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 Replies: 21 / Views: 6,291 |
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Valued Member
Australia
191 Posts |
Thought this article may be of interest to forum members regarding the liquidation of the rare coin company. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-...ions/4809054Obviously not great news for the people who have invested in them but what we may see now over the next 1-2 years as collectors is some of the most valuable Australian coins and banknotes appearing on the open market at auctions which should be interesting. If anyone ever saw these guys websites its hardly suprising that this happened given some of the prices they were selling or attempting to sell coins/notes at, the only people who would buy them would be people who new nothing about coins/banknotes. |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
2180 Posts |
Yeah, I thought the prices were a little high when I checked it out yesterday.
I get the feeling it's not a great time to be selling either.
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New Member
Australia
19 Posts |
It will be an interesting few weeks for the investors - waiting to see if they can get their coins and notes back and then trying to get some money back by selling the coins and notes. Most of the people in that part of the state (Western Australia) are farmers. The last couple of seasons have not been kind to them and the Australian Dollar is falling as is the return on their crops. They seem to have invested in something they knew little about which is often the way. Some have invested all their money in Rare Coin Co. One of the rules of investing is not to put all your eggs in one basket, but this is of no help to anyone after the fact. I had bought some coins and notes off their subsidiary - Sovereignty Coins in Perth when I worked in the city. It is a disappointment to see the company fold. On top of this is the prospect of increased coins for sale and the effect this will have on the values both for the sellers of the coins trying to get some money back and for other investors.
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Valued Member
Australia
271 Posts |
I'm from the home of the RCC, and know many retired farmers from my bowling club who purchased coins from them. I know of one guy who waited 2 years for his coins to be sold, and the last I heard, he still hasn't seen his money. I was fortunate in as much as I knew nothing about coins and their value when I made one purchase from them, and that was it - a tax free long term investment. I decided not to keep it stored "on site", as the storage cost would have reduced my return. I have learned a lot more from this great forum and research in regard to the value of coins, and the RCC product was well overpriced, however they really worked the "top end" of the market (most items $10k to $300k), meaning that their client base was fairly limited. They also heavily marketed their product, I received many, many glossy brochures and letters from them, full of coins and notes that I had no chance of ever owning. They also had a very substantial storage/vault, which I should imagine would be very expensive to maintain.
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Valued Member
Australia
271 Posts |
From one of the local papers - not sure of you will be able to read..  |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
2180 Posts |
Yeah, was this the company that had the full page add for the holey dollar in the Weekend Australian Magazine earlier in the year?
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
750 Posts |
Great article sfitzernator  (I can read it .... downloading it and zooming in). It will be interesting to see how the coins "kept for investors on site" will end up. Surely those coins have to be given to their rightful owners? (Else it be theft?). |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
4411 Posts |
That's if the coins exist in the first place
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Valued Member
Australia
271 Posts |
Interstingly, the coin I purchased was not slabbed....wonder if they were all the same, and I woder how they are stored.... It was put in a 2x2 and a good Lighthouse coin page. Although it came in a nice leather folder.
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
7096 Posts |
I am amazed that anyone would buy an expensive coin and let some total stranger look after it. This just seem absurd to me.  I know that If I bought a super expensive coin I would like to be able to look at it whenever I wanted and most certainly wouldn't let someone else "Look after It" for me  |
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Valued Member
Australia
271 Posts |
I guess the thing to remember is that they were not targeting coin enthusiasts...They were targeting those with a bit of cash looking for somewhere different to invest.
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
4411 Posts |
They were looking for gullible people with money basically.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2133 Posts |
Can the investors get hold of their coins ?
In some schemes here,
1. the items bought never existed or
2. had been sold multiple times or
3. weren't identified as client investments.
I worked for a short time for a liquidator,though my advice to him about coins was long after I had moved on.
In 1, as the items didn't exist, there was no asset to send on.
In 2, the choice was to give it to the earliest purchaser or to split its value between all the buyers - I can't remember what happened.
In 3, as they weren't identified as being held for clients, the collectables were realised as general assets, and the investors were ranked equally with all the other creditors and got next to nothing.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2133 Posts |
If the investors do get their coins, there will no doubt be lots of people springing up offering for a fee to get the best possible sales value for their coin(s).
What's happened in England, is that there seem to be lots of fraudsters all claiming superb knowledge of the market, exclusive access to eager wealthy collectors, and they'll market the coins to them for a fee. Of course, that fee'll will need to be sent upfront and the sale will never materialise or they'll get a very low offer. This has happened with stamps, coins, medals, share certs. timeshares, etc.
If these coins do exist, it'll be a buyers market.
I feel sorry for these gullible people, partly because my father was almost a victim. I went along to an 'investment presentation' with him in the City of London. They provided a superb buffet with wine and when we had finished eating, the presentation began.
All the coins offered were about 30% to 50% above market value if they had been accurately graded but they weren't.
VF coins were presented as EF, and EF specimens as UNC with plausible reasons for weak strikes. I told my father quietly and he recommended that I didn't stand up and point this out - he wanted us to get alive.
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
674 Posts |
Dad owes you one.! |
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Valued Member
Australia
444 Posts |
the people still have not got their coins out from rare coins safe in albany, it might take years before they get them back
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Replies: 21 / Views: 6,291 |
Posted 07/13/2013 09:57 am
