Just a note to all buyers of coins, especially raw 1/4, and 1/2 eagle, Indian gold.....

Because the gold / silver  market is on the upswing, buyers on ebay need to be aware of ripoff sellers in the coin markets on ebay. Numerous times have I seen coin sellers on ebay making claims in the description of their coin auctions, that in their opinion the RAW coin they are selling is in a mint state, (MS) condition when in fact, the buyer buys the coin at a MS price, sends the coin out to be graded only to have the coin come back with a lesser grade than the seller stated in their auction.  When the seller makes a statement such as this the buyer thinks he or she is getting a quality MS coin only to find out later when the coin is graded by a reputable grading service, the condition of the coin is not at all what the seller stated in their auction.. By this time, the coin's warranty, if there is one has expired because the norm is 7 days to return the coin... This is a selling tactic some sellers on Ebay use in selling raw and sometimes slabbed coins from an inferior grading service. Another tactic used is to sell a coin graded from an inferior grading service that may not even be in business anymore. The coin may be graded in a  MS condition, from the inferior service that would other wise be graded in an AU or less from a reputable grading service such as NGC or PCGS. A price table from PCGS is often used on the auction to show how much a particular coin may be worth from the inferior slabbed coin, that PCGS would not even consider looking at.  This is another misleading tactic that sellers use to bait the buyer in bidding higher on a particular coin than what the coin would actually be worth. In the ANA guide book which is suppose to be used by all grading services on grading coins,  specifically states for a coin to be in mint state condition, it must have ABSOLUTELY NO WEAR ...what so ever... PERIOD! Yes grading coins is subjective, but when the bible of the coin grading industry states no wear, you would think that these ripoff sellers on ebay as well as the lower end grading services would adhear to this rule. It just goes to show that you have to be very careful who you do business with here. It is such a shame that there are people out there who don't care who they burn as long as they make a buck! So, take this note for what its worth, and I hope that this reaches some of the novice collectors out there that would have otherwise fallen for the carrot that these unscrupulous sellers on ebay put in front of us...