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 Replies: 9 / Views: 1,572 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4963 Posts |
I'm sure many of you have seen ads for a company called 'GovMint' in American magazines. They often feature quotes from 'experts', saying ridiculous things- "gold will be $10,000 an ounce by 2020", "These coins are guaranteed to grow in value", etc. Just today I saw one advertising St. Gaudens Eagles. On phrase in the text caught my eye- they claimed that the Mint itself had estimated that there were currently 140 million coin collectors in the U.S. Now, anyone can understand that this figure is nearly half the country's population, so unless by 'coin collector' they mean 'people who try to collect all the State Quarters', this is ridiculous. Anyway, long story short, I hate to see that Numismatics have begun to be commercialized.  |
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Moderator
 Australia
16816 Posts |
Quote:On phrase in the text caught my eye- they claimed that the Mint itself had estimated that there were currently 140 million coin collectors in the U.S. Now, anyone can understand that this figure is nearly half the country's population, so unless by 'coin collector' they mean 'people who try to collect all the State Quarters', this is ridiculous. I've heard that 10% of the population of America could be classified as "coin collectors", in the sense of actively seeking and keeping certain kinds of coins (eg. State Quarters). The number of "Serious coin collectors", whcih can probably be roughly defined as "people who systematically seek out coins and/or are prepared to pay above face/bullion value for coins" is even lower. To get a 50% quota, they'd need to redefine "coin collector" as "anyone who owns a jar of weird, odd or souvenir foreign coins or a jar of loose pocket change they haven't banked yet". Quote:
I hate to see that Numismatics have begun to be commercialized. "Begun"? These guys, and other companies just like them, have been doing this exact same thing for decades: hyping the potential profitability of coins to rubes that don't know any better. You say you see their ads in "American magazines". But do you ever see their ads in American coin magazines? I'm betting the answer is "no". That's because their target market is not actual coin collectors. They've given up on trying to market their hype to us, because most of us know better. It's the people on the fringes of the hobby that these guys are trying to lure: the friends and family of coin collectors, the small-time investors with spare cash and no knowledge, or the newbie coin collectors who are just starting out and don't realise there are sharks in them there oceans. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2543 Posts |
HSN says the same thing, only his number is 150,000,000. His reasoning is " do you collect the State Quarters, then you're a coin collector" ..... "have you ever looked through your change and put aside an interesting coin, then you're a coin collector. I guess their reasoning is, like you're local street corner dealer, recreational coin use always leads to hardcore coin use.  |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
4963 Posts |
They're more than willing to bend the statistics as much as they need to maximize profits.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
The 140 - 150 million figure is ridiculous, but it is a true quote. The US Mint actually did make this claim back during the days of the State Quarters. And yes they must have been counting everyone who threw a State Quarter into a change jar or kept one they liked, their home state etc. Double check those ads if they actually do state that they are guaranteed to increase in value they could be in real trouble. You can't make statements like that. You will probably find some kind of a "qualifier" statement included such as "If demand increases" etc. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2543 Posts |
Gov-Mint is a big company that has been around for a while, at least 20 yrs, I think previously New York Mint.
Their parent company has already or are in the process of buying MCM. I have bought a few coins from GovMint in the past for decent prices, it does seem however in the last few years they have elevated prices, been making sales calls (which they no longer make to me, since overwhelming their account rep with contrary facts the last few times they called) but never ,that I have ever seen, have they guaranteed any of their coins to increase in value. They will say that this and that coin has "investment potential".
They are in the same league as , Barry Chappell, The Coin Vault, The Coin Shoppe and all those other TV coin shows. I have been a lot more prudent since buying all those Elvis Collector Plates back in the 70's thinking they were going to finance my kids college education.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1911 Posts |
The only thing I buy from them is the Wedge Tailed Eagle... and that is only because I have to if I want more decent prices than ebay. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
No need to complain about salesmanship tactics. The same thing is done with everything. Watch TV commercials and you'll always hear things like "EVERYONE is talking about" or "I ALWAYS hear people say" or things like that. Everyone, Always, All, etc. are used in TV, Radio, Newspaper advertisements for everything. IF your going to complain about advertisements for coins, do the same with all the advertisements. Saying even 150,000,000 people in the USA now collect coins is just something no one can disprove anyway.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1037 Posts |
About a year ago, The Coin Vault and GovMint became affiliated with one another. From time to time you'll see the same items at the same price.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4963 Posts |
Quote:
Double check those ads if they actually do state that they are guaranteed to increase in value they could be in real trouble. You can't make statements like that. You will probably find some kind of a "qualifier" statement included such as "If demand increases" etc. Sorry, I didn't mean I've seen that exact phrasing, but I have seen similar statements- although I don't believe they used the word 'guaranteed'. |
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Replies: 9 / Views: 1,572 |
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Posted 05/26/2015 07:59 am
