TCGS...are they for real?

XpipedreamR · April 16, 2004 4:11AM

They seem a little bit kooky to me.

Some more info...

XpipedreamR · April 16, 2004 4:16AM

I see that their webpage is an AOL homepage...very professional!

MJPHELAN · April 16, 2004 4:21AM

Look at the holder. It is a PCGS holder. I'll bet PCGS would love to see that.

Kriek · April 16, 2004 4:26AM

Big scam!

geb209 · April 16, 2004 4:31AM

I see litigation in the future.

BTW, Ill bet they sell blue 20-slab boxes too. Just ignore that large scratched off spot on the lid.

kieferscoins · April 16, 2004 4:41AM

It's the same guy they just photoshopped a beard in and changed his shirt!

Cameron Kiefer

Kriek · April 16, 2004 4:42AM

LMAO!

ReefGeek · April 16, 2004 4:44AM

And the best thing is, if you're selling coins over the phone, "TCGS" sounds just like "PCGS!" You can even SAY "PCGS" and claim you were misheard.

I see a cease-and-desist letter in the near future for TCGS!

geb209 · April 16, 2004 5:24AM

TCGS:

Armand DeAngelis, Owner, and Irina Cristobal, Secretary.

louiskeller · April 16, 2004 5:52AM

If you click on the link, you will get tons of pop-ups too.

Unprofessional, tacky, and I just don't like it.

newsman · April 16, 2004 6:13AM

Is this a spoof or are they for real?

MSD61 · April 16, 2004 6:20AM

The painted on beard is killing me.....I can't stop laughing long enough to post this

Slabs....hahahahahaha....coming to an....MAHAHAHAHAHA...ebay near you

kieferscoins · April 16, 2004 6:26AM

They are for real. I have seen one of their slabs and it was pretty funny looking. Same shape as PCGS but the label is totally different and the Secretary must have graded it - it was 3 points to high.

Cameron Kiefer

Kriek · April 16, 2004 6:30AM

<< TCGS: Armand DeAngelis, Owner, and Irina Cristobal, Secretary. >>

I posted this earlier, but for some reason it did not take.

<< US Coin Exchange, Armand De Angelis ripoff con artist fake consumer fraud scam con artists victimized many consumers Coconut Grove Florida
US Coin Exchange, Armand De Angelis (Category: Corrupt Companies )
Date Created: 1/3/2003 9:25:18 AM (Last Modified:1/31/2004 10:28:11 PM )

My husband and I saw an ad for U.S Coin Exchange in World magazine. We wanted to invest in gold and decided to contact this company. We were connected to Armand De Angelis who owns U.S. Coin Exchange and he claimed that his coins were graded by an independent grading service. He also claimed that we could sell back to him whenever we wanted although he encouraged people to wait for him to tell them to sell. We bought our gold on March 13, 2001 with a credit card. We had paid $4419.00 for the following:

A set of four gold Indian head coins dated:

$2.50--1926
$5.00--1909
$10.00-1932
$20.00-1924

These are all in plastic and uncirculated. They were graded by TCGS (Twenty-first Century Grading Service), which we found out later to be the company Armand DeAngelis uses for all of his grading although his literature says that he uses PCGS, NGC, ANACS, TCGS, ICG, SEGS, Hallmark or INS. All four of our coins were graded to be MS64.

At the time of the sale, Armand De Angelis told us that we would be receiving quarterly updates as to the value of our gold. When we never received the updates, we contacted him and he said that they were in the mail. They never arrived, so we called a few more times. Eventually, he gave us the ICG website (www.coinclub.com/prices) and said that we could find our gold prices under the NumisMedia prices. We monitored our coin prices and decided we wanted to sell our coins in January of 2002. According to the website given to us by Armand, our MS64 coins would have a value of around $6000.

We contacted Mr. De Angelis and he offered us $1100 for our set. When I asked about the discrepancy, he claimed that he would only pay us the wholesale price. He said that is how all gold brokers do business. A customer buys from them at retail price but sells back at the wholesale price. This did not make sense to me, why would anyone invest in coins if this were the case?

We then decided to see if we could sell our set of coins to a dealer here in our town. We took it to 3 different places and all of these coin shops said that our coins were most likely MS62 and MS63 at the most. The most anyone offered us for the coins was $2500.

Jessica
Manitowoc, Wisconsin
U.S.A. >>

XpipedreamR · April 16, 2004 6:35AM

Kriek: What is that from?

hamiltonjh · April 16, 2004 6:38AM

$100 for a 1-day turn around time grading.

Russ · April 16, 2004 6:42AM

<< Kriek: What is that from? >>

Click here.

Russ, NCNE

Kriek · April 16, 2004 6:43AM

<< Kriek: What is that from? >>

TCGS Coin Scam (scroll down)

You can find more on Google.

geb209 · April 16, 2004 6:43AM

OMG, go here:

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff39899.htm

Same time, opps.

Russ · April 16, 2004 6:45AM

Here's another VERY interesting read.

Russ, NCNE

Kriek · April 16, 2004 6:46AM

Russ, smart thinking on the cached page.

The original site was apparently removed.

XpipedreamR · April 16, 2004 6:52AM

Geez...what a pathetic turd. People like that sicken me

Iwog · April 16, 2004 7:47AM

Grade inflation, huge buy/sell spreads, and playing fast and loose with terms like "rare" and "investment grade" are all common practices in the rare coin business. In fact, most coin dealers couldn't make a living without them.

I would characterize the TCGS dealer as an average coin dealer on a larger scale than most.

Russ · April 16, 2004 8:00AM

Iwog,

It must be very depressing to live in your universe where all coin dealers are slime.

Russ, NCNE

Iwog · April 16, 2004 8:03AM

Never in my life have I said "All" coin dealers are slime.

Most coin dealers are slime.

TheNumish · April 16, 2004 9:07AM

If anyone wants one of these slabs for entertainment I have some 1923 Peace Dollars in TCGS MS-65 slabs I'd sell for $25 each delivered. They are pathetic!!!!!!

Had a $2 1/2 Indian In a TCGS MS-65 slab I was trying to sell for $375. MS-62 bid is $390, MS-65 bid is $3,400. Gave it to one of my friends on memo. Don't know if he sold it.

Sometimes I'm just amazed that the coin business is still good with all the traps that are out there.

The guy with the beard is just too funny!!! LMAO

Conder101 · April 17, 2004 1:04AM

I'll take one of the Peace dollars. I've had a devil of a time finding them. You take Paypal?

Aethelred · April 18, 2004 8:28AM

<< Grade inflation, huge buy/sell spreads, and playing fast and loose with terms like "rare" and "investment grade" are all common practices in the rare coin business. In fact, most coin dealers couldn't make a living without them.

I would characterize the TCGS dealer as an average coin dealer on a larger scale than most......

Most coin dealers are slime. >>

I have found the opposite to be true, most coin dealers are fine people who work very hard, are honest and want the best for their customers. I suspect your lack of savvy led to your coming into contact with one of the <2% of coin dealers who are not honest and explains your opinion of ALL coin dealers. SAD!

Russ · April 28, 2004 12:42PM

TTT.

Russ, NCNE

dollardude · April 28, 2004 12:51PM

I'm glad these con artists are going to face justice. Most of the dealers I have done business with have been very professional, polite, and fair. I would say only a small minority are crooks, just like in any business (well, maybe not politics!). A dealer who is an ANA member has a higher probability of being honest, and I always look for this credential.

Aethelred · April 29, 2004 1:59PM

ttt

TCGS...are they for real?

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