I am subscribed to Coinworld, and I always look at all the ads that show all the coins you can buy by mail, or the ones where they will put together a type set for you. Does anyone have any expierence with these companies? *I don't on doing all my collecting this way but wanted to try purchasing something small atleast once.
I've never bought from the magazines, but many of the dealers have been around for many years and are very respected. I wouldn't have any problem buying from some of those dealers, but I have some really great local dealers so I would much rather go to them or to an auction to acquire my coins. Really, if you see a good deal, check out their website. They may have images of the coins that you want. You would be very disappointed if you paid a premium for a "nicely toned" coin and got an ugly splotchy coin in the mail for example.
Thanks for the reply, yah thats what I was worried about is odering a coin unseen and they send me some junk. I'm keeping the budget around $75 so hopefully all goes well.
Most of the advertisers have their website listed in the ads. You can check out what they have and what their prices are like before committing yourself to a specific item for sale. Check out the fine print as well. There might be clauses like "we reserve the right to substitute...." and "you may not receive the actual coin shown...."
When I was a kid and first started to collect, in the mid-1970s, ordering from ads in magazines was the way to obtain most coins. Almost universally, the coin shipped was significantly worse than advertised. Most folks do not want the hassle of returning something they have ordered so I think some dealers use this inertia as a method to get rid of less desirable coinage. Obviously, things have changed since the mid-1970s, but I still view many of these ads as being specifically targetted at newer collectors who are likely less knowledgeable and will not so readily realize they paid too much for a substandard coin.
My experience with these ads, is stay away from buying raw coins graded using the company's "own grading standards." It's code for Polished AU coins listed as Brilliant uncirculated. Read the fine print.
