Speaking of
TPG companies !
Interesting this
TPG we all know has had a squeak or two of their own with the Federal Trade Commission.
The Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) is a third-party appraisal service for grading rare coins. It determines the condition and authenticity of each coin it grades to provide consumers with an independent knowledgeable rating on which to judge the coin. It was founded in 1986, and is located in Newport Beach, CA.
On August 17, 1990 the FTC issued a press release regarding PCGS. "FTC CHARGES COIN CERTIFICATION CO. MISREPRESENTS OBJECTIVITY OF ITS COIN GRADING SERVICES; COMPANY AGREES TO SETTLEMENT" The FTC charged that "PCGS misled consumers by falsely claiming that it provides consistent, objective grading of coins and that investment in PCGS-certified rare coins eliminates all the risk associated with the grading of coins." PCGS/David Hall was charged and placed on probation for 2 years. Civil Action No. 90-1982,
https://www.ftc.gov, New York Times, 8/17/90 The Wall Street Journal, 8/17/1990
In 2003 Coin World conducted an investigation of PCGS, NGC and ANACS, three of the leading grading services. In this investigation, several coins were sent to each grading service. In not one single case did the grading services agree on the grade of any given coin, and in some cases the difference in grading was seven points off. It is standard in U.S. numismatics to grade coins on a point-scale from 1 (poor) to 70 (perfect).
It makes one wonder when the man from heritage has made millions from cracking slabs and having coins regraded and slabbed. Makes one think he knew something others didn't and that it could be possibly that alot of these coins were under graded on purpose knowing they could be later bought back cracked out and re-graded for huge profits. It isn't impossible.
Makes one think it is Like the fox gaurding the hen coup isn't it ?
Quote from article By Ed Kiersh :"Though Heritage Rare Coin Galleries' James L. Halperin has made millions of dollars playing the crack-out game, novices shouldn't even think about this gambit until they become astute at grading premium-quality coins".FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 20, 1989
FTC FILES CHARGES AGAINST COIN CERTIFICATON CO. AND COIN
WHOLESALER; COMPANIES TO PAY CONSUMER REDRESS
The Federal Trade Commission has announced that Numismatic
Certification Institute (NCI), and its principals,
Steve Ivy and
James Halperin, have agreed to settle FTC charges that NCI's
representations and failures to disclose information misled
consumers as to the value of coins certified by NCI. NCI's
affiliate, Heritage Capital Corporation (Heritage), also agreed
to settle charges that Heritage provided substantial assistance
to a coin retailer, Certified Rare Coin Galleries Inc. (CRCG),
knowing that CRCG was misrepresenting the security and profit
potential of its coins to investors. Under the settlement, the
companies and two individuals agreed to a permanent injunction,
and Heritage and NCI agreed to contribute $1.2 million into a
consumer redress plan for CRCG's customers.
Under the consent decree, NCI, Heritage, Ivy and Halperin
are prohibited from knowingly and substantially assisting any
third party in misrepresenting to consumers information that
would influence their decision to purchase coins. They are also
prohibited from disseminating grading certificates likely to
mislead consumers regarding any fact material to the consumers'
decision to purchase coins. Further, the corporate defendants
have agreed to establish the redress fund.
(FTC File No. 882-3208)
(Civil Action No. 89-1383 CIV-NESBITT)
On the Federal Trade commissions site I looked under search for coin grading companies and these are the results on this link ,
http://search.ftc.gov/query.html?qt...ies&col=news
Posted 12/16/2006 11:34 am
