Golden Oxen's First Amendment Forum

Hi JoeP, In no way is this an insult to the firm you mentioned, they may in fact be quite reputable, but buying from  a local coin store or pawn shop is not the way to go in my opinion. You have a greater risk of buying something counterfeit, revealing your identity and address to someone local, getting followed and robbed on the way home, buying items that may have been stolen merchandise.

These establishments, even if tiny, usually have high overhead, rent being the largest, as well as security, and the cost of having someone always present during business hours. Again, no finger pointed at the firm you mentioned, but the reason a great many of these stores, especially pawn shops exist, is to buy items on the cheap from people in need of some cash and who are clueless as to the real value of the item, or need cash quickly, so  they take a beating. The proprietors of these stores know when they have bought something of high value on the cheap and either keep those items for themselves, sell them to a professional major coin dealer that they usually do business with regularly, or list them on E-Bay where collectors will bid for them and they will realize a much higher price than what was paid. The items of lesser value, those they feel are tainted buy being in poor condition, scratched, cleaned, toned, rim nicks etc, are placed for resale in their store to folks who are unaware or not knowledgeable about these minor items which effect a coins value. especially a numismatic coin, less so a bullion coin, significantly.

In short Joe my answer would be No, I would not advise it. The venue I would suggest to you to get your feet wet with some purchases are the LARGEST MAJOR sellers of bullion and bullion coins on EBay. Let me list the reasons why.

You are buying from an established dealer whose credentials are laid out before you.

You will get secure delivery by registered mail to your home, no threat of being followed out of the store by a would be robber.

You will be using Paypal for payment which does not disclose your credit card info to the seller and is a pretty secure site.

if you do not receive the items ordered, the seller is required to obtain your signature on delivery, or to provide tracking service on the items, Paypal will review the situation and refund your money in full if the seller cannot show proof of delivery.

This Ebay dealer will be dealing in an intensely competitive environment, forcing him to keep prices in ine with other large dealers offering essentially the same products.

Most offer free shipping the competition is so great, and special sale items when business is slow for the smart shopper who know how to wait for a deal and compare prices. Quantity purchases are usually discounted a bit as well, 20 coins say purchased at once rather than two.

Many of these dealers are so large that the items they sell are direct from the US Mint and are sold in their original packaging.

Besides a Buy It Now feature, many offer items on a auction basis as well so you can see what others are willing to pay as a way to better determine fair price.  Another words if 76 people are bidding around 25 dollars for a 1 oz silver coin, you may assume that area is a fair market price.

Hopefully your inquiry has been answered. I shall close this posting with an illustration of a recent purchase from a dealer I have used with satisfactory results often. In no way am I affiliated with this dealer,  norcan vouch for you getting the same results I did, or to his character, past business practices, etc. I am referring him to you with a few reason why under the  illustration, there are others like him, I chose him for a variety of reasons, his size, excellent customer feedback responses, variety of offerings, huge volume of transactions, competitive prices, free shipping on all items, no matter the size or price. When satisfied I have a habit of not going elsewhere.

Let me also make perfectly clear that this person sells coins from his own establishment by mail as well as EBay. My recommendation to you is to deal ONLY on EBay through PayPal for the previous reasons listed.


                                                               

This is the route I go.

Direct from the US Mint.

I pay a premium for a respected authenticator to attest that the package has not been tampered with and who seals it with codes and serial numbers listed.

I have no fear of counterfeit coins

No fear of unsatisfactory handling

Free shipping from a dealer with 200,000 transactions with near perfect customer satisfaction.

PayPal customer satisfaction guarantee.

Credit card Privacy and home delivery.

Sure you get the idea Joe P, Any further questions just ask. Shop carefully and become familiar with all the offerings in your area of interest as well.          Link to dealer below, there are others on EBay as well

ROLL OF 20 - 2014 1 Oz Silver Eagle NGC GEM UNC ER DIRECT FROM MINT BOX


www.ebay.com/itm/ROLL-OF-20-2014-1-Oz-Silver-Eagle-NGC-GEM-UNC-ER-DIRECT-FROM-MINT-BOX-SKU30849-/131155497629?pt=US_Bullion_Coins&hash=item1e897a129d