Posted on 04/07/2011 4:31:50 PM PDT by DeaconBenjamin
Robert Webber says he spotted the 1845 U.S. silver dollar as a Chinese counterfeit the minute he saw it.
Webber, of Goldsboro, N.C., returned the bogus coin to Burnsville Coin Co. last year for a refund of $449. He included a note warning that the other two coins he had ordered, at a cost of $12,400, must be certified as authentic by the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) -- or else.
It appears that Burnsville Coin owner Barry Skog is about to find out what that means.
Webber said the other coins he received -- 1851 and 1858 silver dollars -- not only were fakes, but also were encased in counterfeit PCGS holders. He showed them to PCGS representatives at a Boston coin show last year, and its parent company, Collectors Universe, filed suit against Skog and his company in a California federal court alleging trademark infringement.
Skog never formally responded to the charges; a handwritten denial he sent to the judge last month was rejected as improper. The clerk of the court declared Skog in default. Collectors Universe now seeks a judgment against him.
In filings this week, the company asked the court to bar Burnsville Coin from selling coins in counterfeit PCGS holders; to order Skog to turn over all counterfeit coins and holders for destruction; and to turn over all profits his company made by selling any coins in counterfeit PCGS holders. The company also seeks $11,772 in legal costs.
Thursday, Skog wrote that a hearing is pending in California "in which we plan to plead 'Not Guilty' and we have requested a change in venue. We have been in business for over 35 years and sold nearly 5,000 coins last year alone! There is a question on two of them. That should say something!"
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
$5 each, or $5 total? Where did you get them?
You can verify a graded coin. The coin at the top of the page doesn’t verify. Also there’s a holographic image on the back of the coin holder that’s not easy to duplicate. I bet that’s how the person knew the holders were fake.
$5 each, while I was in Vancouver and don’t remember just which year.
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