Today at the show someone produced a 2011-W Gold Buffalo $50.It was a PR69 DCAM. An offer was made (not by me of course) for $1800. The guy (an elderly man) was shocked. He paid $3,000 for the coin, off a coin show on TV, no doubt. As of now a 2011-W ULTRA deep cameo PR70 can be had for around $2200. Unless the price of gold goes way up, this guy is gonna be sore for a while. This is what I mean by education. Always tell anyone in your family or your friends "ask me before you buy an expensive coin". If so, a costly mistake like this could of been avoided.
More than a few folks have been 'skunked' by The Coin Vault and other TV sellers, not to mention this old sod (me). Fortunately, for me, the mistake corrected itself in a few years when the price of silver began to take off, but I never forgave them (CV) for the shellacking I took on that purchase. Actually, the fault of it lies with myself, as I didn't do my homework with regards to the purchase. Education is important but folks could save themselves headache and heartache by simply doing a little research and not taking some fat guy on TV's word for it.....
It absolutely amazes me that people still buy coins from HSN, Coin Vault, etc. It would be great if people started leaving feedback on their website about these types of losses. TC
The "rule of 10" or don't invest in coins that are less than 10 years old is designed to keep people away from fad coins and the sad stories that follow.
I was burned initially (once) by CV. It seems CV would eventually run out of people to burn....been watching Barry Chappell...yes they have a right to make a profit..but phones keep ringing so they say..
Some of my friends watch these shows and insist that what they are seeing are really good deal. I've been trying to educate them but the excitement the announcers create makes them convinced that the items are a the buy of a lifetime. It's on the verge of misleading advertising.
Not sure on CV but i never seen HSN sell PR69 buffalos. He could have bought it off a dealer or coin show...
It's not the verge of anything, it's done right dishonest. When Chappell uses phrases that lead the buyers into believing the coins will have high value in the future, he's telling an outright lie. I caught his spiel one day, selling common date Peace dollars, NGC graded, all were MS64, can be found for around $40-$50, he's retailing them for $199.95 plus shipping, and his pitch was that they will only increase in value, and could become priceless. He makes it sound that the value increases quite a bit as soon as you receive the coin.
My mom was the classic example of this. As I've been looking through her stuff, I found plenty of obscenely overpriced Morgans and others, all from a place which I guess back in the day was simliar to a CoinVault type of thing. She paid (back then in the late '80s/early '90s) $199 for a cleaned Peace Dollar, worth only about melt value these days. She spent a fortune on a lot of coins that weren't worth it, but they all had good sales pitches like that. They always hyped the "rare, buy now and it'll only increas in value since they're not making any more" lines. The worst was the subscription for those "22k gold plated" stamps. Probably well over $10k invested in something that was absolutely worthless, yet hocked as something that was real gold. I can only image how much more could have ended in the collection for the same amount of money spent if she actually had a clue as to what she was really getting for her money.
I understand your anger, and know where you are coming from sir, but to me its simply sales puffery. You don't think this happens every single day, to consumers of nearly every single item? If you hate coins on tv, then jewelry markups would make you downright sick to your stomach. It is what it is, and I don't get mad about it anymore. It happens even within our "normal" industry as well. I have flips of ancient coins marked for $185 that I paid another dealer $15 for. Its a collectible, so education is key. If people refuse to get educated, and overpay from certain sellers, there is nothing we can do to stop it. This applies to tv shows, certain mail order dealers, or even higher priced "traditional" dealers. All we can do is help those who ask for help, and I believe participating in sites like CT does that. Do you really think I care that much any more about US coins? Yet I still particpate when others ask questions or ask opinions of grades here. I am just trying to spread what little knowledge I have. Chris
People over paid for Franklin medals and World proof sets in 70's. It's the same script just a different media.
I never heard of this Coin Vault but the prices are high, kind of like other home shopping retailers. I have actually posted these state quarter and America the beautiful quarters sets and some said they were a good deal. To me, they all looked like they are worth face value with a couple nice albums for $200. I know I see retailers including the Pawn Stars website selling a bag of roll finds (wheats) with a couple dollar coins for $40. How about 25 IHCs for $99 in average circulated condition in an album? Is F,VF, or maybe low XF average circulated? I can get those for a buck or two on Ebay.
Do you think they would leave those comments there? Or do you think they would delete them? And he is telling the truth, they will probably increase in value and who knows someday they may become priceless. You will notice he doesn't say how long this will take. It will be a LONG time before the value exceeds the price you paid, and priceless? Probably not in your lifetime. But that doesn't make his statements lies.
