Have You Ever Received Coin(S) That Were Packaged By Incompetents?

I received my dream set of lord of the rings gold coins from a great ebay seller, after waiting for years for one set to come up that I could both afford and were available, because these sets were very scarce.

but by the time I got the coins delivered by the USPO, several of the capsules had escaped their case indentations through rough handling by the post office, and worse, one of the coins had escaped its capsule and the obverse had rubbed against the metal ring that was included in the set and became seriously scratched. Even tho it was not the seller's fault, he reimbursed me a few hundred dollars (I did not ask for any reimbursement) but overall it totally ruined the true value of the set which was considerably much more than that if it been received without damage.

the reason? because pobjoy mint had failed to adequately pad the inside of the case. just a few cents worth of one additional slab of 1/4"-1/2" foam on the inside would have prevented the capsules from escaping.

I know that pobjoy did the same with every clamshell case they sent out (inadequate packaging) because I later got the matching silver set that was packaged the same way, but I got ahead of any damage because I asked the seller to make sure the capsules would not escape, all he had to do was put a few cents of tape over each capsule to keep it from escaping its indentation within the case. easy and cheap and as effective as adding another slab of foam rubber.

I called pobjoy several times. I was not asking for money or any reimbursement, I just wanted to let them know that for lack of about a penny's worth of more foam on the inside of the case that a scarce $4,000 gold set had been partially ruined. their response was terrible (both times I called I am pretty sure it was the same gal). She said it had never happened before. (I resisted telling her that there was a first time for everything). I told her that I was not after anything, this was just an advisement, anybody could see that there was about a 1/2" "free play" inside the case, that the capsules had plenty of room to escape within their case. I got nothing but hostility from pobjoy, even tho I was not asking or wanting a cent. There was nothing but resentment and disbelief from them, as if I had nothing better to do, even tho I was asking for nothing from them, other than for them to be more aware of their packaging methods.

In my opinion, a set or coin should be packaged securely enough so that if you were to shake the package with gusto that the capsule would not come out of its indentation and especially the coin would not escape the capsule if it did. like a piece of tape around the capsule, duhhhh....

I felt it would do no good to file a claim with the post office as I felt they would say I just made it up, I did not have any video of the coins being packaged/sent by the seller in order to prove my case. anybody could get a coin in the mail, scratch it and then attempt a claim with the post office.

I am not talking about a hundred inexpensive common coins dumped in a bag. the coin that was damaged was one of 5 coins in the set inside a clamshell case and was a 1/2 ounce of a very scarce gold coin.

Just wondering if it is me that just has bad luck like this or is this a somewhat common occurrence? I know that if I were ever to sell a valuable coin or set, I will videotape it when I package it, to prevent buyer fraud but mostly to prevent buyer disappointment.

So am I alone in this or does anybody have any similar horror stories because of incompetent packaging, either by the seller or maker? I am not excluding any rough handling by the post office either as a primary or additional cause, in fact, I am sure it was the post office's rough handling as the primary, the coins had traveled some 3,000 miles and was in many post offices on its way to me.