Thus the coins they certify may be worth less than others of the same grade. There are special pricing publications for coins certified by major services. Before you buy any certified coin, check its current value in one of these. Some fraudulent sellers may use an old certificate to mislead you into believing that a coin's grade is accurate, so be sure to check the date of any certificate you are offered and investigate the certification service before you commit to a purchase. False claims about current value.
Some dishonest sellers grade their coins accurately but mislead consumers about their value.
In other words, they charge significantly more than the coin's actual value, even though it is accurately graded. False appreciation claims. Dishonest dealers may also mislead buyers by quoting rare coin appreciation rates from an index compiled each year by Salomon Brothers, a New York investment bank. These quotes show appreciation of 12 to 25 percent a year. However, this index is based upon a list of 20 very rare coins, while coins sold by dishonest dealers are more common and not likely to appreciate at the same rate, if at all.