Texas Attorney General Issues Gold Coins Consumer Protection Tips
(Austin, Texas) June 12, 2017 – With input from numismatic experts including several prominent Professional Numismatists Guild members, the Attorney General of Texas, Ken Paxton, has issued a consumer protection alert about buying and selling gold coins.
The advisory notes that senior citizens make up about 14% of the U.S. population but account for 60% of the callers to the National Fraud Information Center.
Paxton’s advisory cautions consumers and investors: “If coins you bought as an investment would have to double or triple in value before any gain could be realized, you may have been a victim of fraud.”
Entitled “Consumers Should Do Their Research Before and After Investing in Gold Coins,” the advisory emphasizes the crucial importance of working with reputable dealers to help avoid paying too much when buying or receiving too little when selling. Paxton’s office recommends researching dealers through the Better Business Bureau, the American Numismatic Association, the Professional Numismatists Guild, Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (the PNG’s official rare coin authentication service) and Professional Coin Grading Service.
“By issuing this important consumer protection advisory, Texas is not only assisting Lone Star state residents but providing nationwide benefits to the public who can access this useful information online. Attorneys General across the country now also have a template to provide consumer protection advice to their residents about buying and selling gold bullion and gold coins,” said PNG member Michael Fuljenz, President of Universal Coin & Bullion in Beaumont, Texas. He provided continuing consultation to the attorney general’s office on this important consumer alert and obtained input from other key numismatic industry leaders.
Among other tips in the Texas Attorney General’s advisory:
- Do not respond to callers not previously contacted. Cold callers often are not registered in Texas to legally telemarket and often try to pressure customers to act quickly.
- Do not do business with a dealer who guarantees your purchases are totally safe, will go up in value or can’t go down, stresses government gold confiscation or says he will buy them back for what you paid at any time.
The full consumer protection advisory from Texas Attorney General Paxton is available online and as a printable PDF document at Ken Paxton, Attorney General of Texas.
Regretfully, due to print limitations, additional buying and selling tips were excluded, said Fuljenz, including avoiding false grading claims, advice about return privileges and urging caution if sellers receive certified money orders or certified checks from unknown buyers because they could be counterfeit. All ten of the additional consumer protection tips are available online at Mike Fulgenz.
At Fuljenz’ request, the following are among the precious metal industry leaders who provided input for the advisory. Their names are listed alphabetically with affiliations given only for identification purposes.
Gary Adkins, American Numismatic Association Vice President and former Professional Numismatists Guild President
John Albanese, co-founder of Professional Coin Grading Service, Numismatic Guaranty Corporation and CAC
Doug Davis, Founder of Numismatic Crime Information Center, City Manager and former Police Chief of Pantego, Texas
Beth Deisher, Director of Anti-Counterfeiting for the Industry Council for Tangible Assets and former Editor of Coin World
Terry Hanlon, Dillon Gage Metals President, former PNG President
Jerry Jordan, award-winning investigative reporter and former Texas newspaper editor
Kathy McFadden, ICTA Executive Director
Rick Montgomery, NGC President
Donn Pearlman, public relations consultant, ANA Zerbe Award recipient, former ANA Governor and former journalist/broadcaster
Jay Sheppard, Better Business Bureau Serving Southeast Texas Dispute Resolution Director
Miles Standish, NGC Vice President
