Last month I promised that additional information regarding this incident between David Hall of PCGS and Dennis Tarrant of Jade Coin would be published in this month's Newsletter. Well here it is. But to tell you the truth I was somewhat reluctant to write this for I have no first hand evidence to confirm what will be said in the article. All I can relate is what Dennis Tarrant of Jade Coin stated to me in various emails and phone conversations.

As most of you already know this story got started on the PCGS US Coin Forum when Jade Coin made a post describing the events I wrote about in Part I. This particular thread on the forum gained a lot of attention and there were over 250 replies in a matter of days. But the thread did not last too long as it was deleted by the PCGS staff. That's when Dennis and James began writing about their situation on other coin forums. It was also when they developed a web site and posted their side of the story for all to see.

According to Dennis it was the posting to the PCGS Forum that really made David Hall mad. Which is why he refused to respond to emails and phone calls from Jade Coin. But as news of the story began to spread and because Mr. Hall found out about the web site that Jade Coin had developed - Mr. Hall decided to respond to Dennis's requests to discuss the issue and called Dennis.

During this conversation, which became heated at times, Mr. Hall stated repeatedly that PCGS does not guarantee pedigrees. To which Dennis replied that PCGS did guarantee authenticity and that the coin in question was not an authentic Norweb Hibernia and that PCGS should accept responsibility for their mistake. Mr. Hall then acknowledged that PCGS did indeed make two mistakes - 1 being the initial slabbing of the coin with the Norweb pedigree and 2 the way PCGS handled the Presidential Review. Mr. Hall then went on to say that if Jade Coin was part of the PCGS community that he would do something to make amends.

Dennis then asked "are you saying that just because we do not deal in PCGS coins and play the game you are not going to assume responsibility for your mistake?".

Mr. Hall reportedly answered that question with a question: "Do you have friends? Do you do favors for your friends? Do you have enemies? Do you do favors for your enemies?"

To which Dennis replied - "I can't believe you are going to do this to us".

Mr. Hall - "I am David Hall. I can do whatever I want to." Mr. Hall then went on to say that everybody is always trying to rip off PCGS and that he had refused to act on Jade Coin's claim because of their posting of the story to the PCGS Forum and Jade Coin's web site.

Dennis replied that Jade Coin had no desire to hurt PCGS' reputation, that they only wanted to be treated fairly. And because their requests for discussion of the issue were being ignored that that was why they acted as they did.

Mr. Hall replied that PCGS would not be hurt by the story or by anything that Jade Coin did. He said that small guys don't matter and that he took care of his big dealers. He did however say that he did not want this story to get out.

Dennis then mentioned this article and that the story would be told. At which point Mr. Hall said that perhaps they could work something out. He then began listing conditions. He said that PCGS would pay Jade Coin if they agreed to take down their web site about the Norweb Hibernia and if they agreed to not tell folks that he agreed to pay them. He said he did not want folks to know that he agreed to pay Jade Coin because it would be an admission of guilt.

Now I freely admit, Part II of this article is based entirely on hearsay. But I have relayed this story exactly as Dennis Tarrant told it to me and I have no reason to believe that Mr. Tarrant in any way distorted the truth. I even asked Dennis if he would prefer that I not write this article. His response to me was to write it anyway - even if the writing and publishing of it caused him to not be paid by PCGS. As of this writing I have no confirmation that Jade Coin either has or has not been paid for their losses and or the damages they suffered as a result of this incident.

For years there have been allegations of preferential treatment made by those who submit coins for grading to the various grading companies. And this is not something that is unique to PCGS. Such claims have been made about all the various grading companies. Some choose to believe these claims while others do not. The grading companies of course categorically deny it. I myself have defended the grading companies in various venues and said that it would be illogical for them to behave in such a manner as it would only end up hurting their business in the long run. But still these claims persist and as time goes on more and more collectors become convinced they are true. Well perhaps they are and perhaps they are not. Perhaps they are true about some grading companies and not true about others. I for one don't know.

What I do know is that all of the grading companies make mistakes. Most of them try to correct them fairly and honestly. But it is beyond time for a change and for reforms within the grading industry. The grading companies must be brought to account and held to a higher level of consistency and accuracy industry wide. It is time for independent testing of the grading companies such as has been discussed and written about in coin collecting publications such as Coin World. And it is time for the findings of these independent tests to be published for one and all to see. And it is time for the numismatic community and individual collectors, and perhaps even the grading companies themselves, to step forward and offer to make contributions to fund such testing and to see to it that it continues so that the trust and confidence of the collecting public in the grading industry may at last be deserved.

Well that's it folks - until next time ;-}

Doug