth
no less than $30, which left me ending up paying about $20 for the '14-S
quarter.

This QX5 Digital Blue microscope that I got for Christmas is one of the
coolest things I've ever had. I've examined all sorts of stuff with it. I
just happened to think of that quarter this morning and the qualms that I
had felt when I had first looked at the mint mark. Here are some shots that
I just now took of it. See what you think:

At 10x:
http://www.freshonmymind.com/ebay/14-s-10.jpg

At 60x.
http://www.freshonmymind.com/ebay/14-s-60.jpg

At 200x.
http://www.freshonmymind.com/ebay/14-s-200.jpg

From what I see with this scope, I think someone did a poor job of
"doctoring" this one. I've learned a lot about coins and things to look for
since this took place. I'm now far more wary, watchful, and observant. I'll
just chalk this one up to experience, but I believe the man beat me on this
one.

Your thoughts are welcomed!

Larry
'counting it as a lesson learned'

To me, it looks like an altered 14 D.


"Larry Louks" wrote in message
...
Howdy, friends!

I've been doing eBay for several years now. After a 25-year spell of doing
absolutely nothing in the way of collecting, I decided to put together a
set of Barber Quarters in G-VG. I bought a number of them on eBay and in a
year or so, I had gathered up all but the "big three" in that series. I
bought the 1914-S from an eBay vendor. When I received the coin, I didn't
like the way the mint mark looked. I wrote to the seller and told him that
I was a tad uneasy about the mint mark. He said that he had looked it over
when he had bought it and he felt that there was no problem with it.

A week or so went by... I continued to have misgivings and still was not
pleased with it. (This has been more than three years ago, so I may not be
remembering everything with razor-sharp accuracy.) I wrote and told him
that I would like to return it for a refund. He said that he would take it
back if I was not pleased with it. He then said that he had something in
mind and for me to wait a few days before I sent the coin back. Several
days later, I received a parcel from him, with perhaps a hundred coins in
it. Most were Barber coins, but there were also some SLQs and Franklin
halves in the lot. Enclosed was a note saying that he was grieved that I
had not been happy with my purchase, and that he wanted me to select and
keep any four of the coins as a goodwill gesture from him.

At that time, I had just started a set of G-VG Barber Halves. So I picked
out four halves that had nice, full rims, and at least three of the four
were solid VG coins. I sent the rest back, as he had instructed. Before I
sent them back, I got to thinking that this guy was really bending over
backwards to ensure that I was pleased. In consequence, I decided to go
ahead and keep the 1914-S quarter... I figured that the 4 halves were
worth no less than $30, which left me ending up paying about $20 for the
'14-S quarter.

This QX5 Digital Blue microscope that I got for Christmas is one of the
coolest things I've ever had. I've examined all sorts of stuff with it. I
just happened to think of that quarter this morning and the qualms that I
had felt when I had first looked at the mint mark. Here are some shots
that I just now took of it. See what you think:

At 10x:
http://www.freshonmymind.com/ebay/14-s-10.jpg

At 60x.
http://www.freshonmymind.com/ebay/14-s-60.jpg

At 200x.
http://www.freshonmymind.com/ebay/14-s-200.jpg

From what I see with this scope, I think someone did a poor job of
"doctoring" this one. I've learned a lot about coins and things to look
for since this took place. I'm now far more wary, watchful, and observant.
I'll just chalk this one up to experience, but I believe the man beat me
on this one.

Your thoughts are welcomed!

Larry
'counting it as a lesson learned'



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On Fri, 21 Jan 2005 11:43:49 -0600, "Larry Louks"
is alleged to have written:

At 10x:
http://www.freshonmymind.com/ebay/14-s-10.jpg

At 60x.
http://www.freshonmymind.com/ebay/14-s-60.jpg

At 200x.
http://www.freshonmymind.com/ebay/14-s-200.jpg

From what I see with this scope, I think someone did a poor job of
"doctoring" this one. I've learned a lot about coins and things to look for
since this took place. I'm now far more wary, watchful, and observant. I'll
just chalk this one up to experience, but I believe the man beat me on this
one.

Your thoughts are welcomed!

Larry
'counting it as a lesson learned'



I think you're correct. The tone on the mintmark is quite different
from the rest of the coin, theres a blob of metal at the top of the
miontmark and scratches all over the mintmark but not on the field.

Bruce

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