I plopped my desired coin (Morgan dollar) into the basket, went to checkout, and aughh, Priority mail. Long story short, Priority is guaranteed to be destroyed (at least for me). I had forgotten that vcoins' contact page is dodgy. The email sometimes goes through, but it just stays on that page and does nothing when one hits send (tried two browsers). Is anyone familiar with Coins to Medals? Is it an okay place for U.S. coins? I sent my usual request to new dealers, no Priority and no huge mailers (that my careless mailman can fold and stuff). There's a registered option, but 30 bucks for an inexpensive coin isn't something I really want to do. The Washington gallery (0r something like that) has a sorta ok toned one, but I haven't checked out their shipping options. Ugh, I hate priority mail. Let's just say that EVERY single priority package over the last two years has been damaged, most mauled.
I'll wait and see if vcoins' dodgy contact system worked. If it didn't go through and I don't hear back, I guess it wasn't meant to be. I'll just choose and ancient coin and eventually get something from the 'local' coin shop, although with U.S. coins, there would be places closer to me.
It's a long story, but an 85% damage rate isn't a great record. One of them looked like it was run over by a King Tiger. There's zero benefits to me and it is my only special request. I don't know if it's the local post office or what, but those cardboard mailers just get absolutely mauled. The Justinian II only survived because it was so small and sank to the bottom, missing the mauling by about 5 mm. The next one was mauled, but not as badly. I think only one arrived without some form of damage. Priority mail is a deal-breaker for me. Nope. I'll do FedEx or DHL Express, but no priority. I used to despise FedEx, but my FedEx packages from Germany have been quite excellent. It's usually not a problem with dealers in ancients. 85% offer first class mail. The only coin that was damaged via First Class was mailed so badly that it was hardly a shock that it broke in two. My postman is also quite careless. He WILL stuff and fold anything into that mailbox.
I hadn't factored in the weight of the slab/tomb (keep in mind that 100% of my purchases have been raw coins - the only slabs I have were presents from the local coin shop). If First Class can do it within $20, then I'm fine with that. I also didn't explain well that vcoins has a really dreadful contact system. About 65% of the time, it doesn't go through. I suppose I could contact vcoins themselves and ask what the guy's vcoins email is, and send it direct. Over a thirty year span, my First Class damage percent has been around 0.25%. My Priority damage rate's been 85% (small and recent sample size). Perhaps my local post office is just unusually dreadful. If it's flat or semi-flat and larger than a small mailer, that's when the real problems seem to kick in, especially if it's a cardboard mailer. Those really get the Lucille treatment. Large boxes have fared pretty well. We'll see what happens. If it goes through, I'll post what I purchased.
If you are a collector in the U.S., I can’t see why you would ever buy a Morgan Dollar from an overseas dealer. The coin is very common. Ever the “rare dates,” like the 1893-S and 1895 Proof, are always available for a price and are represented by hundreds or a thousand + survivors. As for domestic Priority Mail, I’ve never had a problem. I guess I have been lucky.
Coins to Medals is in Florida, according to their contact page. I realized today that their vcoins email is probably just coinstomedals. I'm sure the kerfluffle will be cleared up. If not, then it's not like ancient coins, I can actually find these locally. Will a local coin store be overpriced? Probably, I don't know. Funny you mention overseas. I had considered numiscorner, a French dealer whom I've done business before. However, they didn't have any U.S. coins which were to my liking. Oh, I happened to come across a youtube video last night. A silver stacker happened to show up in the algorithm, and the Haleybug Mint makes handmade items which intrigued me. They're not artistic masterpieces, but assuming they're reputable, I could certainly see myself getting some bars/hand-poured coins. I actually liked those more than the coins. Keep in mind that I'm coming from a background of struck coins. Machine-made coins never really appealed to me. Per my pick, the toning was the main factor and as long as the date was in the 1870's-1880's range, I'm fine. I just want one relatively inexpensive example; it will be more of a curiosity than anything else. That's the one good thing about the SEGS slab. The mintage is printed on the label. Once I'm established as a customer, I'm pretty non-fussy. My only request is a certain size/type of common mailer and First Class/FedEx/DHL Express. I suspect that most of the maulings have been courtesy of my local post office, most being the victim of getting stuck in a conveyor. Stiff, flat envelopes (like priority) are REALLY prone to mauling. Even if it survived, the good ol' postman will just fold that big envelope in half and stuff it in mymailbox.
I've purchased from Washington Numismatics, JAZ Numismatics and Sam Sloat on VCoins without any problems. So the issue is that your coins aren't being labeled as "DO NOT MACHINE" and then going through the machines at the Post Office where they are sorted, and getting mauled in the process, is that right? It's probably not your local PO then, not that it matters. I haven't had that issue with anyone who regularly sells coins as they label and package appropriately, I'd suggest you insist on same in regard to shipping any coin that you purchase to avoid this problem. Have them packaged in appropriate cardboard / bubble wrap and the envelopes / packaging need to be labeled, prominently, DO NOT MACHINE!.
I purchase mostly from the Mint although many of the members buy from everywhere. I live in a small community in Eastern North Carolina down a dirt road. I know my rural postal worker and if I get a package that fits in the mailbox, she will drop it off at our home. Packages that are to large to fit in the mailbox is held by the Postal Manager. (There's only 1 person working at the Post Office.) If I get a package that won't fit in my mailbox, she will hold it and send an orange slip, telling me there is a package waiting for me. We own a home in town as well, but the Post Office has lost or stolen a couple of packages. I contacted the Mint and was promptly send a new coin. I don't know the particulars about all that, but I do know that our experience with the local post office is great and have only lost one package in the 20+ years we lived in our home in the city. We must have a better than average post office. Best of luck.
Well, I decided that I'd just go with the expensive option, registered, to avoid Priority Mail. I factored in what I valued my own time to be/not having to trawl the local coin shops. I'll make a separate thread for said coin I chose. I really like vcoins, but their dealer contact system is pretty dreadful. About 50+% of the time, it doesn't seem to do anything. I also discovered the Haleybug Mint and ordered a couple of inexpensive handpoured coins.
