Where to buy First Spouse Coins online

I've been collecting coins for many years, but I've never bought any online. I've been looking to start collecting the First Spouse coins (still not sure whether they're worth it or not, but I figure I'd rather get in when I missed 8 coins than 3-4 years from now when I'd need to shell out 20k to get in the game!)

I've looked on eBay, but I have a few concerns. First, there really isn't much of a selection. I'm someone who likes to collect coins in their original mint packaging, not NGC/PGCS/etc. casings. There are only 2-3 on eBay in the original package it seems. Second, the prices seem very high. With the current spot price around 830/oz, 700 for .5oz coin seems just plain ridiculous! Finally, I'm concerned about fraud. I know eBay/Paypal has some safeguards but I'd rather not go through the hastle.

So, I'm wondering, does anyone know any reputable online coin dealers? Like I said, I've been buying coins for many years, but this is the first time I'm buying them online (well with the exception of ordering directly from the mint of course!) so any help will be appreciated, thanks!

 

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First of all, please do yourself a favor and find a 2x4. Then beat yourself over the head with it until you can't see straight anymore. Then, just when you think you have had enough, continue to beat your head for another 20 minutes. That is how collecting these makes you feel, but if you can survive that they you are well on your way to be accepted into the group. Unfortunately, part of the initiation requires you to send Spock and I a gold coin as a sign of your true commitment. Any gold coin will do.

If you are looking at the spot price of gold and to the actual amount of gold in these coins, then you will surely be disappointed. I have finally come to accept the prices where they are. It is what it is. :headbang:

The good news is that you can buy the last 4 out of 7 coins directly from the mint at prices less than any online dealer will sell them to you. The 8th one is about to come out next month. There are some people out there who claim that you can find them for less than what they were sold for at the mint, but I haven't seen it.... not to say they don't exist.... and I am sure they do. If OGP is important to you, I can hook you up with one of my local coin dealers who has purchased many, many sets to sell that are still in their original packaging. Just let me know and good luck.

 

Hah, believe me I know. That's the reason why I didn't buy them initially!

Yeah, I've noticed the mint's "small premium" seems to be a few hundred bucks nowadays. My problem with these coins is different though. The 2007's sold for around 430 if I recall. Considering (as far as I can tell) the very low demand, and the current price of gold, 700 is ridiculous. They're telling me that the value has gone up 50% in a year? I don't believe it. My assumption is, I can get the 2007's for somewhere around 450-475, I'm just not sure where to look.

Hopefully someone knows of some dealers that have websites where I can at least get a feel for the pricing. Unfortunately, the Red Book doesn't seem to offer too much help because of the way the precious medal market is right now...

 

I don't know what premium my local dealer is charging for the earlier coins but I will pm you later with his numbers so you can call him and ask. I probably won't be able to get by the shop until Saturday. I can't imagine that he would be charging todays prices for coins he bought at $200 less, but you never know. Fortunately, most dealers that I have noticed have kept the prices down on the earlier ones. The added premiums on the prices are in direct correlation to what they were purchased for.

 

Dman, PM sent

 

All decent original mint packaging coins have been sent in (except for those who collected directly from the mint). You will only find the dogs in orig packaging.

 

Easy, easy there Danr. Not all FS coins in the OGP are dogs. http://www.cointalk.org/album.php?albumid=30

Woof Woof

 

Correct me if I'm wrong (I never send mine in for grading - I'm a collector, not an investor, if they look pretty to me, I'm happy), but I thought I've read a rule that once you open the box, you can't have it graded any longer. Therefore, wouldn't there be many that are ungraded?

In any case, I'm sure there are many out there like me who don't care about professional grading. I like having them to look at. If the rating isn't "good" it's not like I'm going to buy another, and I have no intention of selling, so what's the point in spending $10 to find out what grade they are?

Anyway, jaceravone's certainly don't look bad to me!

 

That is one off the wall statement. I ordered one Proof and one BU Jefferson Spouse coin within the first hour of availability and they are still in the one original Gov't mailing box; unopened, unseen and waiting to be graded "First Strike or First Day of Release" or whatever the top TPGs use. A friend of mine did the same but couldn't afford the coins so he sold them to me at cost. So, now there are 2 boxes of 2 Gold coin that no one could call "dogs".

 

By the way, YES, I've been tempted to open the boxes just for a quick look. Eventually, I'll send them in for grading or sell a pair.

 

except for those who collected directly from the mint

 

sure they can (you just can't get certain designations)

 

My point was that those that show up on Ebay in orig box are those deemed to be not worth slabbing.

 

I would stay away from Ebay. There is a thread here someplace about reliable online dealers. I've used mintproducts.com with no regrets except that they are S-L-O-W. Others have spoken well of apmex.com but I've never used them.

 

In the end, there will be only you and me left.... and maybe Spock. :eat:

 

Barbra Bush mintage= 2 (maybe 3)

 

ROTFLOL! :mouth:

 

Note the above is a comment on the number of First Spouse collectors, not a comment on Barbara Bush, who was probably more popular than her husband and definitely more popular than her son.

 

Thanks for the sites. Seems like only mintproducts has the ladies in stock though...

I'm a little torn here now. The reason I didn't buy the coins when they first came out was they seemed pricy. Not so much the cost, but the cost to bullion pricing. Now it's even worse. I'm seeing them on sale for $600.... today, gold closed at about $780 an ounce. I consider myself a collector, not an investor, but at these prices, and with gold falling seemingly every day, it seems crazy. Am I crazy to think that these coins will eventually fall to bullion pricing? From what I gather, demand seems fairly low (most of the 2007s - at least Washington and Adams were bought by dealers trying to turn a quick profit, not collectors). With demand fairly low, and gold prices falling, it seems like the prices of these coins have to come down... or am I just completely crazy?

 

Dman.... we went over this..... you have to be crazy to collect these!

It is very frustrating to see the price of gold come down and the sales price of these coins stay the same or go up. I have no explanation for it, other than if the mint sells these for any less, they would be taking a loss on the gold that was purchased for the mintage of these coins. Does that make sense? Even if the next FS coin which comes out in a few weeks drops back down in the $400 range, the prices on the previous FS coins will stay the same. But reaslistically, I would not be surprized if the prices stay the same, and this is why I think that.

I think the mint seeing the success of the first 3 fs coins had purchased a whole bunch of gold for production of these coins and they bought it at a high price. At that point in time, the price was justified and was based on market value. But as this price rose, the number of interested collectors dropped. Now the mint isn't selling the number of coins it has projected but that doesn't change the fact that they have a whole supply of gold purchased for this reason..... therefore, the price of coins cannot change or the mint will sell at a loss to their initial investment. Does this make sense.... cause it is late and I am freakin tired.

In the end, you just have to buy because you like the coins and don't worry about how much gold is in the coin. It took me the better part of a year or more to get this concept out of my head that the price of a coin must reflect the amount of precious metal in it. The price of the coin is going to be exactly what the mint says it is going to be..... no matter what magical formula they decide to use to determine that. I have long ago realized that just because the bullion price of gold drops, it doesn't mean that the mints prices will drop. I have stopped expecting that..... and I will tell you that once I did..... I was freed!!!