I Need Help With My Dad..

As long as your mother continues to bail him out, he has no reason to stop. So maybe she's the one who needs to read this thread.

Tobit, please tell your father to stop looking at Littleton and cancel all the orders with them, and start picking around at garage sales, flea markets and the likes. There, you can actually use your knowledge of coins to buy coins for what dealers may pay for them (even less in some cases), and silver coins for below melt value. That's just about the only place where one can make a good deal. You buy wholesale from these places.

Anything else, try APMEX, Provident Metals (They have a coin section), or even your Local coin shop. They sell for retail.

On the other hand, ebay sellers typically sell for anywhere 10% to 100% above retail price. Unless you know so much about coins and find the items other people are not bidding on, don't expect to get good prices there.

And lastly, there is Littleton and the other "companies" who are KNOWN to charge at LEAST 500% retail price.

Why do you care?

That's the key question you need to get to the bottom of before you can act. He's a adult and if he wants to spend himself into the poor house there isn't much you can do, short of having him declared incompetent. At which point Mom is the likely guardian [if you are successful] at which point you are back where you are.

If you are trying to protect Mom from a lifetime of debt after Dad dies, then she needs to start creating a separate financial identity for herself. You and Mom should seek out an attorney who specializes in elder law [her girlfriends can probably provide recommendations]. And maybe a financial planner. If Dad is really in too deep, then you need answers such as whose name is the house in? Anything shared is going to go to the creditors.

If Mom can create a truly separate identity [just a card in her name secured by their joint credit will NOT do], then her assets are shielded when she puts the estate in bankruptcy because it can't pay Dad's debt.

It's a drastic step, but maybe it will wake Dad up.

If it's just because you can't stand the sight of the old man being rooked, sucks but... he's an adult and has the right to do stupid things, just like you did at 18.

I think a good present you should buy your dad is a Blue Book. These run for less than $20 and can give the ACCURATE value of a particular coin. This investment decision will be the best he will ever make.

Well, you didn't really say that, and in your second post you said that your mother also bought him a coin. So they are both in this together, and the problem, if you want to view it that way is "both" of them.

Maybe, 'he' can't afford it, but apparently 'she' can, so "they" can afford it.

It's just been my experience that I can't help anyone unless they ask for it. If I think someone needs my help and I try and help them, they usually just resent it, or at the least, won't listen.

The best I can do is test the waters and make a simple suggestion. If they want to listen they will, and if they won't, then there's not much I can do about it.

Good luck, and I hope you can say something that will stick, and help him/them make better decisions. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is stand by watch something I don't have control over, especially family.

My father was doing the same thing with his stamp collection at the end
of his life. He thought he was making this wonderful "investment" to leave
behind for us. He spent right around $12,000 buying from Mystic Stamp.
(Mystic is the stamp equivalent of Littleton). The previous posters are
correct... No one that knew my father, his kids/grandkids, will ever even
break even on his collection. If we keep passing it down, a few generations
away, someone that never met my father, will finally get out what he put in.
My father was older, never got on the internet, and lost the use of his legs,
so he was the perfect victim for mail order thieves. I wish I had known what
he was doing before he passed. You are lucky that you caught it early.

I am not sure what you should do, but if he thinks he is doing his family good
for when he is gone, let him read my post. My dad had no insurance, and left
behind $1000 worth of stuff that he paid $12,000 for. Mystic got what was supposed
to be there to support my mother for the rest of her life. He blew it, and they
happily took it.

Next off, slightly off topic, but when it comes to "INVESTMENT", any collector will tell
you that coins are NOT a wise investment. Coins are something you buy for enjoyment.
Sure, you come across a 'winner' occasionally, but for the most part, coins are not
a way to build wealth. Non-collectors ask about investing in coins quite often, and
this is what I tell them, and most other collectors that are honest.

Point out that if coins were a good investment, coin collectors in general, and everyone
here on this site, would be rich! I assure you that is not the case, and anyone here
that is wealthy likely did not become wealthy from collecting coins, but rather in
spite of collecting coins. Make sense?

Even shopping around and building a collection of coins by paying good prices, you
are still not going to see a profit on most of those coins. The ones that you will
profit from (the winners), will be few and far between, and usually dumb luck.

I've been collecting 35 years, and haven't "made" any net profit from collecting.
I watched my father think he was building an investment for his survivors, just
like you are seeing, and lived through my mother not having anything, like you
just might see. Let him know my experience.

I agree with a lot that has already been said. If he is buying coins as an investment then try to help him learn the values of what he is buying and maybe make some suggestions where he can buy smart.

Edit: If he is leaving this collection to you then you will eventually need to learn about the values so you know what is best for you and the collection...no time like the present

Not sure if this has been said, but what if you got him a Red Book or price guide and then played a game of how much less can you buy that item for than Littleton is charging. That way he ending up with the coin and "saving" money to invest in more coins. What old (or younger) person doesn't like saving $$ and watching their "investment" grow in size?