Thank for for your article about deceptive advertising. I've been collecting state quarters
since they started. Last month I saw the Washington D.C. silver quarter and thought I would
like to have one. It took me awhile to realize I
would be buying a coin that didn't really exist.

Re: The National Collectors Mint WTC Silver Dollars
The only time I have ever bought coins, wouldn't you know it would have to be a fraud! Are there any options for getting my money back?

Betty: I just went to their site, and it has been taken down. In its place it says, "WE ARE TEMPORARILY PROHIBITED BY A COURT ORDER FROM ACCEPTING ANY ORDERS FOR THE '2004 FREEDOM TOWER SILVER DOLLAR'."

It sounds like you may be able to get your money back if the court determines that they used fraudulent tactics. I would suggest checking back with the site periodically to see what happens.

My wife was mislead by the TV add by the National Collectors Mint about the WTC gold coin, she didn't realize the coin was going to cost $300 until the end of the recorded/automated ordering process. She was appaulled and contacted her credit card company to decline authorization of this order. Some how the credit card company approved the charge anyway. After again contacting the credit card company and the NCM, she determined the coin needs to be returned through registered insured mail, and the credit card company has placed the order in dispute. As one final note, When she spoke with the NCM customer representative, and asked about a authorization number for returning the coin the woman laughed at her... not exactly professional, but considering the nature of the National Collectors Mint, what else would one expect. Buyer's should not only beware, we need to get the word out that these crooks are out there. Hopefully your web page can help educate people. Thanks

I JUST RECEIVED MY COINS SHOULD I SEND THEM BACK THINKING THAT THERE GOING TO BE WORTHLESS?Did i WASTE MY MONEY AND ARE THERE ONLY 3500 COINS?Please help me out here are they worth less/OR some day might they be collecttables?

No one can say without a doubt if they'll be worthless or not, but their actual value is probably less than a nickel, so unlike many coins that have gold and silver content, these coins don't have that going for them.

In September, I purchased two "1929 $5 Gold Eagle Proofs" from the NC Mint. They included a "Certificate of Authenticity," but the certificate says "tribute" and "is in collector's desired proof quality." Are these coins also worthless, and since I am past their 30 day money back guarantee, am I stuck with them? The specifications say:
Composition: 10 Mil 24 KT Gold
Clad Base
Condition: Individually Struck Proof
Diameter: 27mm
Edition Limit: 2,250
Series: BF

Thanks!

This whole fiasco was part of Chuck Jaffe's (of CBS MarketWatch) annual review of the 'Stupid Investment of the Week' winners.

http://tinyurl.com/6tcnr

You IDIOTS! If you just read before you bought you would have avoided yourselves all this trouble. I bought a state quarter from NCM and I WAS AWARE IT WAS NOT LEGAL TENDER. I bought it because it's beautiful and I wanted the darn coin for myself; Not so I could sell it to somebody in ten or twenty years for a profit. You should all be ashamed of your greed and stupidity.

All of you and others need to take special notice and NOT PURCHASE ANY COINS in the future from ANY COIN COMPANIES/INDIVIDUALS. With what has happened to my 75 yr old father ( to the tune of over 100,000.00)it would make you heed coin dealers forever and get children to be involved in the financial aspect of their parents before the COIN DEALERS DO!

I have purchased from the NCM and have been extremely happy with what I got and the customer service. If you read the print on what you are getting, then there shouldn't be any concerns. Pay Attention.

T. Coble: I'm tired of hearing excuses for the NCM's actions. The order from a court of law was for the, "National Collector's Mint to stop engaging in the fraudulent and deceptive practices of which it was found guilty."

The U.S. Mint received more than 100 complaints from consumers saying they had been misled by the ads. The coins are not made of pure silver, but are an inexpensive metal alloy plated with about a 10,000th of an inch of silver valued at about 1.4 cents, according to Spitzer's office.

So what, exactly, are you telling people to pay attention to? Their intentional misrepresentations?

You wrote, "If you read the print on what you are getting, then there shouldn't be any concerns."

You're missing the entire point of this case. People did read it, but the print was false, and therein lies the reason they have been charged with deceptive advertising.

I purchased a WTC coin thinking I was getting a small piece of history. When I got my letter telling me the vendor had been ordered to give refunds, I did feel as if I had been taken. After thinking about it I decided to keep the coin. Is the tiny amount of silver truly from ground zero? If so, I still have a small piece of history…only smaller than originally suggested.

As I recall, you had a choice of buying the plated coin or the full silver coin. Most people chose the $19.95 plated coin. The COA claims the coin was "struck with 100 Mil .999 Pure Silver recovered from the ruins of Ground Zero". That's why I bought the coin. I knew what I was getting. And it cleary says "Origin: Commonwealth of the N. Mariana Islands" and "Composition: .999 Pure Ground Zero Recovery Silver Clad Base"...Nowhere does it say US Government..or legal tender. I bought what I expected, a beautifully minted coin that gives me a little piece of history. And I bet with circulation being reeled in, the value, whatever it might be will be increasing!

Hello to all.
I recently watched an infomercial touting the purchase of 2003 US minted gold coins. I felt it was extremely misleading. Unless one knows a bit about coins, those who would like to invest would really be disappointed. Here are the problems I noted:
This infomercial is from "The US Coin Vault" (note not just the "Coin Vault', another infomercial that sells coins)...very slick..showing guys in the background w gold bricks and guards, inside a vault, just working themselves to exhaustion.The speaker, a man in foreground does all the talking.
They give one the distinct impression from all the information the speaker is giving, that these are 1oz coins; he even mentions the value of 1oz coins and shows a visual of how many "1 oz. gold coins" would compare for the same amount of money, showing a nice pile of 1oz gold coins vs so much in cash. Yet, the picture of the product they are selling is that of possibly 2003 $5.00 pieces, each selling for $48.00..a very outrageous price imho. Not once did the salesman mention anything about $5.00 gold pieces. He did speak alot about 1oz gold coins.
I called the number on the screen for basic info...the were somewhat surly as I progressed with asking them questions. I confirmed the $48 coin was indeed a $5.00 United States minted coin. I mentioned..gee..that makes gold at 480 an oz, doesnt it? Answer: yep. Next question: he keeps mentioning the collectability status of these coins? Is there any way to confirm that? Here there was a bit of a pause..I continued...Ok, said I....You see the packaging it comes in...on the reverse side is there an official grading? Answer "no".
I then thanked the representative and hung up.

I felt this TV ad was deceptive...if I did not know what little I do know about coins, I could have easily gotten dragged into it; and not all TV informercials are untrustworthy.
To me, the speaker, who calls himself "Dean Leisner", is very misleading, is not specific. If there was any fine print,I sure did not see it.
He called this the "United States" or "U.S. Coin Vault". At the end of the commercial, there was a statement that it was affilliated with the "U.S. Rare Coin and Bullion Reserve". I have looked both up but cannot find an online site for either.
Has anyone seen this infomercial? I would appreciate your thoughts; I really feel it is deceptive in the way it is presented. Also very pricey..ie 480/oz of gold..even with handling, and insurance and shipping, outrageous, considering there is no rating given with the coins. Perhaps I am being a bit picky...What say you on this board?

I ordered the "Twin Towers" coin last year as a gift. 90 days later I found this helpful site and called them to cancel and they told me my card had not been charged. Now 7-months later, I get a letter in the mail they are trying (unsuccessfully) to charge my card NOW. I never thought I would be happy my 2-year-old grandson lost something, but I'm very glad he ran off with my card and I had to replace it!!

I'm really torn about this whole thing. I feel I have been deceived, however I think the coins look nice. I also like all the controversy over the coins. The fact that the NY state Attorney General has gotten involved makes me want to keep them even more. I am still within my 30 day time frame when I could legitimately return them, however I don't know if it would be worth the grief of dealing with the frauds.

Can anyone really make this an easy decision for me?

Joel, my advice would be to dump the coins. If you really like them, that's fine ... but if there's any thoughts about these being an "investment", you're better to plant your money in the backyard and hope it grows.

Silver is running at about $7.00 per ounce right now - give or take a bit. If bullion investment is something you're interested, stick to well-known precious metal commodities like hallmarked silver bars, American Eagle coins or Canadian Maple Leaf coins.

Coins can be a lot of fun, but it's far too easy to get sucked into a false sense of investment by these infomercials. Why not start with a book instead? Browsing through will expose you to the many different coins minted over the past few hundred years, and the prices one can expect to pay. There's a coin dealer in almost every city and town - and while dealers generally do charge a premium, it's not going to be as bad as ripoff infomercial companies.

Your best bet for starting a collection will be to find a local coin and stamp show. Dealers often have trays of inexpensive coins for sale, and this can be a great way to start.

I bought 5 of these coins for $19.95 each and then the WTC Freedom Tower Silver/Clad Set for $54 back in September 2004 because I was planning on giving them to my nieces and nephews for Christmas. But, I decided that they wouldn't appreciate any collectible items (like I thought these were) and now I found that article about the false advertisement of them. What can I do now?

I just received three of these WTC so called dollars
from NCM saying that I ordered them in August. I had just started collecting back then so i fell for it hook, line, and sinker. I had forgot all about it because the web site said at the time they couldn't
sell WTC $'s at this time.
I received three COA's with 2 of them saying

Composition...999 Pure Ground Zero-Recovery Silver Clad Bronze.

Recovery Silver Weight....71 mg
along with the weight, strike as proof, and diameter.

The other one says:
Composition .999 Pure silver and WTC Recovery Silver.
Recovery Weight ...71 mg.

Did the court go ahead and ok it for them to ship
these things? Also, can I believe the one COA that claims to be .999 silver?

Thanx, Dannyo

Felicia: I'm not sure what you can do because you're long past the 30-day return policy they have. You may want to contact them to see if they'll take them back.

Danny: I find it suspicious that the coin is the same weight. In addition, given that the court ruled that they used misleading advertising, I would n't put a whole lot of stock in what they claim.

i think what theyre saying is that the "plating" which weighs 71 milligrams by itself (the entire coint would weigh much more) and this same plating (thin coating over the complete surface of the coin) is .999 pure. anytime you see something advertised as "10 mil' or 100 mil" the "mil" refers to thickness.

I JUST SAW THAT INFOMERCIAL LAST NIGHT! WHAT A SCAM! Just another way to dupe good citizens! I learned a lot of info from the "Little Guys who work for the Little Guys" at Colonial Resources. This is a small company out of Edina, MN. consisting of about four Monetary Specialists that all quit working for different companies that started to use unscrupulous tactics with their customers. I know 'cause I've spoken to all of them! They represent their clients with great care, and if you are new to Precious Metals, they "hold your hand" through the whole process. So if you feel like you have been ripped off by a Gold company, or don't wish to be ripped off while trying to protect your assets, call my guy, Greg at 1-800-685-4042 ext. 236. Tell him Jimmie Vaughan sent ya! He'll get a kick out of that!

i see puerto rico state coins being issued by this company. are they legit? a silver 450 year puerto rico comm silver dollar appeared . i asked the seller for the origin of the coin and he did not know.
is this a puerto rico coin scam?
anyone know?

Manuel: The only Puerto Rico coin I found on the National Collectors Mint web site was their own private minting of a Puerto Rico quarter. Here's their explanation of the coin.

Bills have been repeatedly introduced in Congress to extend the Statehood Quarter Program to include a U.S. Quarter honoring Puerto Rico, but the bills have always been blocked and may never be passed. Now, National Collector's Mint announces the private minting of its Puerto Rico State Proof, honoring the U.S. Territory of Puerto Rico."

http://nationalcollectorsmint.com/product2.jsp?path=-1|1751&id=1404