On January 10, 2008, both the American Numismatic Association (ANA) and the Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG) filed a lawsuit against eBay, stating that the latter uses unfair and deceptive trade practices.

It is worth mentioning that the lawsuit against eBay was filed in United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. The list of organizations that filed the lawsuit also included: National Numismatic Certification, LLC (NNC), ASA Accugrade, Inc (ACG), PCI Coin Grading, Inc (PCI), Treasure Gallery, Inc., Sovereign Entities Grading Service, Inc.(SEGS) and Centsles, Inc.

All of the above mentioned organizations seek the below mentioned damages:

" … in excess of $75,000.00, exclusive of costs, interest and attorney’s fees and for temporary and permanent injunction relief …"

The main point of the suit is the policy change of eBay that limits the listing of coins as certified.

The policy page of eBay regarding the sale of currency sets out the rules in listing both coins and paper money. The main aspects on the policy page forbid the sales of fakes and offer full disclosure of anything that might affect the value of a listing. This policy and elements linked to it in an update and announcement to it were the main forces in the lawsuit against eBay.

Last year, in September, the commercial website updates its policy for selling coins. It allowed the selling of coins that had been graded exclusively by the following grading companies:

Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC)

Numismatic Conservation Services (NCS)

Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS)

Independent Coin Grading (ICG)

ANACS

The complaints of the petitioners in the lawsuit are aimed to the claimed construction tools of the updated policy of eBay, the way it was presented and the press release of ANA stating the policy change of eBay.

The claim actions basically identified their graded coins as “counterfeit” and/or their firms as having connections to the counterfeit numismatic items. In particular regards to the press release issued by ANA, the plaintiffs mention that they:

“… have been injured in their respective abilities to carry out their professions, trades, and occupations and have been exposed to distrust, hatred, contempt and ridicule … As a direct and proximate result of said defamatory conduct, Plaintiff have lost considerable income and profits and their goodwill has suffered immensely …"

The filed lawsuit against eBay seeks a trial by board of judges in federal court.