Is this a Scam?

[mrearlygold]

I received several communications from a fellow overseas who apparently has been in touch with a BIG coin sales company ( I won't say who, yet )

 

The following is apparently a communication sent to the customer from this company. Would you all care to render an opinion? I wish I could figure out how to do a poll. Dang.

 

Here's the communication:

 

Hello So and So

 

Congratulations on the coin you reserved! They are very unique and wonderful items.

 

The 1852 K-11 $50 Gold Octagonal is one of the rarest coins in the world. The 1857-S $20 Double Eagle Gold is number 75 of the 100 best coins in the world. Two EXCELLENT choices.

 

The total cash amount for these coins is: $21,300 + $13,750 = $35,050 + $15 for delivery = $35,065.00.

 

The 20% down payment is: $7,130 and the monthly amount you are paying into your gold savings account is equal to 4% of the total with only 9.9% annual interest, that comes to about $1,420+/- per month investment for two years.

 

In my opinion, in two years, looking at the facts now, the octagonal should be worth at least $50,000 to $75,000, and the 1857-S should be worth about $25,000- $35,000.

 

As I had told you, the 1866-S was sold in 2004 for $17,000 and sold at auction in 2007 for $81,000 and then appeared again and was sold for $99,500. The appreciation in value in these coins is astounding to me, but real.

[Oldtrader3]

Did you order the coins from this guy or is this an unsolicited offer? If unsolicited, this guy is probably bogus and will rob you blind.

[James_OldeTowne]

My scam alert just kicked off! I don't like the sounds of this at all.

[MarkFeld]

Is this a Scam?

What would make you think otherwise?

[CHABSENTIA]

I would not touch it especially if it was unsolicited.Sounds like a scam to me.

[rons]

"The total cash amount for these coins is: $21,300 + $13,750 = $35,050 + $15 for delivery = $35,065.00."

 

But look how much you are saving on shipping

[Conder101]

Did you order the coins from this guy or is this an unsolicited offer? If unsolicited, this guy is probably bogus and will rob you blind.

I would not touch it especially if it was unsolicited.Sounds like a scam to me.

Read it again guys. My take on it is that mrearlygold has received this from an overseas client of his and the client is asking mrearlygold for an opinion. He in turn is ask our opinions as to whether or not it is a scam. It is NOT an unsolicited offer to mrearlygold and he has not ordered any coins. Although from the sound of the communication his overseas client HAS already ordered them and is not asking for advice after the fact.

 

Is it a scam? Well maybe not really a scam, but I think they are burying the client in something that he will have no real chance of getting out of with a profit, and probably not without a loss. Notice no grades are mentioned, and the bit about the 1857-S double eagle, I bet if you looked in the book The 100 Greatest US coins, you'll find the 1857-S double eagle listed as #75 because of the SS Central America story. Buy this coin for $13,750 because it, and thousands of others just like it, were recovered from a shipwreck. (It's interesting how this coin now sells for thousands of dollars more today now that there are thousands of them available, than it did before the wreck was found and there were less than 100 MS specimens known.) I wonder whether the $50 slug is also an SS Central America recovery?

 

I have no idea where he gets his "fact" or what they are that allows him to predict what the market value of these coins will be two years from now. Frankly if he really believed they were going to be worth 100 to 200% higher in just two years, why is he selling them now? Especially since he is going to still be holding them for those two years anyway while the client is making payments on them.

 

The third paragraph makes no sense as it stands, so it must refer to some previous correspondence that we are not privy to.

 

Strikes me as a high pressure, and high value, "boiler room" type of pitch. If you have to have this kind of sales talk to convince you to part with your money for coins then you probably have no clue what you are doing or getting and the client would be better off walking away. If you have a collector who KNOWS the material he collects, he doesn't need that kind of sales pitch and would probably find it insulting to have a dealer deliver it to him. If you don't know it and are depending on the salesman, hold onto your wallet.

[MarkFeld]

Thanks Condor. it looks like a potential buyer is being hit hard with a sales job, rather than that an outright scam is taking place. We could certainly use some additional information/particulars, however.

[ibyandsellsmith]

I'll answer with a question: If the coin had that much value, why take payments at all? find a buyer, sell the coin and take a trip.

The interest is where their making the money but still, I don't by it.

[MarkFeld]

I'll answer with a question: If the coin had that much value, why take payments at all? find a buyer, sell the coin and take a trip.

The interest is where their making the money but still, I don't by it.

We don't even know the grades of the coins or whether they have been certified, so the seller's profit could involve far more than the interest.

[Conder101]

My guess is that they have been certified (but at what grade?). A pioneer 50 dollar slug and an 1857-S double eagle? These are most likely conserved coins from the SS Central America in gold label PCGS slabs. There's lots of them out there and they are a favorite for high pressure sellers to non-collectors and newbies.

[CHABSENTIA]

I am not so sure. I have received communications from others that something has been "reserved" in my name and that I need to act now or somebody else will be given the chance. I have also received several communications on the same thing.

 

 

You are correct in that it could also be a situation in which it is high pressure and a boiler room pitch.

 

In either situation I would walk away.

 

 

 

[Conder101]

I am not so sure. I have received communications from others that something has been "reserved" in my name and that I need to act now or somebody else will be given the chance. I have also received several communications on the same thing.

 

But this isn't an email being sent to mrearlygold by the company that is doing the selling. Nothing has been "reserved in his name". It is an email forwarded to him by one of his clients. The coins have been reserved for that client and he is asking mrearlygold for his opinion, and mrearlygold is asking us to give our opinions as well.

[CHABSENTIA]

Your point is well taken ,however, instead of the fact that coins are involved I have received this same form of letter for Penny Stock offerings.

 

The only difference is that there have been Laws passed in which the Sender has to state that they have been paid x amount of dollars or a certain amount of the Stock etc etc.

 

 

 

While there is not enough to give a complete and accurate synopsis of the entire letter I also have problems with listing the Money amounts of the Coin.

 

 

If I were to correspond with a Dealer and Reserve a Rare coin then I would be certainly aware of the Price/s. I would certainly be aware of a Ballpark Price. It would also seem to me that if I had previously corresponded with a Dealer and didn't know the exact Price that somewhere in the Letter there would be a sentence that included the words such as " discuss or discussed etc". I would also think that a coin or coins that cost this much Money would have warranted a phone call etc.

 

Also this was an opinion for a Friend. If this was a dealer with whom the Friend had done business before then why would the Friend asked for the opinion of

mrealy gold.

 

Again I have received unsolicited letters from people stating that such and such has been reserved in my name and...............................

 

I just don't like the tone of the letter for the reasons I metioned . Either way we have both arrived at a conclusion that one should walk away.