Has anyone read the most recent article (my title) in CoinWorld magazine this past week? If you havent, here's the short story: Collector's Universe (CU) initiated a lawsuit on Dec 7th in U.S. District Court, Central District of California against a Burnsville, Minn. rare coin firm of up to 25 unnamed John does of violating Hobby Protection Act, Lanham Act, Voilation of RICO common law fraud, conspiracy nd violation of California's unfair competition law. *the company sold/continues to sell fake PCGS slabbed coins without the word copy from China. makes you wonder how long it has been taking place, are they only doing this on high dollar value coins, if you could prove that you purchased the coin (s) from the said company would PCGS verify your coin then go after the company for the fees that would normally be charged? Now if the Chinese were creating the fake slabs, where did they get the Serial Number from...possibly a genuine coin? On top of that, if a John Doe bought a slabbed coin from the accused and resold the coin, it would make you wonder how coins are out there? I am sure this isnt the first time this has happened though I hope more people out there will fight against these counterfeiters. Just makes you want to me more cautious!
WHAT EACH LAW MEANS: http://www.collectors.org/Library/Hobby_Protection_Act.asp http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanham_Act http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racketeer_Influenced_and_Corrupt_Organizations_Act
I have seen the fake slabs done both ways, I have seen multiples of the same SN, and I have seen more expensive ones only have one copy of a valid SN per batch. Of course, the ones not repeatedly copying the same SN cost more, but are also much more dangerous since someone cannot simply publish the fake SN the Chinese are using. What is even more dangerous about all of this is by slabbing, collectors lose the ability to study most aspects of a coin that could tell you its a fake, like weight, diameter, edges, etc. A fake slab is much more dangerous than a fake coin because of this. I am not a fan of TPG'ers, but I would never wish something like this on them because of the damage this will do to the entire industry. Once the general public is of the opinion that slabbed coins are suspect, how many new collectors do you think there will be? Until our country forces the Chinese to do something about this, I am afraid it will just get worst and worst. Shutting down one distributor will not stop it, because there are always 10 greedy people willing to take their place. Indeed scary stuff.
Possibly but I doubt it. That case everyone agrees the coins were authentic, just doctored with to fool PCGS into giving a higher grade. I believe this one is simply distributing chinese fake PCGS slabs. Another scary thing, my little local asian market area that used to have cute Chinese fakes have these fake slabs "under the counter" for "serious" coin collectors now. It seems the fake coin chain is already changing over to fake slabs even in these type places.
Good to know, I thought that maybe they had a way to look them up from the TPG'er, but now I know better. Thanks.
Shoot I could also imagine that they or anyone for that matter can locate it from teletrade or even ebay as well.
Not to be a jerk, but does this give knots in the stomach of some HA buyers? The idea there could be an "evil twin" of your coin floating around out there with the same SN?
I think you have every right to say/feel that but what you say has truth to it...especially those that have a hold of value (imho).
Originally Posted by medoraman Not to be a jerk, but does this give knots in the stomach of some HA buyers? The idea there could be an "evil twin" of your coin floating around out there with the same SN?" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Or, that the real one is out there somewhere which means the one in your cabinet is .-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.- :devil:
That's why I appreciate NGC's photos of the coin available when checking the certification number. guy
This is exactly why I like my coins raw. A piece of plastic with a reputable TGP's name is not an alternative to knowing the coin. You've probably all heard/read this a thousand times before, but look at the coin, not the slab.
