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 Replies: 18 / Views: 3,411 |
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Valued Member
United States
402 Posts |
Promised someone on the forum I would bring this up for discussion. Last year I was buying 2008 Mint sets for $25 and going to shows and selling to dealers for $45-70. Not my ethics I'm talking about. At the shows 2 dealers in particular did the following to the mint sets I sold them. The first opened my sets and took out the good looking plastic with coins and substituted them for stuff from his sets that were not real good coins still encased in the plastic. He did not break open the State Quarters or the other plastic but substituted the whole quarter sets. The second dealer took an exacto knife and slit the plastic apart and replaced the individual coins with others and then resealed the mints plastic cases. Very professional job. They both then put them out for sale as new mint sets. Do you think this is ethical for a dealer to do that? Another Coin Forum last year composed of dealers only said it was ethical as long as they didn't say they were unopened! So just remember those Mint Sets you are buying, unless came directly from the Mint to you were probably gone through and the good stuff removed already. Wont reveal the names but it happened at Ft. Washington, PA monthly show. And it happened more than once that I saw. Let me know how you guys feel about something like that. Don't say you didn't think it happens. edgman |
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Valued Member
United States
442 Posts |
I heard that if you buy a s-pr or pr set from the mint late in the game that you could end up with a returned cherry picked set
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Valued Member
United States
91 Posts |
I don't like it one bit - the fact that they say it is ethical if they don't say they are new is wrong, if I buy a mint set that is sealed, I would assume (I know what I am making out of you and me) they were new and never ask the question "HAS THIS SET BEEN OPENED AND COINS REPLACED WITH INFERIOUR COINS". This is very unethical in my opinion. It's a bunch of crap if you ask me.
Thanks for opening my eyes to a SCAM I wasn't aware of.
Peace
Brent
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1304 Posts |
Thats just not right as far as I am concerned. If I buy a Mint Set, that is what I want. A mint set from the Mint, put together by the Mint with there minted coins and then sealed by the Mint, which should never opened unless by me.  |
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Valued Member
United States
285 Posts |
I'm sure this happens way more frequently than any of us would like. With that said, anyone buying mint sets should know that this happens and know to only buy sealed sets. It's still not "right" in my opinion though.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7123 Posts |
I place the blame in two places for this activity, the mint and the dealers who would do such a thing.
The mint could make the sets much more difficult to open and reseal, and the dealers well human nature as it is the practice will continue until it becomes impossible to do so without leaving evidence of tampering on the sets.
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Valued Member
 United States
402 Posts |
When I saw how easily this dealer opened the plastic case containing the coins I knew other dealers were probably doing it. He opened that case, substituted 2 quarters and had it done in less than a minute. These cases are not tight like the slabs are and if you drop one it probably will come apart and the coins will fall out. So just another scam and I would check the seals on the boxes before I bought them. I also know from a dealer that he orders mint sets, opens them, picks out the best ones and returns some to the mint as damaged, opened, vandalized etc. So "parkquarters" was right about getting cherrypicked sets resealed from the mint.
Keep it going guys (and Girls) your getting people an education.
edgman
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1304 Posts |
I was the local coin shop the other day talking to the owner about mint sets. Actually we were talking about some mint sets I own and how I didn't want to break them open to get at certain coins, that I would rather leave them intact and just buy the individual coins I needed. He told me that starting at a certain year, I believe it was 1999, that the mint started making the cases harder to open, but with a sharp thin blade you could still get them open. Anyone every heard of this?
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Valued Member
United States
402 Posts |
"Sharp thin blade"=exacto knife as I said in my original thread on this topic. I have opened quite a few to get at individual coins but they were for my collection and not for resale. If you drop one a lot of times it will break open. Wonder who at the mint said they were going to be harder to open. By the way, I stopped selling any more sets to those dealers after I saw that.
edgman
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2661 Posts |
In my opinion it is unethical for anyone, dealer or not, to crack open any sealed coin, and replace said coin, and then try to pass it off to someone else, Period.
Edited by Tim Stroud
06/05/2010 6:24 pm
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Valued Member
United States
300 Posts |
My opinion? It's SLEEZY and Dishonest  |
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Valued Member
United States
322 Posts |
I agree with you guys. I already suspected that somebody might do that. Until now, I think (and hope) that nobody open and resealed coins in cello Mint Sets. Or is there any trick I didn't know? there are Raccoons everywhere. I know that the sell the "reject" at ebay. |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
3692 Posts |
Wow, if a person replaces better for worse and then claims that they were DAMAGED? They are supposed to be the prime picks of the mint. That is totally dishonest in anyone's book.
To the OP: could ya post some pics of the kinds of mint sets in question? They really ought to be more secure. I've pondered buying US mint sets so I'm surious. Are sets from the 50s and 60s safe?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7123 Posts |
Libertad, I have opened many of the mint sets from the 70's 80's and 90's they are not hard to open.
The cello sets go without question, by the way I also cherry picked those coins and kept only the best, but they were not resold in mint sets in fact many of the kids and others I have mentored through the years ended up with the extras in their sets for nothing more than showing an interest in the hobby.
the sets from the 50's and 60's were cello sets , they were a little tougher to open but no doubt that they also have been cherry picked to some degree and resealed. greed knows no bounds.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1304 Posts |
Quote:
I have opened many of the mint sets from the 70's 80'2 and 90's they are not hard to open.
Thats what the coin shop owner was saying. The earlier mint sets were easier to open than the later ones, 1999 and older, the same mint cases as the state quater mint sets come in. He said you could still get them open, but not as easy as the earlier ones. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
581 Posts |
Dealers like that need to be slapped. They not only give reputable dealers a bad name but they also make it so newer collectors like myself will think twice about continuing in the hobby. I guess that it is a good thing that I believe virtually nothing that a majority of dealers claim. I bought a coin at a local flea market, and met a dealer that slammed the dealer that I bought the coin from and then turned around and tried to tell me He was, at one time, the #1 coin grader for one of the big TPG firms. Somehow, I found anything this guy had to say overly credible. |
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Replies: 18 / Views: 3,411 |
Posted 06/05/2010 12:11 pm
