I am unable to order current British mint coins from the UK as I must pay using a money order. I used to order from a dealer in Canada but I forgot the name. Do you know of any dealers, either in the US or in Canada, who accept US money orders as payment? I don't have Pay Pal, either.
Most dealers in Canada will accept the pink(international) US postal money order, and you might find a few that take the green(domestic) as well. If a dealer in the USA doesn't take money orders, I would avoid them like the plague. I have made rather significant purchases from High St. dealers in London paying by cheque, for the amount involved they clear it first through their Boston bank, but the goodies came soon thereafter.
i am in the process of making a trade with a fellow cointalk member. I buy the US mint stuff, and send to him, and he in turns sends me goodies from his country. We both win If you continue to have problems, maybe the same type of arrangement might work for you as well good luck!
While I don't use money orders or checks any more, here are two US-based dealers that I have purchased from before: RSMint http://www.rsmint.com/ and EuroCollections http://www.eurocollections.com/ The first one does accept US money orders; don't know about the second one but a call is free. Christian
Thanks.. Euro Collections sounds great. They have the coins I was looking for and since they're in the US, they will accept US money orders.
Colonial Acres Might be the site you were thinking of, Myron. It's Canadian, sells Royal Mint products and takes $US money orders.
I sent a US money order to one of the above companies to receive a set of old and new 2008 British circulating coins. I was led to believe that the coins were in stock and would be mailed-out as soon as they received payment. I knew something was wrong when after waiting for 2 weeks I never received my order. After contacting them in California, I was informed that they cashed-in the money order but the coins are not in stock and I should not expect delivery until mid-October, at the earliest. Had I been informed the coins were not in stock, I would have tried ordering from elsewhere. This is why I do as little ordering by mail as possible. On my last order of British coins from a different place, the coins came tarnished and spotted. It wasn't worth the aggravation of re-packing and sending back to Ontario, Canada to receive replacement coins. In the past, this has happened other times, too. Don't they inspect the coins before shipment or do they think the buyer won't notice that the coins are tarnished, spotted or the case has cracks? Nothing is as good as buying coins in person.
Myron - Not to get into personal business, but wouldn't it be easier to open a credit card with a very small credit line so you could purchase coins directly from the British/Royal Mint? Obviously, if a CC is not in the picture, then you only have the choices presented to you, but if you could use a CC, I am sure that would save a ton of headaches for you. Sorry to hear about the delay in shipment. I have been waiting for a few weeks now to receive a bunch of coins from the Royal Mint myself. They have some very nice sets.
Credit Card Fees My friend ordered from the Royal British Mint recently using a US credit card; Visa, I think. The card-issuer added fees for the transaction saying that they had to convert the payment into Pounds, plus her APR rose as a result. She says she'll never order from overseas again. My gripe now is that when coins aren't in stock, the customer should be informed before sending-out payment. A different ordering house could be found with immediate shipment.
Myron, I just whipped out my credit card statement. Back in May I bought something that was $30.53 US and it had a .61 cent conversion fee. Then I bought something that was $250.18 us and I had a 5 dollar conversion fee. Then I bought something that was $59.26 us and it had a $1.18 conversion fee. That was an additional $6.79 in fees that I had to pay. That is a small price to do business over seas. My APRs were not raised either. I would have to agree with you and say that the Royal Mint will charge before they are even close to sending. It doesn't bother me because I know I will get it.... eventually. In fact, I am currently waiting for two new items that I had ordered a month ago. Now as far as your friends card and the issues she may have had..... I would imagine that each company has their own rules and if this is really important to you then I would consider finding a different credit card company. Business is tough and if you are a good customer and they thought that they may lose you because of buying something over seas then they may reduce your APR or even wave your fees. Here is my reason for using the mint vs a third part company..... because if there is any problem at all, you are almost guarenteed that the problem will be corrected if you go through the mint.... that may not be the case if you go through someone else. Good luck.
Interesting I agree with everything you say. It is better to deal with the government mints. I rarely order anything anymore as it's such a hassle with the payments, the long waits and usually winding-up with tarnished or spotted merchandise which have to be returned ultimately. It's too much aggravation. I have no patience to wait. Also, since much of my collection was stolen from my house I will only buy clad or invaluable coins. It is too heartbreaking when the collection gets stolen and using a bank vault means you can hardly ever see the collection.
That really stinks about your collection. I can't even imagine the loss felt. I don't think I could get back into collecting if everything was taken or if I did, I would be more focused that time around on a particular coin or series.
I too agree that buying through the mints is good but I also believe if you buy through trust-worthy dealers then it is just as good. The dealers I use I have bought through many times with little to no problems. Even when there were problems they were fixed up quickly and with great care. The key is to do your research. If you're looking to buy from a dealer you haven't used before then check them out thoroughly and ask around in forums such as this to see what others think of them Sorry to hear about your collection, Myron.
