I appreciate any knowledge or help you can give me. I just became aware that my grandmother has been spending very large amounts of money (ca. $20,000 ) on gold and platinum coins sold to her by a telephone salesman. The prices on these coins start at around $400 and go up. She showed my her bills and I became alarmed. Most of the coins were minted in the past couple of years and had face values of $25.00 and $50.00 and so forth, so I was baffled that they could be sold at such a large markup after only a few years on the market. I asked her to show me one of them. It was a platinum coin about the diameter of a nickel , 2003 stamped on it and a $25 face value. It appeared to be minted in the USA, but I have no expertise so I don't know if it was a complete forgery or just a regular coin severely marked up. There were no markings on it that suggested it was minted for a special event or anything else that could explain its high price. Would there be any conceivable reason for such a recent coin to be so costly so soon after minting, or is it as I suspect, and she has been taken in by a con? If the latter is the case, are there any regulatory bodies or consumer watchdog groups that specialize in this sort of thing that I would be able to contact? Thanks for any help or info you can provide. Phil
Sounds like a platinum bullion coin. http://catalog.usmint.gov/webapp/wc...ctId=10637&langId=-1&parent_category_rn=10114 The face value is much less than the actual value of the metal (silver, gold, or platinum). For example, to get the 1oz Silver Eagle, it costs about $10 to get them from a dealer, who probably pay something between that and the melt value (currently $6.81 per ounce) to buy them from the Mint. The face value on the coin is only $1.00. Here are today's prices for precious metals: http://www.kitco.com/market/ Note that the prices shown on the first site (usmint.gov) are higher than the prices you could expect to pay from a dealer, because the coins on the U.S. Mint site are for proof coins, and they run at an additional premium, maybe $20 per coin, for example. I'm assuming that the coins you're talking about are uncirculated, but not proofs.
Howdy Phil - Welcome to the Forum !! You are right to be concerned about your grandmother's purchases. There are literally hundreds of boiler room phone sales operations where they charge unkowing people way too much for these coins. The coins are genuine, that's not the problem. The problem is how much they charge for them. So first of all try to get your grandmother to stop buying them for right now. Then try to put together a list of what she has bought and how much she paid for each. If I understand correctly she is paying in Canadian dollars, so that will help somewhat due to the exchange rate. Once you can get a list - I'll be happy to provide you with what the fair retail price of these coins should be. Then you can show her. If she wishes to continue to buy them - fine. I'll also be happy to recommend someone who will charge fair prices. But I fear she has been taken advantage of and likely will have no further interest in it.
Well not quite not that small of an additional premium. For example - you can buy an Unc 2005 1 oz American Gold Eagle for about $450. The Proof version will cost you $720. The 1/10 oz Unc will cost about $55 - the Proof version is $95.
GD--As Phil said that they coins start at $25 face and up and she paid $400 and up so wouldn't $400 for a $25 platinum be a good deal? Speedy
Afraid not Speedy The highest price I can find for a 1/4 oz BU platinum is about $235. Even the 1/4 oz Proofs are selling for under $225 on ebay.
Thanks--I was trying to think of what the price tag was on a $25 platinum last time I saw one....but can't remember Speedy
