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"Don't Get RIPPED OFF"!!!

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W.K.F.

1,005 views

I am hearing more and more of this...

Greetings Collectors,

I had to have my computer picked up and taken to the shop as it was just getting way too slow with all the "sludge" that builds up. Before Alpha left I had him hook up a Sony Vio that had belonged to my daughter before she went away to school. I have Vista on mine and she has Windows XP. Of couse me being the villiage insufficiently_thoughtful_person when it comes to computers, I have spent the last several hours trying to figure out how to download Irfanview and all the other stuff that allows me to take a pic and then do the rest of what's required to get a photo to here at the CS. Wow I'm glad that's overwith. I have decided to get rid of Vista and use the brand new hard drive Dell gave me when I bought mine, have it installed, and have Windows 7 installed with some more ram bringing me up to 3-gigs. I have no idea what all I just said means but that's whats happening. This computer I'm on now seems like a Porshe compared to what mine had become.

Every time I see an ad on TV or hear one on the radio about this outfit or that one wanting people to bring or send their gold to them, I shudder. Greed is consuming our world. People when they can least afford it are being taken in a really big way. I, as I am sure most of you, have been taken before. Some have had to learn an expensive lesson. To others the cost has been less. The hobby we all hold so dear is loaded with dishonest people and companies. And no person wants to find out that which they bought, could have been had for much less. To me it's a really sick kind of feeling.

While I have never been robbed/ripped off per se, I have paid way more for certain coins, that after the fact made me feel like a real fool. The coin pictured here is an example that while I wasn't "ripped off", I feel I paid way more for it than I should have. This was my "very first" graded gold coin. I can't remember the exact date and the exact price I paid but I think it was around 1993-94 (as you can see by the number on the slab, this is a very early NGC coin) and I paid a little over $600 for it. I had just started my foray into graded coins and to this day still have every one. At that time I had a relationship with "Blanchard & Company" out of N.O. Louisiana. I bought not only this $20 Liberty but about 4-8 Walker halves and Mercury dimes as well. It was getting to the point my salesman was calling me every few days with another deal. One that he said I could not pass up. Today I know I paid more than I should for all. As time would have it, all has turned out well but all of these coins could have been had for much less. But just starting out and having more money than brains, I didn't get the best deal. This $20 gold coin was only worth $650 (Red Book value) for years and years after I bought it.

What I am trying to say in my way longer "round about" way is "DO YOUR HOMEWORK"! Shop around, check many prices at many different places before you make the buy. This is sound advice no matter how much coin you are buying. (and it also goes for most anything you buy) I have recently gone back to see just what Blanchard & Company are getting for common date $20 gold and it's way higher than other places for basicly the same coin. Are they ripping people off? I don't think so. But the people on the phone or emailing you have to make a living. Many of these big outfits are charging $3500 for the coin you see here. I have seen this same 1904 twenty go for a little more than half that ($1925) The difference amounts to alot of money that could be put to a better use. I won't go into detail where I have found the best deals but they are out there and if you are interested I would be happy to share some of them with you.

I will close with something that happened to a person that took a graded gold coin to one of these people operating out of a hotel. There for the weekend wanting folks to bring their gold and silver and saying they pay 30-50% more than anyone else. A person had a 1925-D $2.50 Indian and was offered only $60. The coin was in an NGC slab with a grade of MS-66. This is way less than the melt on this $10,000 coin. This is typical of what you can expect from these very dishonest people/companies. Please don't let it happen to you. I know most of you older guys (and gals) have been around the block and something like this would never happen to you or I, but you that are just starting out, don't get burned. Ask a fellow member here or a close friend and always get 2nd and 3rd and even 4th opinions/prices. You will not get taken if you follow this advice. If you want to read this article, it's on the front page of the latest edition of Coin World. (July 12th 2010 issue).

I'm sad/disappointed that my 1847-O $10 did not arrive by Sat. and one that buys and sells on eBay daily, there is no excuse for this. Eight business days is way more than enough time to ship this coin and it get here. So I have no new coin to share. But not having a new one, I thought it fitting to share my "very first" graded coin.

All things considered, I'm still having lots of fun with my coins. Hope all of you are as well.

Happy Collecting!

WKF

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