If I Think That A Coin Being Offered is Stolen, Would PCGS Tell Me Who Originally Graded The Coin?

numisma

A retail customer offered me a few type coins today. His story was fishy and I don't believe what he told me. One of the coins was a PCGS-graded coin. I did a cert verification and it has a population of only 2 coins, and this particular coin has never been offered at auction, at least according to available research resources.

The coin was graded within the past 2 years, based on the label/holder style. The owner knew little about the coin, and claims it was found in his old storage unit mixed in with his son's old toys. Story doesn't add up, and it is a $1000 coin. Who misplaces $1000 coins in their storage units?

I may be able to buy the coin, but I won't do it if I think it is stolen. If I knew the original submitter, then I could trace the coin's chain of custody. Would PCGS ever share such information given the circumstances?

Any thoughts or suggestions?

silverpop

well then go to the police and tell them

they can do more then you can in tracing down things

Jinx86

When ever I thought a coin/story is sketchy; I'll ask if I can hold the coin a few days and do some research on what the values have been doing.



I'll call the police and ask if this item had been reported stolen.

I'll call local/regional dealers if they had seen the coin before or had a customer "missing" it. There are only a few dealers in 200 miles.

ms70

The police have no way of determining if a coin was stolen anywhere in the nation unless it's in the same exact holder with the same cert number. That's the only way they can track it in the NCIC stolen article data base. You might have luck posting the info here OR doing a search for stolen coins mentioned in the forum.



It would be nice if something could be set up with PCGS to accept cert numbers listed on police reports and mark them as lost / stolen on the cert verification page.



Did you get the cert#?

numisma

Originally posted by: silverpop
well then go to the police and tell them

they can do more then you can in tracing down things

The police cannot help at this stage. Please note that I do not have any proof that the coin is stolen. I just have "that feeling." Over the years I have passed on coins and collections that customers offered me over-the-counter based on my gut feeling. I ask questions and if I do not like the answers then I pass on the coins. Someone walking in with silver bars would be nearly impossible to trace, unless they had serial numbers, which is unusual.

In this current situation, I am curious to see if I can find out more about the coin, since it is one that should be traceable.

numisma

Did you get the cert#?

Yes, I have the cert number and a good picture of the coin.

That's the only way they can track it in the NCIC stolen article data base.

I was trying to find a database of stolen coins, but was not successful. I went through every tab of the NCIS website. Do you have a link to such information?

BStrauss3

PCGS won't release the information, but you can call Customer Service and ASK them to pass it along. If it's a recent grading, then maybe the submitter still owns it (was stolen from him/her) or can trace one step on the chain.



Best bet is to pass the info on to NCIC - ask them for advise.

SetRegistryManager

Originally posted by: numisma
A retail customer offered me a few type coins today. His story was fishy and I don't believe what he told me. One of the coins was a PCGS-graded coin. I did a cert verification and it has a population of only 2 coins, and this particular coin has never been offered at auction, at least according to available research resources.



The coin was graded within the past 2 years, based on the label/holder style. The owner knew little about the coin, and claims it was found in his old storage unit mixed in with his son's old toys. Story doesn't add up, and it is a $1000 coin. Who misplaces $1000 coins in their storage units?



I may be able to buy the coin, but I won't do it if I think it is stolen. If I knew the original submitter, then I could trace the coin's chain of custody. Would PCGS ever share such information given the circumstances?



Any thoughts or suggestions?

If a PCGS-graded coin is stolen we ask the customer to contact their local Police Department and file a police report, as most people would do automatically when anything of value is stolen. Once a Police report has been filed we ask the customer for the report # and any other information they would like to provide, a list of the exact PCGS cert numbers and corresponding coin information is requested from the customer.

We will review the individual cert numbers and make sure that the information given to us is correct (cert #1234567 = 1880-O MS62 Morgan Dollar), we will then mark the cert as stolen in our internal system. The cert number will no longer be valid online.

For the security of our customer's accounts we do not give certain information out unless the person requesting the information was the original submitter.

As always, if you have any other questions or need assistance feel free to email PCGS Customer Service at info@PCGS.com, or give us a call M-F 7-5 PST @ 1-800-447-8848

CuKevin

Originally posted by: PCGSCSManager

Originally posted by: numisma
A retail customer offered me a few type coins today. His story was fishy and I don't believe what he told me. One of the coins was a PCGS-graded coin. I did a cert verification and it has a population of only 2 coins, and this particular coin has never been offered at auction, at least according to available research resources.



The coin was graded within the past 2 years, based on the label/holder style. The owner knew little about the coin, and claims it was found in his old storage unit mixed in with his son's old toys. Story doesn't add up, and it is a $1000 coin. Who misplaces $1000 coins in their storage units?



I may be able to buy the coin, but I won't do it if I think it is stolen. If I knew the original submitter, then I could trace the coin's chain of custody. Would PCGS ever share such information given the circumstances?



Any thoughts or suggestions?

If a PCGS-graded coin is stolen we ask the customer to contact their local Police Department and file a police report, as most people would do automatically when anything of value is stolen. Once a Police report has been filed we ask the customer for the report # and any other information they would like to provide, a list of the exact PCGS cert numbers and corresponding coin information is requested from the customer.

We will review the individual cert numbers and make sure that the information given to us is correct (cert #1234567 = 1880-O MS62 Morgan Dollar), we will then mark the cert as stolen in our internal system. The cert number will no longer be valid online.

For the security of our customer's accounts we do not give certain information out unless the person requesting the information was the original submitter.

As always, if you have any other questions or need assistance feel free to email PCGS Customer Service at info@PCGS.com, or give us a call M-F 7-5 PST @ 1-800-447-8848

This is good info to know: that stolen coins no longer show up as a valid cert number.

Hopefully PCGS gets a notification when someone enters one of these marked numbers as well. I'm sure that information could be used to locate the coin.