I Need Help With My Dad..

to CCF. Sorry about your situation. It is a very delicate one that is going to be difficult to resolve without hurting his feelings. You might want to post this question in the Main Coin Forum so that it will be seen by more members. Main Coin Forum: http://www.coincommunity.com/forum/...FORUM_ID=127

Thanks Matt, it's a good idea but not likely one to work. We have never "played" well together but not the topic for this forum.

Mother just purchased a Morgan from NC Mint for my dad. We have agreed to take it somewhere to be assessed. I sincerely doubt it is worth the $80 they spent but we will see.

I don't have a problem with him investing in coins, I just think he's not being wise with money he doesn't have. He needs to spend more wisely and not with places who have fraud lawsuits against them.

Any way to steer him towards a reputable local coin shop? They will still make a profit off of him but it will be much less than what the TV salespeople are making off him. It might be possible to find some of these 'products' he has been buying from these sellers and compare them to completed ebay auctions and show him the results.

I'll be honest, I cringed a bit when I saw "Littleton Coin Co". Completely real merchandise, but criminally overpriced and gimmicky. Companies like that are designed to exploit beginner numismatists.

In fact, to show you how ridiculously overpriced these companies are, I'll pull out a Littleton catalog I have laying around, and compare the prices to their actual book value. The book values I'm using are from the Red Book, arguably the most trusted value resource in the hobby. Here are a few comparisons:

1916-D Mercury dime in AG-3: Littleton prices it at $1400, Red Book has it at $1000 at G-4, which is a higher grade, so a realistic price for an AG-3 example is more like $500 to $750.

Set including an 1878 and an 1878-S Morgan dollar that doesn't meet industry grading standards, which actually means they're damaged. It costs $156, and worth little over $50.

A 1945 Mercury dime in MS-65 is priced at $55, book value is $28.

Here's a good one, a set of 5 circulated, Walking Liberty half dollars from the 1940s priced at $160. That would barely carry a premium over melt, so worth about $35. That's a liberal estimate too. Disgusting.

I am glad however, that your dad has interest in this great hobby. What I would do is find a coin shop in your area, the prices will usually be more realistic and he'll have the enjoyment of dealing with people, which is more fun than online shopping or catalogs.

As for "doing this for your future", remember that coins aren't the greatest investment. The market is usually steady, but values increase very slowly, with the exception of multi-million dollar ultra-rare pieces.

Good luck with your father, hopefully everything goes well. Just so you know, coin collecting is an excellent parent/child activity!

Simple and direct.

Here's my Two Cents; I would take him to a local coin show, just say it could be fun for both of you to spend time together checking out the coins. You could even take something that you're pretty sure he overpaid for and have it appraised by some dealers there. If he really likes collecting coins, he should love a small coin show. And he may be surprised at the prices. You can Google "local coin shows" and your area ones will show up (I just tried it and was surprised to find so many).

Maybe suggest buying some books on the subject (there are actually lots of them on the subject of investing in coins).

I had a father-in-law that was sort of the same (not to the same degree), and the last thing he wanted to hear was that he was overpaying for something. It almost made it worse.

Good luck, and .

I would say, "Beautiful coins dad." What he does is none of my business. My 82 yo dad is dropping a small fortune into his 40' sailboat, on top of his reverse mortgage. It's his money and his life. I encourage him to continue doing what makes him happy.