Greetings Mr. Rawles,
While I believe Survivalblog readers are by-and-large sharp gold-buyers as opposed to naive gold-sellers, I thought I would pass along the experience my local bullion dealer had with one of those “We Buy Your Unwanted Gold!” outfits that came to town last weekend. They specifically solicited numismatic coins and of course promised to pay top dollar.
Following the normal modus operandi, this company ran full-page ads in the local paper on Saturday and Sunday and rented space to set up shop in a local motel. Add to this the travel, lodging, and salary expenses of their employees and I’m certain it cost them several thousand dollars to run this weekend’s operation, so you know they’re making a killing. But how bad a killing?
Well, their ad said they would pay up to eight times face value for 90% silver coins. It’s been over two years since I’ve heard an offer like that and I certainly wouldn’t take twice that much on my silver now. As I recall, about a month ago you wrote you were quoted about 22x face to buy, and APMEX is selling bags at over 21x face today.
But it gets worse: My dealer gave his wife two gold coins, a certified MS63 1924 $20 Double-Eagle and a certified MS64 1932 $10 Indian, and sent her down to get an offer. These two coins have a combined wholesale value of $3,200. How much did they offer her? $2,200 – about 10% over spot and a thousand dollars under wholesale. When she thanked them and said she would have to talk to her husband first, they gave her a special “go right to the front of the line when you come back” card, so you know they just couldn’t wait to get their hands on her merchandise.
The people who run these operations are no more than con-men. Only they know how many of my trusting neighbors they took to the cleaners and how many tens of thousands of dollars they robbed from our local economy last weekend. Hopefully this report will help send the message to keep away from these operations and only do business with honorable local people whom you know and trust. – Kevin W.