So this morning I was looking at the latest issue of "National Enquirer", a U.S. tabloid magazine and a few pages in I see a nice size image of an ancient coin. Not a few seconds in I can tell it's an ad & gloss over it & honestly just shake my head. I'm used to seeing ancient coin cons online, but this is the first time I have ever seen one in a print magazine, especially a LARGE circulation print tabloid as the enquirer. I see Morgan/Peace dollar ads like this all the time, but never an ancient coin. What's even sadder is the price, how many are available, & who has slabbed it! Read it for yourself, it's entertaining but sad at the same time. Has anyone else seen one similar?
If they are going to net $6,500 on the sale of 65 coins at $100 each why even bother to run the ad? The history is sensationalized and a bit inaccurate, so I suppose it will fool many people. Kind of sad actually.
Can't say I am surprised to see this coming from govmint. Their business tactics are less than stellar.
They have many many more ready to roll out, otherwise the advertising costs wouldn't make sense. The misleading ad makes me sad.
Agreed, this is a "loss leader"...they intend to create a following from a certain segment of the population...
I suppose what the ad is stating is that there are only 65 coins in XF? condition. Probably many more in much worse condition.
And I can't say I am surprised to see it targeting that particular tabloid. Not to make any unkind generalizations about those who read it, of course. At least not any unkind generalizations that weren't already current forty years ago, when it was Johnny Carson making the jokes...
"I'm sorry, we're all out of the extremely fine coins, but we have some Very Good coins in our own special holders for only $75! Would you like one of those?"
The 'National Enquirer' ???? "You can fool some of the people, some of the time, BUT............" (A full page add in that rag most likely cost 10's of K's$) J.T.
My first ancient coin - a late Roman bronze - was a similar level of con, bought by my mother from a TV infomercial for $40 (now worth $0.25 on a good day). At least it came in a nice leather folder... It is undoubtedly proportionally the worst value in my collection but still sparked a huge interest for me. So, while it's a scam, perhaps it's a net-neutral scam if it draws people into the hobby.
Some will say it is good business to sell high even if your customers are too stupid to realize they are being made the fool. Some will work for their living; some will scheme. I doubt that all here even agree on which is the better course. If the coins shown in the photo is representative of what they will send buyers, they are providing a service making available ancient coins to those who do not know they exist. What would you estimate to be a fair addition (value added?) to the, lets say, $20 fair market value of the coin? How many will they have to sell to pay for the ad? I have trouble accepting this as the way things ought to be but it is the way things are. I am of the opinion that the seller that brought Ancient Joe to the hobby probably ran off several times as many kids convincing them that coin collecting is a stupid waste of money. Whose daughter was it that said, "Let me understand this, dad, you are buying coins you can't spend???" If all of us who have been made a fool by a scam or questionable coin seller were to go away mad, we would have very few here to complain how bad they are. How often here on CT do we tell a first time poster they bought a fake or paid way too much for a piece of junk? A few of them stick around and become valuable members of the CT family. For this, we are glad.
Slabbed EF? I would argue that $100 is just about right for such a coin. We all see such coins routinely sell for that price in our favorite auctions raw and in fact I just did a quick search and saw one that did over $400. Bulk slabs cost $25 each and I would imagine the coin cost them about the same. As for the 'limited quantities' that is bunk of course and I bet they have plenty in stock to make the ad profitable.
I have nothing good to say about this, it makes me lose faith in the way our world is going. So so sad !
Of course that RIC 126 is a lot rarer than either Sallent's 121a or the Trier coin in the OP. Though $425 still seems bonkers to me!
$21 after conversion from CAD and fees, thanks to @Severus Alexander : $20.25 shipped, bought from another collector on ebay, with receipt from trusted dealer: The National Enquirer add is little more than a scam. QED.
The $99 price bothers me a bit, but I am more worried about what else happens when you actually call. As was pointed out, there's no way they ran this ad to sell 65 coins. I suspect a much worse fleecing is in store.
Nowwe are at the place I was hoping this discussion would reach. How much more is a fully struck EF with reverse facial details worth compared to a coin with flat face and just a bit more wear. Is this $20 coin a 'deal' or overpriced? That is a matter of opinion. One more step and we get this coin that failed to sell in AMCC2 with a start of $10 CANADIAN or ~7.60 US. Lot 492 Description Constantine I ‘The Great’ (307-337), AE follis. Arles, 3.2g. Obv: Laureate bust r. Rev: Sol stg. l., T over star in left field, F in right; PARL in ex. From the Doug Smith collection, ex Frank Robinson (June 1997) Some silvering. We pay a lot for perfection. Some pay a lot for a slab. The question that remains is whether the Enquirer coins at $99 are all as nice as the one in the photo. What would lot 492 bear as a grade on a low price slab that considers only wear and not strike (or silvering)? Will some of the Enquirer coins look like it?