Has anyone ever bought from "Hard Asset Management, inc." before?

I am looking at a coin from this seller and wanted to see if anyone has experience purchasing from them and has completed a transaction, including getting their coin. I've not heard of them before but they have a coin I am interested in and just wanted to ask around, since I am not familiar. The person who runs it is Christian Briggs. Any insight and information would be appreciated.

 

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sounds noonish

 

I have not purchased from them but they seem to be lightweights. With 22 employees and only $4 million in revenue, they may be just getting started. They may be legit but I, myself, would hesitate until you can find some more info on them.

 

Exactly why I'm asking around! Just sniffing it out.

 

Exactly. The fact that its crickets for everyone I've asked is of concern to me.

 

I've never bought from them, but they seem to have some beautiful coins available. I would contact them and ask what they can do to allay your concerns. If you like what they say, you might consider buying a lower priced coin (e.g. Gold Buffalo) as a test to see how they do.

 

I found this... https://smart.reviews/business/bmcham.com

...and this... https://bmcham.com/pages/company-about

It sounds like the parent company (BMC Capital, Inc) is a financial services company. https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/company/0574177D:US

 

You may not be familiar with many ancient coin dealers...many are "vestpocket" dealers.

 

If you're considering ancient Roman or Greek coins from them, most of them appear easy to research using ACSEARCH or possibly CNG''s search feature.

For example, this Julius Caesar/Hirtius aureus is listed on their site and was sold at the January 21, 2021 Heritage auction for $18,000 hammer ($21,600K w/buyer's fee):



Hard Asset is offering it for sale at $29,750 just five months later -- a 32% markup. My guess is that they would entertain lower offers for this and other highly priced ancient coins.

For any coins that you can research and find in prior auctions, I wouldn't feel uncomfortable purchasing from them since it's unlikely (but not impossible) that a reputable auction house sold a forgery.

Somewhat off-topic, I'm stunned at the recent rise in prices for Julius Caesar/A Hirtius aurei...

 

I wasn't really concerned about authenticity. More so if I send them a check for a coin, I want to make sure I get that coin in the mail.

 

In theory, for highly priced coins you can always find an escrow company to handle the transaction.

 

Had to rub my eyes and read this again. 22 employees. So about the size of NAC, CNG, or Roma, the three biggest players in the ancient coin market? This is the ancient coins board...

 

Looked up their website - I rolled my eye at the whole "invest in rare coins" pitch - if you have to be told to invest in something like coins, you don't know enough to be profitable in that endeavor.

Coins IMO ranged from about in line with Vcoins (e.g. $1200 for a late Roman / early Byzantine solidus) to comically overpriced (20k for a Vespasian denarius that IMO is worth $900 tops?)

Unless this is a one of a kind coin you're looking at, I would shop elsewhere.

 

I tend to agree about their prices. The Vespasian denarius, while the best of its type that I've seen, is bizarrely overpriced as well as described as a Claudius aureus of the DE BRITANN type.

Again, my suggestion would be as follows: (1) research the type of coin you want on CNG and ACSEARCH, and (2) negotiate with them on the price your budget can afford. As for concerns about their stability and ability to deliver the coin, well, use a payment method that allows you to charge back if you don't receive the coin.

 

The Vespasian is a $1000-$1500 coin. And best of type indeed!

 

Absolutely correct on the replies to my post. I am not familiar with ancients, although I do appreciate them. I posted based on just one look see on the web without actually going to their site.

 

The markup is 38% rather than 32%. The market is inflated by such rippers -along with the known dealers buying from auctions at extreme prices- and not by collectors getting bored of staying home because of covid. The difference of these rippers with scalpers, is that scalpers buy bargains and try to get a decent profit. The rippers outbid all collectors, paying 5x the estimate and then try to resell at 8-10x the estimate.

 

This is baffling to me too... $5K coins are being purchased for $30-50K with no rhyme or reason. I think the telemarketer types are capitalizing on "Caesar" and omitting the fact that it's the portrait aurei which are worth the premium, not the A Hirtius aurei.