I was in the office today when an older man came in and wanted to sell some coins. There was a bag full of US Mint and Proof Sets, as well as a suitcase full of materials. It didn't take long to realize that the poor gentleman had purchased all of his items through the Kennedy Mint, one of those dispicable outfits that sells cleaned, overpriced coins in fancy packaging and display cases. First of all, the Proof and Mint sets were all of poor quality, with many sets incomplete. Worse, the gentleman had purchased a number of "sets" from the Kennedy Mint, including a set of 12 common Morgans in a wooden case that had been scrubbed and plated. There was a 36 coin silver half dollar set with the same cleaning and plating. There were also a number of framed coin sets, with varying themes. The individual showed me a listing of the prices that the items cost and it was a real shame. He had been ripped off out of so much money buying the overpriced sets and other assembled junk. I explained to him how these outfits work and told him that my offer would not be near their excessive prices. In making my offer, I found myself almost trying to talk him out of selling it because I knew how much money he was losing. But he appreciated my honesty and the fact that I was willing to explain things to him and eventually decided to sell. Sorry for the long rant, but I was just so frustrated by the amount of junk that was in the deal. I knew that the Kennedy Mint has hosed the poor guy out of a lot of money and it bothered me. There are a number of these lowlife outfits who sell these "collector" sets to noncollectors who have no idea about the true value of the items they are receiving. :rolling:
Ugh, that's just terrible. At least he was willing to hear the truth, though, and hopefully won't be suckered like that again.
I do hope that easily available information on websites like this one help prevent things like that from happening. Sadly, we can't save everyone from making mistakes.
I remember visiting my coin dealer just before Christmas last year. A college student comes in with some kind of cards - they weren't sports cards or pokemon, but anyways, my coin dealer had a conversation with him. This coin dealer also does comic books and trading cards. Basically it seemed the student needed money and figured he could blow in and sell his cards to get some money. Well, turns out, no one is buying those cards anymore and while the dealer recognized and appreciated the cards, he would not even give an offer to buy because he figured he couldn't sell them. Not exactly the same kind of story as ShortGap, but a LOT of people buy things thinking "they're going to be worth something someday". This is almost more sad because in these cases, we can't even target someone to blame as being "low-life".
If you don't know what your are doing then you should not do it! Old saying, "If it hurts, don't do it!" I lost a ton of money in the stock market because I did not know what I was doing. Never fret about what you should have done but relish in the other things that you did good and learn from your mistakes.
Deja Vu Shortgapbob. I mentioned in a thread yesterday how many times I've seen my local dealer go through this. He always tells people "I'm going to insult you". This is in reference to what he'll offer. He explains why as well and it's a shame how many sell because they need the money that they could have already had by not buying.
that is horrible. luckily the gentleman visitied you, where even though he would lose money compared to the purhase prices, he recieved an honest deal. He could have gone somplace else, and recieved much less honesty! It is a shame, those 'lowlofe' places are not forced to give the exact details about the coin, like cleaning, buffing, wizzing, dipping, acid baths, polishing, plating, or any other actions resulting in the damaging of a coin. They are forced to put notices next to coins of fantasy or copy design... but thats it. I realize it would be VERY difficult to make ti work, but it pains me to see people burned in such a way as this!
I am afraid this is a scenario that will play itself out over-and-over again. While the Internet will go a long way to educate a younger generation, (it has been my experience) my moms generation (late 50's) and older still do not spend much time trying to use the Internet as a learning tool. True hobbyist and those trying to invest or make a profit will seek out information while the casual buyer that gets taken by the flashy adds learn the hard way. The fact that you can sympathize and share some information in a softer manner helps people like him understand what happened. Many others might have just given him a low price and said keep it otherwise. Always treat your customers with the respect they deserve and they will respect you back!
Rip off alert There is another firm that I would like to warn people about. Nope it isn't Littleton in New Hamshire but they deserve comment here. It's the Morgan Mint in Hicksville, New York state. Hicksville is an appropriate name. They have very nice pictures in their catalog. The prices are way out of whack. Beware of the Morgan Mint.
And they put a stench on the whole numismatic realm of collecting and investing in coins!!! Thanks for this Coin Forum because it allows these dispicable firms and their tactics to become known. Thanks for informing me/us! Clinker
Man, that is real sad. I too have wondered how people can not only sleep at night, but look at themselves in the mirror in the morning. I just don't get it honestly. Phoenix
Morgan Mint hunhh. Been to there web site and asked a question. Never got an answer - wonder why that was?
Yeah, the Morgan Mint is bad too. I have seen some of their items come into the shop. It will be something like a Liberty, Buffalo, and a Jefferson War Nickel in a nice display case that I know the individual paid 19.99 for.
that is very sad, excepially an old man. those kind of companies make me mad. they buy coins cheap, then clean the crap out of them and sell them 2 or 3 times of what they are worth. i wish there was an agency out there that cracked down on ripoffs, but it would be impossible. :headbang:
Oh my...these terrible ripp-off companies...I've been doing my research on them lately and the worst I've seen so far are: The U.S. World Monetary Exchange (not part of the u.s. gov, they are just treasons) The Morgan Mint (platted coins...not even a real mint!) The Kennedy Mint (from what I hear in this post...sounds terrible)