American Coin & Stamp Brokerage, Inc A.C.S.B.American Coin and Stamp Brokerage Beware of this company's offerings, grading claims, and false advertising! Merrick New York

Beware of this company's offerings and rigged "Mail Bid Sale," which they offer monthly via catalog. I purchases TWICE from them, and my last order was for well over $350. They claim to run a mail bid sale, however, you have no idea who is winning any "bids," and you can be assured that it's not like a real auction or bidding situation, because you will only "win" the item if your bid/offer assures them of a hefty profit.

In my case, I purchased numerous coins, and was new to the hobby. In my first purchase, I "won" a half-dime that they graded "MS-62," but when I took it to several local dealers, they assured me that the coin was not only dipped, it had been cleaned harshly with an abrasive. However, I did not find this out until I sent in my SECOND bid form. In that sale, shortly after the first, I "won" numerous items, all at inflated prices. One particular lot was a pair of Washington quarters they graded as "Gem Unc," which I paid $49 for. When I got the coins, they TOO had been cleaned, only this time it was very apparent to the naked eye!!! Any collector anywhere could have seen that these were harshly cleaned coins, and you didn't need a loupe to see the scratches and unnatural hue.

In this lot I purchased ("won") several certified coins. Most of their coins back then were certified by lower rated-companies, and very, very few were PCGS or NGC. They will even list the numerical grades on slabs of certification companies KNOWN to overgrade coins, and they then list the "WHOLESALE/TRENDS" price next to this, which is not wholesale at all, but regular retail prices. Even though they use the word "WHOLESALE" in their price/value column, they NEVER list a true wholesale price! This is nothing short of FALSE ADVERTISING.

At the time, Richard, Allen, and Mark were featured on the cover. Apparently Allen is now gone from the company. Do not fall for the trap if they try to blame Allen for the problems. They are ALL in on this, and if you are new to the hobby, be assured you will get CLEANED or DAMAGED coins in your lots, that will be hard to return because of their lack of integrity and honesty. Allen was not my assigned dealer, and the entire company is suspect of selling cleaned or damaged coins for high, retail prices, thereby ripping off collectors for whatever they can take them for. In one of my situations above, I paid $49 for what was about $4.50 in scrap silver value at the time, and at today's inflated silver price of $19/oz is still only worth around $7.50. I paid over $120 for the half-dime, which too is basically worthless to true collectors and is valued at little more than scrap silver due to the coin's damage.

My complaints went ignored, and I didn't know how to deal with a mail order rip-off back then. All they had to do was claim the coin I returned was not the original sent, so I still have this junk. Each time I see them, I am reminded of how badly I got ripped off by ACSB! Worse, even though I've not purchased from them in YEARS, I still get the catalogs. I have tried TWICE, the last time as recently as March 2014, to have my name REMOVED from their mailing list. Guess what? They refuse to do so claiming that they "rent lists" and have no control of whose names are on these lists. My old apartment number is still on these recent catalogs, and there is no current list that has this old address. There is only ONE company mailing to this old address, and that is THIS one, who apparently loves and practices falsehood, and then wants to keep reminding you of what a sucker they think of you by keeping you on their mailing list and REFUSING TO REMOVE YOUR NAME FROM IT.

Beware! Beware! Beware! They specialize in unloading cleaned and damaged coins at premium prices that you will never recover in a thousand years. They falsely advertise these coins as "gem state", "a full MS-65 grade", "choice uncirculated", and the like. If it's a raw coin, you are taking a huge chance at being ripped off and getting cleaned or damaged junk coins.

Another recent scam they've been running (but which I did not see on this most recent catalog - 3/31/2014) is a supposed web site which praises their honesty and integrity. It LOOKS like a valid site that does reviews of businesses, however, theirs is the only "review" on the site and it appears to be a product of their own promotion and deceptive work. Again, this was not on the recent catalog (which is the only one I'm looking at while typing this) and it appears that they've removed this deceptive "review" and/or maybe were ordered to do so by authorities. My opinion is that it is the latter case, though once you got to the site to read the so-called "review," it was clear it was not a legitimate business review site.

Avoid this company and its dishonest operators like the plague.

Alan K