Newbie Question about HSN, CoinVault, etc...

Guilty (me) as charged......

 

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I just got back into coins a few years ago... my grandmother always bought me a proof set every year for my birthday. She also had many old, high end buffalo nickels/old silver coinage pre-1940, early commemeratives, old French coins from the 1700's, a few gold pices, and a lot of old U.S. paper bills pre-1940. When she passed I was the beneficiary of her coin collection among a few other things. I deeply miss her and would trade every one of my worldy things to see her again. That being said, I was just amazed at what she left me in her coin/bill collection and it got me started again a few years back.

When I go into my local dealers place, the one I like, he knows me and knows what I'm looking for. If he has high end silver Kennedy halves he pulls them out for me and I usually have a need for one or two of them he has. I also check his book and pull some high quality silver dimes, quarters, halves, and dollars out. He lets me examine them as closely as I want with my magnifying glass and we get along well. I will not buy cleaned, banged up coins just won't. I want the finest I can get and can afford.

That being said, yes, I have fallen victim to a bad purchase once or twice before- I think that's how most of us learn. The coin shows on t.v. do spur interest I'm sure, and that's a good thing for the hobby. I wish we could just have a better way of reaching those folks to let them know about these guys on the tube. This forum, and the folks that post here, have taught me sooooo much and I am thankful for the knowledge our posters have!!!!

 

HSN and other online shopping networks are still around? How I ask with the internet nowadays? Sorry, I don't watch much television, it rots your brains!

 

I wish there was a coin related TV show that didn't really push selling coins. On some of these info commercials, they do talk about the history of the coins and that part always intrigued me. Just kind of sad that there isn't a show about coins.

 

I was watching that "fine coins" channel last night. The guy opened a box from the mint with 5 25th ASE sets in it and took a set out. I waited to see if any of the coins were loose. Sure enough, some were.

They were asking $1400 for the raw sets. For what it's worth...

 

Caught the show as well -

Saw that show as well as I was channel surfing. Raw sets at $1400 and he had 1 unopened box that contained 5 sets that he sold for I believe $7200.

Wonder when we'll see $1400/set on eBay????? Have not checked lately, but eBay was in the $700-$800 range for the raw sets.

Interesting.

 

I saw that same segment again last night. Actually they want almost $1500 for the raw sets.

A coin website I buy from sometimes is offering the raw sets for $900, and slabbed 70 sets for $2500. Yep, who knows where it will go...

 

art and coin is on direct tv tues nites and sat sun morn. rick always gives away about a dozen coins when he starts his shows.I've gotten a 65smsgot it graded it came a ms65 also a 62 quarter it came back pf 68 and 64 pointed dime that i have'd got graded yet.plus asigned book with pf 67 63 frank for 87 bills he sells the book for 58 +plus5 s+h I thought that was a good deal rkf have a nice holiday

 

Art & Coin TV IS aok

Purchased bicentennial Kennedy pr69dcam for $40. It is absolutely beautiful. ACTV is great entertainment. Think most of their prices are fine. I live in a small town and refuse to drive hundreds of miles to St. Louis for coin deals. I do not trust e-bay. Who do you guys recommend on the internet for coin purchases ?

Thank you....Robert Winters

 

It's perfectly acceptable to bash these guys. I know several of them personally and I break their bones about it all the time. They laugh it off, all the way to the bank.

 

Hi, Bob,
Is your coin silver or clad? What TPG graded it? Please post a picture.
Sorry to say this, but you paid at least twice what you would have paid elsewhere.
There is no way you can ever expect to recover your purchase price on this coin.

On line you can try Modern Coin Mart, Cheapslabs, Paradise Mint or many others to get much better deals.
There are also auction sites, Heritage Auctions, Teletrade and Great Collections.

If you are careful, Ebay is not a site to distrust. Just pay extreme attention to feed back before bidding/buying. And of course, know how to judge what is being offered.

 

SleazeBay is okay as long as you know what you're doing.

There are some reputable dealers on these forums, but I've just never had the opportunity to do business with them.

Some of my personal favorites are:

1) Mark Feld Rare Coins - Mark was a grader at NGC for 6-7 years, and has been living in California for quite a while. He doesn't always have a lot of inventory listed on his website and he doesn't offer much in the way of moderns, but if it's quality that you want, he has a very keen eye. He travels to a lot of the major shows, so anyone who has a "want list" can be assured of getting the best for the money.

2) Shane Canup - aka Kryptonitecomics, has been selling on eBay for many years, and he lives near Orlando. He is a toner fanatic and is very good at finding NT toners in most denominations. Though he usually lists coins at auction, both for himself and as consignments, he is now making coins his full-time job, so finding coins for customers would be a logical extension of that business. Shane is also an excellent numismatic photographer.

Both of these guys are members, here as well as on the NGC forums, and both are as honest as the day is long.

Chris

 

Coin Adventures

Thank you Rick and cpm9ball. Will try something different. Half dollar is 40% silver PCGS pr 69 dcam. Real pretty and was a gift and the person is delighted.
Barry Chappel cracks me up. He is a Morgan Dollar wacko !

Sincerely Robert Winters

 

I would say, that the shows are fine to watch. Sometimes they give out some really good information and history, but most is blown up and filler. I do watch the shows, I also turn off the volume and say I would pay x for that, but you will sell it for.....y. Then I will go really? if my y was too high, sometimes it is almost tempting. But RIck Tomasko from artand coin tv always seems to have some nice proof half dollars, and I do love those Franklins. The Coin Vault has some great inventory, but alas, with everything, buyer beware. I do enjoy the Podcasts of the Coin show from iTunes. Just pull out a coin guide and keep yourself based in reality. Email me if you see something cool and want to share. I check their website for clearance items. Oh, I detest the HSN show.

 

Bob, congrats on your ASE Anniversery Set. The nice part of a show like CoinVault sounds like it introduces the buying opportunity to a whole new group of prospective coin collectors such as yourself.

Welcome to CT.

 

I guess of the bunch, Art & Coin TV is the better show. Still prices are high. Rick Tomaska seems to really know Franklins and Kennedys. Barry Chappel can be interesting, informative and entertaining when talking about the gold standard and the U.S. economy. Never have bought from them though.

 

I don't like people who 'point' at me........

 

Well what would you do then if you were a movie star out in public and a bunch of pretty women recognized you and excitedly starting pointing at you?

 

Lord know's that'll never happen.........

 

It's kind of hard to answer without bashing if we're answering honestly. Both CoinVault and HSN make their money off of people who basically don't know the truth about coins or how much they cost. Basically they rip off the uninformed and little old ladies. They are ripoffs, plain and simple. I used to listen to them as background music but I got tired of their lies. Sure, they throw out an occasional mint set at costs just to lure people in but in the end that's what it is, a "lure". Don't waste you're time.