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 Replies: 18 / Views: 15,663 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6326 Posts |
Has anyone else fallen for the"CSN" (late night shopping informertial) that showcases coins.....mainly the "quarters mania" ? At 3:00 in the morning several months ago........ they got me ! I bought into it for a pretty penny. From 1999 to 2008 I get gold layered, platnum layered, and regular uncirculated.... I forget the price now....but I'm disappointed in the quality of the coins and I believe I paid too much.......EVEN THOUGH THAT GUY IS ONE OF A SALESMAN ! Geeeez ! I thought I was getting the deal of a lifetime ! When private companies "layer" US coins in gold or platnum.....well..... it's hard to know the real value. I'll never buy a "colored" coin or "layered" coin ever again...... I'd like others thoughts on this "hasty" late night purchase of mine. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1840 Posts |
I hate to tell you this, but numismatically they are probably not worth much more than a quarter each. In my opinion (and likely that of other collectors) the coins have been adultered. Return them if you still can. If not, consider it a learning experience.
In the future don't even consider HSN coins. In my experience, they only sell things where they make an absurd profit.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2797 Posts |
Sorry for your loss Eagle ... we've all succumbed in some form, but it helps us grow. From the numismatist's perspective any coin "layered" has no collector value. These are worth a minimum of $0.25 each ...the maximum is about the same. The gold/platinum content is so small and recovery of these precious metals is seldom worth the smelting cost. On the bright side, there are real treasures out there to be had for a small investment. There are many stories of these successes in the CCF pages. The key to them all was knowledge. The finders knew the value of the find. It's not easy, but it is definitely exciting and rewarding.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7123 Posts |
Plated coins are definitely altered and numismatically speaking they are worth face value.
These types of programs take in alot of folks and in many cases the people do not find out that they have been taken to the proverbial cleaners ,,until its way to late to do anything about it .
Im just glad that the experiance did not take your desire to collect away ,,and I'm very glad that you are here adding to your knowledge with the rest of us !
Metalman
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
6326 Posts |
Well, my bad purchase is as I feared then.........so it won't happen again ! Oh I'm sure I'll overpay for many coins in the future, but it won't be for a coin that's been altered by a private company to attract greenhorns and make their money....... wasted ! ! And that collection is taking up room in my two xtra large safety deposit box's down at the bank too ! It won't affect my interest in coin collecting ever...... IT'S AN OBSESSION OF MINE NOW ! AND I'm HOOKED FOR LIFE ! I buy a lot of new things on the US Mint, but I really covet the old classics. Morgans, Franklins, Mercs, Buffalo nickles, Large Cents, Three Cents, all the Barbers I can get my hands on.....etc. etc. etc. Hey....maybe I can "gift" them to my Nephew for Christmas or something ! He's 9 years old and loves coins....... but....worthless or not...they cost me some Benjamins....(no pun intended !) so........ don't know what to do with them ! can't give em back now...... and I still have next year on the way ! edited by Metalman to make more family friendly ,,we have many youngsters who read the boards !
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Valued Member
United States
382 Posts |
Agreed Plated coins are worth nothing as soon as they are plated. Those infomercials are nothing but highway robbery for the unknowing.
Tony
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Valued Member
United States
499 Posts |
Cancel next year if you can. Gifting them to a potential young numismatist isn't a bad idea so long as you let them know that these "pretty" coins won't ever be worth a lot of money. If it ends up fostering interest in couns for another generation than your "bad purchase" has just become a good investment!
Good luck and welcome to the forum!
Richard
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Valued Member
United States
439 Posts |
heheheh So I'm not the only one with a few newbie stories eh? Lemme tell ya, I've got several of those "life lesson" thingies the hard way too so just chalk it up to experience, get that channel off your TV and put it behind you. Ummm, by the way, you know about ebay, Star Grading and, lets see, oh heck, you'll find out. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
And now for th even worse news. Chances are that the "platinum" layerd quarters don't even have any platinum on them. A consumers advocate group ran some tests on some of those sets and determined how much precious metal was o each one. The silver plated coins had less than a cents worth of silver, the gold had less than five cents worth, and on the platinum coins no platinum at all was detected on the coins. (And when you consider that they cn detect down to parts per billion you have to know that if it was there they would have found it.)
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Valued Member
United States
390 Posts |
Wow, sorry to hear they took you! I was watching one of those shows last night and they had a set of 5 Morgan silver dollars, 1898-1902 in "MS 63 or better" for $336.00, which is about $67 each. I went on Heritage Auctions real quick and found MS63 coins going for about $35 to $45 in all these years (one of them was slightly higher, but I forget which one), so the total graded value is about $225, and that was with the 15% buyers premium included, so the actual coin price was about $195. And, it would cost you money to have them graded, so figure $336 plus shipping/grading/insurance and you are well over $350. Not such a deal.... I have yet to see anything on these shows that was worth the money. It's sad how they take advantage of people. That's what is great about this forum. You can come on here (hopefull before, not after  ) and find out before you spend your money. Good luck on your future purchases.  Oh, and I bought comic books about 10 years ago off one of these places. I wonder if they are worth anything close to what I paid back then. Probably not...... |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6326 Posts |
I have kept my comic book collection since I was a kid (I'm in my late 30's) I brought them in to the office, got online and checked most of them. Out of a stack of comics 2 and a half feet tall..... I had a few worth $6.00 -$8.00...depressing ! I even have a first issue one....... but none worth much, so I'll save them for another 20 years or so and see what happens....... Anyway, back to coins....... Yeah.... Impulse buys for me aren't smart. I wish i'd know about this forum a long time ago. I've always been interested in coins, but only the last year and a half or two have I been "serious" about it. Meaning trying to learn things about what I'm collecting.
I still make unsmart buys at auctions and stuff..... but I was wanting to "build my collection"..... now I need to buy smart and go after "higher grade" coins....certified or otherwise. I'm only ever going to "hoard & collect".....probably never sell (maybe trade) and pass my coins on to family generations from now I hope.
I have two "proof" $50.00 Gold Buffalo's and one proof $50.00 gold Eagle, and one proof "Jamestown" piece.......and sadly I paid for the overpriced "Dolley Madison" too !! Ahhhh my mistakes know no bounds apparantly ! And several proof silver dollars, etc. etc. from the mint. But I go to coin auctions and regular auctions for "the old stuff". oops... guess I'm rattling on too much here !
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4867 Posts |
There should be some law protecting consumers from these misleading infomercials and shopping networks.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1934 Posts |
Conder said:
"And now for th even worse news. Chances are that the "platinum" layerd quarters don't even have any platinum on them. A consumers advocate group ran some tests on some of those sets and determined how much precious metal was o each one. The silver plated coins had less than a cents worth of silver, the gold had less than five cents worth, and on the platinum coins no platinum at all was detected on the coins. (And when you consider that they cn detect down to parts per billion you have to know that if it was there they would have found it.)"
If that is true, then a refund is well-justified and in order. Dont take this crap lying down. And ask yourself this (benchmark) question: "Would I buy a set like the one I bought on CSN from j_h_s, no questions asked?"
If your answer is "no," you'll probably never buy coins that way again.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6326 Posts |
folks...i agree with you all..... but I have two things I'm considering, there is one guy who runs an antique shop a couple of hours away from me in another state, it's in a "tourist town", he has coins there, but he's not a "coin dealer" exactly..... he's told me to bring any and everything to him for trade.... coins, guns, marbles, teddy bears, dolls !! You name it ! tourists buy any and everything........ So "I" think I would offer him an even trade... I would give him 1999-2008 in regular uncirculated, and in silver layered, and in gold layered, and in platnum layered.....I just hope he thinks he could easily move it to an unsuspecting tourist ! This way I could get some Morgans, barbers, Indian heads, slabbed coins, etc. etc. etc. He moves his stock and I get rid of this "garbage set" What do you all think of that ? But will he give close to the money "I" paid for them ? That's the question ! The other option is to slowly give them as a Christmas/birthday gifts to my nephew (he's 10 years old)
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2764 Posts |
Trade what you can, the rest give them away as gifts.... Just tell the guy how much you paid for them (even show him some receipts if you have them) and see what/how much you can get out of your stuffs.
The thing with trade is that you have to separate the two transaction (selling - bring your stuffs in and get appraise/pay - get a dollar value for the whole thing; buying - take/buy his products with your money, which you just got from selling).
Make sure you "KNOW" your stuffs and "KNOW" what you are looking for (condition/grade and the market value price or the price that you are willing to pay for). Just don't get "ripped-off" by both end of the transaction. If you are uncomfortable or not so sure of what to get from his inventory, just take the cash or store credits on the stuffs you just sold; then write down a list of things that you want to buy, go home and do your homework (research for appropriate grade and price as well ask key grading area) and then come back to pick the stuffs up latter. That way, you will save your self from "buying impulse" and also from overpay for the coins.
From what I have seen, non-coin collector/dealer tend to over grade and over price their stuffs and probably the guy you described is one of them.
Good luck with your dealing.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2269 Posts |
Eaglefoot, As long as you bought the Dolley Madison Gold within 30 days, you can still return it to the Mint.
If you purchased the coin somewhere else; it could still appreciate in value, due to the rising gold prices.
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Replies: 18 / Views: 15,663 |
Posted 12/04/2007 2:27 pm
