On Tue, 21 Aug 2007 19:53:37 -0400, "Bruce Remick"
wrote:

"Reality" changes all the time. For kicks, I recently put my well-used
composite softball bat that suffered a 2" crack across the sweetspot up for
auction on eBay. Started it at .99 with photos including a blowup of the
cracked area. It sold for $53 plus $12.00 shipping. Beats tossing it in
the trash can.

I suspect you didn't describe this softball bat as being pristine.
That's the issue -- hype, misrepresentation. There are, of course,
lots of other examples of this on eBay and elsewhere too besides this
8104 half cent. And not just with coins either. Consumer Reports on
its inside back cover has a department titled "Selling It" in which it
reports examples of companies in general doing just this, using hype
and other misrepresentation in ads and on packaging in selling
products and services. It's amazing what people try to get away with.
I've often thought it would be fun to do it here with coins, say once
a week after going through new eBay and other coin auctions in areas I
follow. But my coin interests have narrowed over time, so I don't see
a lot of auctions for the kinds of coins that most collectors collect.

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