Littelton Coin Company....Your thoughts

See them all the time advertising in different magazines thought i would make some inquiries, your thoughts ?

 

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Ive never dealt with them, but I have never heard anything good about them either. Overpriced is the most common word associated with them from what I have read.

 

over priced.

 

I agree with Yoda over the price it is.. hahaahsbbs

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They sell correctly graded coins at high prices. I understand that they pay fair prices for nice problem free coins.

 

Too high in price, graded fair but once you buy, you'll get coins on consignment.

 

They sell nice coins, I've seen common coins in their packaging that I thought they had undergraded, but prices are high.

 

Once you get on their mailing list ....

 

Once you are on their list you get lots of free pennies. I usually just take the pennies out and throw the mail away unread.

 

Littelton gets a bad rap for something that is not 100% their fault. Their coins are graded accurately, what you order is what you get. They are extremely picky about what they buy.Their business plan is a relic of a bygone era and they are also a victim of a bygone moral ethic.
Littelton was formed in a day and age well before the internet. The only way a collector in a rural area had to get access to quality coins was traveling to a city to visit a brick and mortar shop or through a mail service. In that day and age Littelton was about the best around. In those days you actually took the time to read about what you were getting into and abide by the rules of the agreement.
The problem today is that many people seem to think that when they get that second group of coins that they don't want that they can just keep them and it isn't their problem. This leaves Littelton holding the bag, they either raise the average cost of their goods to offset the thefts or they would go bankrupt.
The company has just been sold to the employees. Maybe they will adjust the business plan to bring it into the 21st century.

 

Littleton's ingenious marketing pulled me in at least once back in my more impulsive days. I forget what the impulse offer was, perhaps an entire set of steel pennies or 40% silver Kennedys or who knows what? In any case, they offered some cool little thing at an extremely low price on the condition that you accept future coins "on approval." I received my little impulse product, which cost $1.99 or some insignificant amount, and remember thinking "cool!" Then the first "approval" order came and it included some fairly worn coins at what seemed like high premiums. I wasn't interested in any of them. I sent them all back with a note saying that "I don't collect anything under XF" and I never heard from them again. So they at least didn't harass me afterwards and I don't remember receiving anything else from them. In retrospect, they fulfilled their part of the agreement and I fulfilled mine. So it seemed to have gone well. At the time, I felt manipulated since their cheap impulse product led directly to overpriced coins. But I didn't have to buy them. And I didn't.

And I'm pretty sure I bought a steel cent set from them. I have a little black clip display case with the P, D and S steel pennies in it and I always wondered where it came from. Now I'm pretty sure it came from Littleton.

 

Advertising isn't free and the cost is passed on to the buyer. I always thought their coins were over priced and wouldn't buy from them.

 

I sold them some mint sets one time. They returned about 5 out of 105, I think because envelopes were torn. They want good eye appeal for what they buy. I did see an uncirculated Franklin set from them where the key dates for uncirculated were not. Their advertising must work because I see countless collections being sold that have coins in Littleton packaging.

 

I have bought coins from Littleton on more than one occasion. The last order I placed with them was less than $40 including shipping. One of the coins I received had an RPM. The RPM coin is worth a little more than the order. The reason I placed the order was because of a thread here on CoinTalk about Roosevelt dimes. I didn't find what I was looking for, but, the RPM was a sweet deal.

I will honestly say that Littleton is overpriced for the grades they assign their coins. With that said, most of the coins I have purchased from them have exceeded their assigned grade. There have been a small few coins that looked over graded. The most I have paid for a coin from them is $5.95. It is probably not the best place to buy all of your Capped Bust Half dollars. But, if you are into moderns, there may be some pleasant surprises available.

 

So if i am reading this correctly good coins just high prices !, i live in a town where
coin shops are on every corner so access isnt that difficult but just about everything i read has a littleton add in it just wanted to get the forums take.

 

Any coin shop can have overpriced coins as well as steals. For the coins I bought from Littleton I have had a good experience. I have strictly bought individual coins from their website without further requirements of future purchases. This has afforded me a shelf full of their catalogs. I have received as much as a nickel in an envelope with an offer to a long term subscription coin buy. Always kept the coin and threw the rest in the trash. Hopefully, one of those envelopes will bring me a bright new shiny 2017-P cent.

I do have a story of one envelope containing a brand new cent. I keep albums for coins I find in the wild(pocket change, CRH, etc.). In one of my Lincoln cent albums I was missing one of the 2009 Lincoln cents. I had all the 2009-D coins and three 2009 cents. Guess what coin was in an envelope with a long term cent subscription offer from Littleton. That 2009 Lincoln cent for my empty album hole. Thank you Littleton.

 

Avoid.

 

Littleton is definitely overpriced for United States coins, but I have seen some foreign coins that were not too much out of line with value. Prices are better than the TV huksters, but that's not saying much. I have ordered several times on "specials" such as a walking liberty, franklin and 1964 Kennedy for $20. The last thing I ordered were the last three presidential dollars both P and D for $6. Not bad. I made the mistake one time of telling them I liked ancients and got some horrible coins on approval marked at sky-high prices.

 

Consider yourself lucky! I live in a major metro area, and haven't found a decent local shop within 30 minutes of me. Fortunately, there's at least one small coin show every month, and a larger regional show twice a year, so I still have ample opportunity to buy coins locally.

 

I have a number of Littleton coins.
Pretty accurate on the grades.
Prices were high BUT I bought them second hand at 25 to 35 cents on the dollar.