Littleton company head wins ANA award?

They grade conservatively, and often pay very strong prices for common, problem-free coins. Here's my latest experience:

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/littleton-grading.279563/

 

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The ANA is just a numismatic version of the DNC and GOP. It's mostly about the pander, nothing more.

 

I wouldn't call them a shining beacon of light illuminating the future of numismatics, but they're not exactly the trolls some make them out to be, either. Perhaps it's just showing my age but I distinctly remember a time in my life when their business model was widely popular across many aspects of retailing, not just numismatics, and there were a number of other numismatic firms using a similar model.

Don't forget, before the Internet, if you were a rural dweller who liked coins, it was not at all easy to acquire new pieces. There weren't seventy grading divisions, nor the intense competition between numismatists to have a coin with one single mark less than their fellow's.

As has been said, there's no arguing the accuracy and honesty of their grading, and in a hobby where even Littleton is doing most of their business via online contact, how do we place sole blame for what we feel is excessive pricing upon the dealer when a tsunami of accurate pricing information is available to anyone with a keyboard and monitor? For that matter, how do we get to decide what others should consider a "fair" price?

Hell, I'll bet I could have had every_single_coin I've bought in the last few months for a better price if I'd waited. But then I wouldn't have had those coins.

"Dealer of the Year?" I dunno. Maybe it's been awarded for a body of work, in a year when nobody really stood out as deserving it any better. And there's a lot to be said for pander, especially when it generates publicity.

 

Guess who uses the Littleton catalog when comparing prices?? It is privately owned, approx 370 employees, 85,000 sq ft facility.

 

Most of us "small fry" only know Littleton from the gimmick and approval services and their overpriced catalog, but I suspect there is also another side to Littleton that caters to the "larger" collectors in a not so public way. I know they have bought and handled so really high priced items in the past that really don't get much in the way of public discussion. They also do a lot for education such as funding the ANS seminars and there is the Sunderman lecture series at the ANA. I would also not be surprised to find them as a supporter of the summer seminars.

 

And I would venture to say the ANA recognition is for the latter...and rightfully so.

 

Okay, I gotta say it. You guys know there's hardly a bigger ANA backer than I am. The Forman award is a joke, and has been for a long time. Pander is correct. Patrick Heller, "sky is falling - dollar about to collapse", gold bug extraordinaire, won it in 2012. Lee Minshull, who was one of the primary creators of the 2014 ANA Kennedy gold half sleeping on the streets debacle, won it in 2014, for crying out loud. It's a crime, not an award.

 

If you think buying from them is a difficult experience, you should try to sell to them!

Phooey.

 

Thankfully I was able to help a good friend of mine save a LOT of money by dumping Littleton specials for much lower prices, both at a brick and mortar and on on ebay.

"Exemplary" must mean something entirely different to ANA. I hope they have MUCH-higher-than-exempliary ethical standards then for their own dealings.

Preying on the ignorant is not moral. We, rightly, complain about Chinese fakes b/c people get suckered into spend too much money on something being represented as worth an amount it is not. Yet Littelton gets an award for it?!

Just one note to the opposite side of the argument... my friend did receive a snail mail special of a 2016 ASE at current melt cost from Littelton. I wonder if this was their way of trying to lure him back though.

 

That is Littleton, Colorado

 

I've ordered some of their loss-leaders from advertisements in national magazines. Like silver Eagles for less than the current price of silver. Of course, I know they'll send some wildly overpriced approvals, so I'm prepared to return them immediately and tell them not to send anymore. I've also sold coins to Littleton, as they pay good amounts. As some here have said, they're incredibly picky, so you have to be prepared for that if you sell them anything. Those are my dealings with Littleton, for what they're worth.

 

I don't own any, but if I were starting with coin albums today, theirs would certainly be one I would highly consider. I'm neck deep in Dansco. They have a retro quality I find comforting in this overly digitized, razzle-dazzle, registry set chasin', snake oil oozing from every pore, world we're in.

 

"I read some customer reviews and I was appalled! This company has done more harm than good. What is the ANA thinking?"


My thoughts exactly.

 

20 to 25 years ago, before the ease of using the internet, I used Littleton's monthly approval on demand. Yes, the coins were over priced for their grade, although, as stated earlier, they always seem to under grade the coins. One instance where they over graded a coin, I sent it back explaing the reason. They responded by apologizing to me, and thanking me for alerting them. They shipped me a replacement that was two grades above the one I paid for. They followed up to see if I approved of the replacement. You must agree that they could have washed it under the table and done business as usual. They didn't, they must be doing something right to employ 300 plus people and continue to do business. Absolutely, we can all agree that knowledge is power, and in our hobby it's paramont. Curious to know how many of those haters actually did their homework before they kept and paid for their coins from Littleton.

 

I love Littleton albums. The colors they can produce are awesome, especially on 999 silver.

 

All those sponsorships Littleton has done was paid for not by the company, but by their customers who were ripped off. Yeah, we should all be wary when buying things but we've also all made mistakes early on. And some people are more trusting of others. Littleton thrives on the ignorant. If you have anything positive or leaning towards positive to say about them, let me ask you a question: If this company is decent, why don't you regularly buy coins from them? Or take advantage of their coins on approval service? Enough said

 

Speaking for me, I never have dealt with them, for anything. I do drop by their booth at major shows, mostly to see if there's anything new with their supplies. I don't get the vitriol. Call it tuition.

 

There will always be ignorant people that like living in that state of unaware bliss and if they're willing to shell out the prices littelton asks and littelton does good for the hobby as a whole then I have no problem with them. That said, I'm not they're type of huckleberry.

 

People like vitriol these days. Contention is the new mode of communication.

At least Littleton's customers are overpaying for decent coins, not overpaying for Ebay dreck. Wonder if the naysayers are among those who cannot wait for new Mint issues to flip for profit on Ebay.

 

Speaking of overpaying and dreck, I'd take Littleton coins and supplies over HSN colorized and electroplated coins and state quarters on auto-ship anytime .... said tongue in cheek obviously ... but HSN backs up dump trucks full of money selling this crap.