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NUMISMATIC
CONSUMER ALLIANCE, INC.
a
New Jersey Nonprofit Organization |
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The Numismatic
Consumer Alliance, Inc. Press and Media
Center
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Press Release
July 1, 2009
NCA RECOVERS NEARLY $900,000 FOR COIN CONSUMERS
A consumer watchdog organization has recovered nearly $900,000 for buyers who paid far more for coins than they were worth.
The money represented full refunds in 16 recent disputes, according to the New Jersey-based not-for-profit group, the Numismatic Consumer Alliance, Inc. (NCA).
The consumers had purchased the coins - mostly overpriced bullion coins and other modern issues - on the basis of telemarketers' sales pitches, NCA said. It said the Alliance was able to obtain full refunds totaling $884,769 for coins which were worth a fraction of their purchase price.
"Many of these buyers," NCA said, "were senior citizens with no knowledge of coins who also lacked the Internet savvy to check out what they were buying and who they were buying it from."
The Alliance has now recovered a total of more than $4 million for such consumers since becoming operational in 2005. NCA intervenes on these buyers' behalf, engaging legal and other professional assistance if necessary, in an effort to ensure that coin consumers are getting their money's worth.
The Alliance is reviewing other disputes involving coins for which consumers paid more than $10 million.
NCA seeks no compensation when it enters a dispute on behalf of an aggrieved consumer - even though it frequently incurs substantial legal bills and other expenses in the process. Funds to cover such costs are contributed by coin dealers and collectors who share its concerns. On several occasions, consumers who were aided by NCA subsequently donated funds to help it continue its work on behalf of others.
Ten Founding Members provided seed money of $10,000 apiece, and each has pledged to continue making regular contributions, if needed, to help finance NCA's operations. The Alliance also has three other membership levels involving one-time fees: Gold Members pledge $2,500, Silver Members $500, and Bronze Members $100.
The Founding Members all are professional numismatists, and all have been coin dealers for more than 20 years.
Disputes involving potential abuses are referred to NCA by a number of sources, including hobby organizations, numismatic periodicals, law enforcement agencies, reputable coin dealers, and consumers and their families and friends. The American Numismatic Association and Coin World have been particularly helpful in alerting the Alliance to apparent abuses, NCA said.
In an overwhelming majority of disputes, NCA said, the potential abuses involve senior citizens who have bought coins from telemarketers. Upon learning of such disputes, NCA contacts the consumers to determine the validity of their claims and asks for copies of all pertinent paperwork. If it decides that the sellers took advantage of the buyers, it contacts the sellers and urges them to make restitution in order to avoid legal action.
About 90 percent of the disputes are resolved through negotiations between NCA and the sellers. The other 10 percent can be far more costly and time-consuming. For instance, the Alliance spent nearly $20,000 on legal fees to help one elderly man attempt to recover half a million dollars he spent for coins that, in NCA's judgment, were worth a fraction of that amount.
In one noteworthy dispute, NCA said, coins purchased by an elderly gentleman in Arizona and priced at more than $100,000 were housed in holders from two grading services - National Numismatic Certification, LLC (NNC) and the Numismatic Trust Corp. (NTC) - and consistently carried grades significantly higher than what the Alliance deemed to be accepted market standards.
The Alliance said it plans to intensify its scrutiny of such grading services, and also is developing plans for new educational programs aimed at alerting the public to the dangers.
Further information about NCA is available at its Web site, www.stopcoinfraud.org. |
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Press Release
March 12, 2008
NCA NAMES MEDIATION 'CZAR'
Scott A. Travers, author, dealer and consumer advocate, has accepted a key position with the Numismatic Consumer Alliance (NCA), a new organization dedicated to rooting out fraud and deception in coin transactions.
Travers will serve NCA as executive mediator, according to John Albanese, founder and president of the not-for-profit alliance, which is based in New Jersey. In that capacity, Travers will be on the cutting edge of alternative dispute resolution.
"NCA is groundbreaking in its pro-consumer stance," Travers said in announcing his acceptance of the post. "It actually goes out and tracks down fraudulent activities instead of passively waiting for someone to file a complaint, and that proactive approach sets it apart from other organizations."
Travers will continue to operate his coin business, and carry out the busy schedule of consumer-oriented book and article writing.
In fact, he said, his widely recognized role as an expert source for coin-related information will give him "abundant opportunities to publicize the goals and successes of the Numismatic Consumer Alliance and to help educate consumers about their role in protecting themselves in entering the marketplace."
Besides targeting fraud in the numismatic marketplace and arranging for arm's-length-distance alternative dispute resolution, under Travers' auspices NCA plans to sponsor educational seminars and consumer protection workshops in conjunction with major coin shows.
Albanese, himself one of the world's leading professional numismatists with a strong pro-consumer agenda, began laying the groundwork for NCA in 2003 because of his firm belief that the coin industry wasn't doing enough to combat abuses. He spent the next several years securing non-profit status for the alliance and mobilizing support in the coin dealer community for its efforts to achieve two fundamental goals: "the education and protection of the coin consumer."
The work of the alliance is funded, in part, by coin dealer members who share Albanese's concern about the negative impact of marketplace abuses and his vision for rooting out such problems.
Since becoming operational in 2005, the alliance has recovered millions of dollars for consumers who were victimized in coin transactions through exorbitant price markups and misrepresentation of investment potential. In most cases, Albanese said, the victims have been elderly individuals with little or no knowledge of the coin market.
For more information on NCA, please visit our
website at www.stopcoinfraud.org. |
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Press Release
December 1,
2006 Numismatic Consumer Alliance,
Inc. (NCA) is pleased to announce that is was able to secure refunds of
$863,902.00 on behalf of five investors within the last several months. In
most cases, coins were sold at a very high markup and represented as
excellent
investments. In all cases, the victims were elderly.
Year to date,
NCA
has recovered $1,220,366.00 on behalf of consumers.
NCA is a not for
profit corporation, incorporated under the laws of the State of New Jersey.
NCA was granted tax-exempt status by action of the Internal Revenue Services
under IRC Sec. 501(c) (6).
For more information on NCA, please visit
our
website at www.stopcoinfraud.org.
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Press Release
February 9,
2006 Numismatic Consumer Alliance
Inc. (NCA) is pleased to announce on
February 7th of 2006 it was able to secure a refund of $18,660.00
on behalf of
a New York City coin investor. The investor purchased a multitude
of bullion
coins graded MS 69 by a prominent third party grading
service.
NCA is a
not for profit corporation, incorporated under the laws of the
State of New
Jersey. NCA was granted tax-exempt status by action of the
Internal Revenue
Services under IRC Sec. 501(c) (6).
For more information
on NCA, please
visit our web site at www.stopcoinfraud.org. |
October 10,
2005 issue of Coin World - Page 8 - Amos Publishing
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Dealers form
organization to secure collector
relief
Group recovers
$326,450 for fraud victim  Numismatic Consumer
Alliance Inc. has been formed as a nonprofit corporation under
the laws of New
Jersey, as an organization of individuals and companies to fight
fraudulent or
illegal conduct within the coin trade.
John Albanese, a
longtime
professional numismatist and a founder of both Professional Coin
Grading
Service and Numismatic Guaranty Corporation of America, is
heading the
organization.
He had first announced plans for the
organization in
2003. Obtaining nonprofit corporation status was a much longer
process than he
envisioned, he said. The group was founded in 2004 and now a Web
site,
www.stopcoinfraud.org, is active. It includes a membership
application form.
Albanese said applications for dealer membership will
begin being taken
this winter. Four levels of annual membership contribution
commitment have been
established: bronze, $100; silver, $500; gold $2,500; and
founder, $10,000.
Five dealers had already committed to the $10,000 level by
mid-September, he
said.
The "primary goals" of NCA as outlined on the Web
site are:
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To
help consumers secure relief for fraudulent and illegal conduct
within the coin
industry. For such purposes, fraud and illegal conduct shall
refer to the
following practices: overcharging; underpaying; overstatement
of investment
potential; overgrading and other misrepresentations of quality,
rarity,
authenticity and fair market value. -
To
disseminate information to consumers with regard to the
prevention and
identification of fraud and other illegal conduct within the
industry.
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To
educate consumers with respect to coin grading so they may
distinguish the
competent coin grading services from others with hidden agenda,
conflicts of
interest or compromised independence.
Albanese and attorney Robert
Boyar said the fledgling NCA already
intervened in the case of a Florida person who bought about 35
coins in two
years from a Northeast telemarketer. The NCA identified the coins
as overgraded
and overvalued. Legal fees were partly subsidized by the NCA. A
settlement of
$326,450 was obtained, representing a full refund of prices paid
and an
additional amount to offset the buyer’s loss of other
opportunities,
Albanese and Boyar said.
All the coins involved had been
certified by
established grading and authentication firms, Albanese said. The
victim was
elderly, he added.
"Some people think certified means
certified, just
like a government bond," he said.
He said he hopes to
enroll prominent
coin dealers to an extent that the group letterhead in itself
"will be
intimidating."
Coin World - October 10, 2005 Issue
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Copyright © 2008
NUMISMATIC CONSUMER ALLIANCE, INC - All Rights Reserved |
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