Where To Purchase In Houston, Where Online

Hi there, and Welcome to CCF!

I can't help you with B&M in Houston, but here are some reliable places online (aside from ebay) that I purchase from.

http://www.mintproducts.com/

http://www.coinland.com/

http://www.paradisemint.com/

Hope this helps, and enjoy the hunt!

Steve

Yes, I also get stuff from ebay. Been doing so since about '96.

Looking at a sellers feedback is obviously an important thing. I've said it here before but there have been sellers that had something I wanted, but their feedback was just sketchy enough - number of Negatives and Neutrals, and the type of negative, and the sellers response (if any).

In all that time (a couple thousand transactions) I have only been burned once. The seller just disappeared on me and several other people, and it wasn't coin related.

Coin-wise, I've only had a couple of coins that didn't stack up when received. The sellers pictures weren't the best and hid some "features" of the coin.

Other than that, I've added a ton of good stuff to my collection, both coin and currency, from ebay. Really study the pictures and their description, and any other salient info like shipping, return policies, and so on.

ebay can be a safe place if you are diligent in protecting your OWN safety. Also, in the ebay and other auction sites Forum of this site, there is a continuing list of sellers to avoid, and those to trust, based on input from the membership here.

Also, when someone posts a link to an auction with a question about it (coin, seller, grade, authenticity, good deal, etc.) there are plenty of members willing to give you their opinion of what you're considering. Can be extremely helpful in catching things of consideration that you may have overlooked.

There's a wealth of information here at your disposal. Don't hesitate to avail yourself of it!

Steve

When you say "certified" in a rectangular case, are you talking something like this?



This is the original Mint packaging, with the coin in a sealed capsule that can be removed from the presentation case.

Graded coins are another matter. Any Graded and Encsapsulated coins would be like all the one's on the Paradise Mint site I gave you a link to, in which case the rectangular holder (case) is sealed and that's it.

I'm not aware of any kind of graded proofs in the manner you describe. I assume it's something online that you're looking at so can you give me a link to it so I can see what you're referring to?

Steve

Royal is good I also use Williams coin

That is a graded and encapsulated (slabbed) coin like the ones on the Paradise Mint site, as I mentioned. You don't take the coin out of the slab. It's not removable. You can see the coin from both sides. What you are seeing as the "circular coin case" is just a round molded portion of the slab that holds the coin in place. That slab is all one piece. Open it, and the raw coin will fall out.

If you were to open the case (not a simple task) you would damage the slab and render it unusable. This what some people do when they, for example, want a coin out of a Third Party Grading ( TPG) slab to put a coin in an album. There are other reasons it's done, but that is outside the context of this thread.

Inside that slab the coin carries a higher value than outside the slab, because of the grade and authenticity guaranteed by the TPG company, PCGS in this case.

Hope this helps,

Steve

What side of town are you on?