How Far Off Of "Sound" Is This Scott #122?

I have the opportunity to purchase this #122. I does not come with a cert but I intend to get one. Looks to be a strong 80....maybe 85. Seller did not list any faults, but I seem to have located a couple small discrepancies.
1. Small thins/pinhole at top of grill...natural??
2. Slight crease BL corner under the "U"
Are these items enough to drop the price considerably? Or better asked, what percentage would this effect the retail price? Any opinions on this is appreciated. Thanks, Joel

Certainly it has a crease, and possibly more than one at the bottom. I think that is an erosion hole from the grill rather than a pinhole, but it is a hole. Not a bad example at the right price, but it does have small faults.

Many years ago I sold a silver medal on ebay for my dad. He commented about the "tarnish". I said it had "patina". He asked the difference. I said that (as a seller) it had patina which was a positive, often warm-fuzzy term. If I had been a buyer, then the same medal would have tarnish and a decreased value. All in the marketing.



But remember there are broadly two types of certificates: those which ID the stamp and those which also provide a numerical grade. The grade is more than a "centering score". It may start as centering, but will subtract substantial points for the multiple creases and any other factors they find. It will not come back as an 80 or 85.

Ultimately it depends on the price, your budget, your tolerance for faults, etc. I see the creasing to be more significant than "slight", which is a seller's word, rather than a buyer's word. I would seek another copy which already has a cert stating the minimum condition criteria you desire.

The first question that comes to mind for me when I see a well centered 122 with a light face free cancel that could grade on the high side is "why does it not have a cert or does it have a cert that has been "lost"?

That being said I believe that the stamp has been cleaned in an attempt to remove the cancel over Lincoln's face.

The faults could easily have been a reason no one bothered, even for a 122. And there are a number of examples with certs which have fairly light cancels as well.

I did not see this in Seigel's dB, at least not as '122', used, 'crease'.

If someone has time, going through the PF list of 122's may turn something up. I find it hard to believe that in this day and age that a 122 hasn't been to the PF (or PSE, or APEX, etc).

I would call this a nice APPEARING example of a 122. That is dealer-code for small faults. In addition to the other faults already mentioned, I am a little leery of the bottom perfs - almost like they have been punched twice with 2 different sized punches. Hard to tell if it is anything from a photo, though.

I may have been too harsh by highlighting 'appearing' in the previous paragraph. It actually IS a nice appearing 122. Absolutely get a cert. Absolutely be sure you can get a refund if it comes back bad.

To get a refund for "bad", one must have some agreement for what "bad" means between the specific dealer and the specific collector. We already know any cert will have creases mentioned. What faults are acceptable and what ones are deal breakers regardless of price? Reperf? Lightened or added cancel? Sealed tear? Etc.

Why not have the seller send it for a cert instead? Then negotiate a price based on the results.

The non-disclosure by the seller of the seemingly clear (from the back view) crease nor an explanation of why the seller feels that it is not a crease would be enough for me to decline the "opportunity" to purchase this one. Just my 2 cents. I could not find a cert for this stamp in the modern PF cert database or the StampSmarter PSE cert database.

I do see what mooter is saying about the bottom perfs