Tactful way to warn friend about buying Morgan dollars from govmint.com

Buddy of mine (who is marginally into old US coins, but mostly as a side effect of his bullion buying) forwarded me an email from govmint.com about a "Secret Stash of 1880-S Morgans in Mint condition!".

Every once in a while, a few sealed Morgan bags from the Great Treasury Hoard may come to market, but the discovery of 16 authenticated 1,000-coin bags -- a total of 16,000 Morgan Silver Dollars -- was a rare find!

Now you can own a highly-collectible 1880-S Morgan Silver Dollar from the now famous New York Bank Hoard!

Originally purchased in 1964 by a collector working in the New York's financial district, the Morgans in these unopened Treasury bags hadn't seen the light of day in years!​

I was thinking of telling my buddy:

1) Remember that "govmint.com" is a private company NOT affiliated in any way with the U.S. Mint, the U.S. Government, or anything like that at all.

2) Remember that they are in it for profit

3) Realize that they are well known for over-hyping their stuff.

Thoughts? Over-reacting? Wrong? Missing anything?

Thanks.

 

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I been collecting almost fifty years and never purchased from the mint. When the Apollo commemoratives were announced I was excited and went to go research the offerings. My Google search immediately took me to the Govmint.com website. It took me a few before I realized I was not at the US mint website. Whole point being, is that it would be easy to mistake Govmint.com as the US mint. I believe they camouflage their website to appear just exactly that way.

I think your friend is possibly making the same mistake. And it also sounds to me like you are tactful enough to make him aware without upsetting the apple cart. Yes, I do think you are right to inform him who they are.

 

Official US Government sites don't use .com extensions. They use the .gov extensions.

 

Show him auction results for 1880-S Morgans in MS60 to 63 from StacksBowers and Heritage.

"Brilliant Uncirculated" is an old nonsense grading term from the 80's. It essentially means an untoned unc coin. They had NGC use that "grade" as a maketing ploy. That way they could stick any coin in the holder as long as it was unc.

You will not receive one that looks like the website photo, which would grade 66 and up if it's a real, untouched photo.

If he's still insistent, make a bet. Tell him to buy a couple, consign them to auction. If they sell for less, he has to match what they lose. If they sell for more, you'll match the gain. Outta be good for at least a hundred bucks to you.

 

If you are friends don't worry about being tactful. The only one you could offend is the fine folks at govmint, lol.

 

If you're worried about 'being tactful' go ahead and tell your friend what he needs to hear, but relay a story about a mistake you made in the past so he doesn't feel stupid. I'm sure most of us have made a dumb purchase or two back in the day.

 

I think showing him/her the auction archives at Heritage auction would easily show him that '80 S Morgan silver dollars are not rare, scarce or anything that GovMint claims. If that didn't convince them, show them auction results from eBay and Great Collections.

Then I would take him/her to eBay and show them all the "original bankroll" & "Unopened" listings.

I would hope he/she would connect the dots that GovMint is praying on the uninformed.

 

Tact has no chance of getting through to a bullion investor. Then again neither does reason and facts.

 

Actually, the Federal EFTPS (Electronic Federal Tax Payment System®) website does use a .com extension: www.eftps.com.

 

I think you're over thinking it. Simply link some eBay ones or GC or both type things and let the higher grades and better prices speak for themselves

 

I agree - you'll be a hero because you will be saving your friend money!

 

They are your friend. Just be honest about them. He should thank you.

 

1880S dollars are about as common as they get - an MS60 is valued at $35 in the 2017 Blue Book, an MS63 = $40 - those are dealer offer estimates. If your friend pays much more than that, he's getting a bad deal. Apmex sells BU 1880S dollars for 49.99 - buy and pay accordingly,
This is another example of 'buy the coin, not the hoard hype'

 

Yes, you're right. I just used that today. Nice to have quick links so I don't have to think about which it is. Thanks.

 

The best advice.