Doctored coins have no place in the marketplace, according to two leading coin grading services.
Professional Coin Grading Service and Numismatic Guaranty Corporation have restated their policies concerning the submission of deceptively altered coins for grading.
?We?re seeing more and more coin doctoring than we?ve ever seen, and the methods used to alter the coins are more and more sophisticated,? said Ron Guth, president of PCGS, a division of Collectors Universe, Inc.
In a Jan. 28 e-mail to NGC dealers, Steven Eichenbaum, NGC chief executive officer, outlined new terms and conditions his firm will enforce to deal with doctored coins. It states:
?Anyone submitting a doctored coin will receive a warning letter from NGC ... Upon a second submission of doctored coins, anyone who received the initial warning letter ... shall be subject to a 90-day suspension of their rights to submit coins to NGC. Should that submitter continue to submit doctored coins following the suspension, NGC may... permanently suspend all rights of submission and terminate their authorized member dealer status.?
PCGS reminded dealers of their Authorized Dealer Agreement that prohibits submission of doctored coins in a Jan. 28 press release. That agreement also includes compensatory damages.
?... PCGS shall be entitled to not only compensatory damage but also preliminary and final injunctive relief for any bread of dealer?s obligation not to ?doctor? coins or knowingly to submit ?doctored? coins to PCGS.?
PCGS may also submit coins suspected of being tampered with to the FBI to determine if U.S. law has been violated.
?We are fighting the coin doctors who are trying to take advantage of the marketplace, deceive the public and perhaps pursue our money back guarantee,? Guth said.
