ASA Accugrade files libel lawsuit

[Robert]

Per CW, the Longwood, FL based grading company alleges that 46 individuals conspired "to commit defamation and tortious interference with advantageous business relationships..." The article names names.

Basically, Accugrade says these 46 people smeared them. Also they allege one guy sent them a fake coin in order to trap them and have the grader's ANA membership revoked.

Has anyone heard of something like that before?

[smed]

Nope, but it doesn't surprise me in the least. They are some the most unscrupulous people I've heard of in a long time.

Something needs to happen to get their ANA membership revoked.

[joeyuk]

From what I understand it is over conversations on the pcgs forum. Theres info on it over there. They were /are taking donations and holding auctions on e-bay to raise money to defend some members. It is a shame. People speak on forums as if it was a private conversation and BAM a lawsuit. At least one member took it to a much higher level thou. But in my own opinion what was discussed and the one members anti-ACG website does seem pretty factual and realistic. The website I felt educated new collectors and helped them not get off on a wrong foot.

I am wearing a brown paper bag on my head and eye holes cut out so I feel safe to talk.
regards
xxxxxx
www.k6az.com/web_pages.htm

[smed]

This isn't the first time Crap-he-graded has threatened legal action against somebody for speaking the truth. I think they even got an anti-ACG website shut down. The Hagers should be hung out to dry.

[GarryN]

I used to go on the PCGS/ Collectors Universe message board until I forgot my password and I recall that every once in a while someone would say something about ACG. Whatever happened to "Buy the coin not the holder" ? Let the market shake out by itself.

I realize free speech is under assault in this country but people have to be careful not to be libelous when they go on message boards. Thank goodness this one is maintained at a professional level! This is one island of sanity in a sea of chaos.

[smed]

"Buy the coin, not the holder" still applies, but the problem is newbies don't know and/or understand how critical that saying is for non-reputable third-party grading companies.

It takes a while to understand that some company's grades can usually be taken at face value and others, most emphatically, cannot be -- except in rare cases.

[joeyuk]

A newbie pays good money for say a 55 doubled die, holds it for a couple years only to find out it is a counterfit. Some third party graders have ultra high grades on coins and someone new pays high money(usually pcgs price guide quotes) and when he goes to sell he realizes he was robbed. Unfortunately some sellers go for this to make a quick buck while selling their reputation. The individual is hurt both financialy and by the loss of pleasure they would have had collecting. The hobby is hurt by one less collector.
Any forum whare knoweledge can be shared is good for the hobby. Unfortunately there are opportunistic bottem feeders that make people think twice before offering advice in a public forum.

[smed]

Some people think all they have to do is pick up a price guide to make money buying and selling coins, and a lot of those are the ones that get burnt.

Coins are a commodity; you have to be educated on your product. Just like anything else you invest in, you have to learn about it, and learn (usually thru trial and error and losing money because you screwed up) what things are worth, how to grade, maybe even some history. It's no different than buying and selling stocks.

If I ever get around to taking the final exam, I'll be able to add "Graduate of the ANA Diploma Program" to my sig line. All the course work has been finished for months, right before I started working full time for the first time since I retired from the navy last year. Haven't had a chance to get the final set up yet.

[joeyuk]

When I first started collecting, only about nine years ago, I thought I was going to corner the market in a particular area. I gave up on that a while ago and made a nice profit on what I had but became so much more interested in other areas of the hobby. Of course everyone wants to make a profit on their coins. The more the better. It validates you were ahead of the curve and started collecting in an area before it got hot or popular.
If I made 1% more on my coins then if my money was in a bank account I would be so far ahead of the game. Most hobbies cost you money but you rationalize it by the hours of pleasure. Here you can have your fun and have a reasonable chance to make a profit. That is unless you come in contact as a newbie with someone is willing to lie and cheat to make their days pay.
I was never burned in coins but thru the 80's I was into sports card collecting. I enjoyed it at the time. I still do some with my kids. But what an eye opener when you hold things for years and get 25 cents on the dollar. Too bad when I sold there was no venue to sell directly to the public such as e-bay.
I always felt even then if a dealer charges you 75% of price guide and buys back at 25% people should deal amongest themselves at say 50% of guide. The seller makes more and the buyer pays less then if they went to a dealer.

[smed]

With collectors able to now buy the CDN most dealers are buying at anywhere from 10 to 30 back of bid, sometimes even more.

CDN bid seems to have become ask, and ask is a pipe dream for most coins. Joe Blow running around with the greysheet isn't going to want to pay more than bid because "I know what you paid for it, you have to sell it to me cheap".

CDN grey, blue, and green sheets should never have been available to the general public.

[joeyuk]

I'm not sure how CDN works. What transactions are reported to them for them to get the bid & ask ? Buying under bid would seem to bring the bid down and reduce what people are willing to pay.
I never used CDN but it seems like it would be more reliable as a price guide if all transactions were reported.

[smed]

Beats me... I don't buy it, nor do I use it.

[Dana]

Going back to the original topic in regards to grading companies, you have to be careful what you put in print. I guess now a days, you need to be careful about anything you write. Everything is so politically correct and everybody seems to be suing everybody.

All I'll say is this: If I were going to rank the grading companies from best to worst, I would not put then in alphabetical order (A-Z).