Silver Scam - Gaithersburg Coin Exchange

ask any ANY coin dealer in the DC metro area their opinion of GCE and you'll quickly see a pattern to the responses.

my father last dealt with the owner in 1965 and will never, ever deal with them again. buy in person or from a trusted source. but mostly buy in person.

-Steve

 

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i wonder why someone woud buy that amount physically and not in electronic form ?

 

Because in electronic form is the same as saying 'in dollars'...simple paper without value unless others say it is of value. Gold and silver are gold and silver. Paper and electronic is simply ephemeral.

Let me put it another way...what if the current system of electronic records and communicatons was to fail (virus attack or ore likely, terrorist EMP attack). Then you have what....nothing.

 

On my last trip to Gaithersburgh, MD I went to that coin store...it was littered with street people selling scrap silver and the place was a mess! I walked around the 7 or 8 display cases and no one ever saisd a word to me...I would never go there again!

Good luck in getting your money back...a better investment for you would have been a precious metals fund! You will be charged to exchange the bullion in,,,besides, 2002 was the year to start buying gold and silver!!

RickieB

 

Special thanks to the Cave Troll for having enough experience to know that the USPS registration number provided by Gaithersburg was incomplete. Apparently high value shipments are tracked in a different manner than regular uninsured registered mail. Every registered letter or item I have ever sent was tracked by a series of 4 digit numbers segregated into 5 groups. When I added Cave Troll's "US" to the end of my registration tracking number, it showed my shipment as being in Louisville, KY.

While I won't be fully relieved until I have my hands on the silver, I feel much better tonight than I have in a couple of weeks. I will keep you posted as the situation proceeds.

Remember, if you don't have it........you don't own it.

Best,

usmcdad

 

See....elebody happy!

 

I was objecting to your inference that we could have recommended a trusted dealer, meaning this one isn't. I think it is clear that there is a serious lack of customer support going on here, but I firmly believe the silver will be delivered and was shipped on 4/11 as GCE claimed. We will see though.

If you want to buy ASE's then it is not likely that you can buy them for spot (we are paying more than $1 over spot for them and can't buy them at that number right now). However if you just want silver rounds or bars or even junk 90% you should be able to buy that for very close to spot in most places.

 

Just saying that one dealer is trusted does not make all others untrustworthy. It merely states that in his experience these dealers/bullion suppliers always come through with their commitments.

Ryan

 

What is your reference for this? I believe this is 100% incorrect.

 

I have to agree that if you don't have the physical silver in your hands then you don't own it. You own a piece of paper that may or may not one day be fulfilled. What happens if they can't deliver on the paper you have or they default or all together fail? Then you are left with nothing.

Also it is becoming clear that the "spot" price and the "physical" price for silver are pulling apart from each other. Whether this is going to continue is tough to say but a lot of forums dedicated to bullion seem to think this trend will continue.

 

For whatever it's worth, I appreciate this thread. Good info and good exchanges. For those of you with experience, please keep the great comments coming.

BTW, to do my part, I'll be posting Beef Strogonoff recipes in the "Open" section! Oh, I also have a lot of 1964 nickels - just PM me!!!

 

I knew it. A COMMIE! just kidding

 

Finally!

Dear Friends,

My shipment finally arrived on Tuesday, 18 days after it was shipped. The USPS hub at Louisville decided the postmark was not clear enough and returned it to Gaithersburg for confirmation. That was the cause of the shipping delay. I filed a complaint with the Postal Service for non delivery of mail, but you have to wait 15 days before they will take action.

The bottom line: You'd better make double sure you know who you are dealing with in precious metals purchase. I did my due diligence with online research, and had a personal recommendation from someone who had used Gaithersburg for "$10's of thousands" of dollars of purchases. This person had personally consigned over $1,000,000 of purchases for acquaintences from Gaithersburg Coin Exchange. Of course, I was foolish to make such a large initial purchase, and I would recommend that anyone purchasing from a new source to start out with a minimum purchase, just to test the seller's integrity and customer service. This was a harrowing experience that caused more than one sleepless night. All's well that ends well, and I am much wiser from this experience. If silver goes to $100/oz., my wounds will be ameliorated.

Most of the comments about my situation on this forum were positive and helpful. I want to thank those of you who showed some empathy. What happened to me could happen to anyone on this forum under the right circumstances. In a world of ants and grasshoppers, I am an ant who is trying to keep the Fed's 17% real inflation rate from stealing my savings.

http://righttruth.typepad.com/right_truth/2006/10/the_ant_and_the.html

Remember, if you don't have it, you don't own it.

usmcdad

 

Glad things got straightened out with your silver shipment. You gotta love the USPS. At least they finally delivered.

Andy

PS> If you're worried about grasshoppers and ants. May want to get some bug spray to go along with that silver stash.:kewl:

 

I'm glad it worked out in the end. It seems that Gaithersburg did exactly as they said and the real culprit was the USPS. Not completely surprising, but seriously frustrating. I know from experience.

 

Nothing more to add here, except I am glad you chose to buy " bullion " rather than bullion " shares " or a promisory....

Id much rather have the bullion in MY safe than to look up on the computer how much bullion I " have " in their safe.....now thems some horror storys....

 

Glad this story had a happy ending for you usmcdad.

 

That is one reason I dont like using USPS for anything over 1 ounce.

 

Well I am glad that it worked out for you!

 

I had to smile at this post.

I DO have some Winchester pump action bug spray. Very deadly against those pesky home invaders. --Its not very effective against an Exocet missle, but it might help keep a few "target of opportunity" folks honest.

Best,
usmcdad