For Those New to Precious Metals
 

Out of curiosity last night, I turned on the Home Shopping Network. The channel guide read that last night was coin night so I thought I should take a look. While I was not surprised, I was none the less disappointed in witnessing two men engaging in outright looting.

Most of the items offered were satin finish coins rated 70 (SP70). While I cannot say for sure, I would guess that coins with the new satin finish tend to have much higher ratings because the finish prevents hairline scratches. In any event, the two HSN coin guys were going wild with their 'deals of a lifetime.'

I wish I wrote down the prices for all of the coins offered. A good example that I remember was an offer for the first day 2008 SP70 $100 Platinum coin W mint mark for a cool $6 000. It contains about one troy ounce of platinum. With platinum trading around $1870 per troy ounce, this coin sure does carry a premium. Though the salesmen talk up the satin finish, first day strike, and W mint mark, the truth is that those attributes combined do not come close to warranting a 50% premium let alone a premium of over 200%

Another offer is for a $50 gold Eagle (which contains about .9125 troy ounces of gold) rated SP70. The cost? $2 300. Gold trades around $960. Again, ignore the nonsense about the SP 70 rating; satin finishing is new and highly controversial.

Here is a video of another one of their sales pitches:

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As a general rule, I do not trust any man who is too dapper (e.g., his teeth are too white, suit is too expensive, shows signs of spa facials); any many wearing a Tiffany's bracelet automatically loses my potential business. As one could guess, one of the men fits this description.

Real numismatic investing can offer gains that out pace bullion (regular silver and gold coins). But that require research and trusted suppliers. Please do not spend your money on HSN crap.

Re: For Those New to Precious Metals
 

I agree completely that the coin prices on those shows are a complete joke, however your statement about the $50 eagle is a little off on the gold content. It is 1 full ounce of gold. I do believe that the old ones they used to make were in fact around .912 ounces per coin, but not the new bullion coins.

Renegade

Re: For Those New to Precious Metals
 

Another offer is for a $50 gold Eagle (which contains about .9125 troy ounces of gold) rated SP70.

Is this a new Gold Eagle? Because those do contain 1 troy ounce of gold and actually weighs like 33.9 grams to make up for the gold content.

Re: For Those New to Precious Metals
 

at that price i can get 100 onc of sillion bullion , damn

Re: For Those New to Precious Metals
 

Thanks for the correction - you guys are absolutely right that the $50 eagle has one ounce of gold. Sorry for the error!

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Re: For Those New to Precious Metals
 

There are several "coin shows" on various cable/sat systems...

When I first started I made a few purchases from a few different shows...
Needless to say, I learned my lesson quick and returned a couple of the purchases.

A good coin dealer stopped me before I made an expensive mistake.

I understand these shows have to pay for their overhead but when you can purchase the same items from various sources for much cheaper... the convenience of sitting on your buttocks and having it shipped goes away very fast!

DYODD

Re: For Those New to Precious Metals
 

Why mix words??
Those type of dealers are SCUMBAGS who do a huge diservice to the entire hobby in general.

They should be tarred and feathered, forced to swallow all their over-priced and over-hyped coins, and then hung while their families watch...

These are exactly the type of greed-driven azzholes who have given capitalism a bad name and are even responsible for the sorry state our nation is in overall!!!....Is it really "anything goes" as long as you make a profit?? I think not.:rant::rant::rant:

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Coin Vault = Con Vault. People become so wrapped up in emotion and hype. If only they would do a little research and shop.
Take care,
Mod1

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Need I remind everyone that "SP70" is NOT a valid coin grade?

It's as "valid" as "First Strike."

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Yeah but nothing is sweeter that giving it back to the scammer the way they deserve. Need I say more than Discovery Coin Vault :D. Those were some sweet ASE for $5 to $11 with nothing more than saying no about a thousand times. Sometime these schmucks offer initial really sweet deals so they can hook you up with extremely overpriced stuff. Just learn to say no and enjoy a cold one while saying "no, thank you" every 30sec no matter what they say :bull-buddy-icon: That was fun. Can't wait until they do it again:tongue_ma:

So sometimes is worth looking at the infomercials and the magazine ads, but of course I would rather find the juicy details here already filtered down

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Oh yeah Discovery Coin Vault loves me long time. I have abused them hard core for Benji Half dollars this past 2 months and before that lets just say I got them really really good on ASEs. They got over $200 off of me and yeah I got a few $5 SAEs.

:tongue_ma:

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To be honest, it makes me sick to see that guy- it's robbery on TV, I hope he sleeps badly.

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And also, for the newbies, only buy graded from NGC and PCGS as a rule. Otherwise, if you don't follow that- I'll grade your coins for you- any coin, any year MS70, PR70.

Only 19.95 a pop.

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They've got me on franklins after the first 2, but I probably gave you a good run on the money on ASEs. Nice to see a fellow SDer (I assume is you, not 2 gansta99 abusing the same deal :D ). BTW, the most efficient way was to get the $5 ASE and the B1G1 offer and return the one you paid. It will make them happier and more eager to close the deal, while you would get in the end 2 eagles for $16 and you would have to say no fewer times:tongue_ma:

But anyway made the commute to work profitable and enjoyable :sarc: at the same time

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i have always found the American grading system to be hilarious, you have the firs strikes, the early releases, the different colored labels, gem, bu, pr dcam and so on, no wonder people get ripped off

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Grading modern bullion coins is a scam.
Grading companies are greedy POS for grading bullion.
These guys selling "rare" bullion at prices >50% over spot should be tied down and have their tongues ripped out.

Re: For Those New to Precious Metals
 

Because they want to get fleeced.


IF IT IS NOT A PROOF COIN IT IS STRAIGHT BULLION....... YOU ARE PAYING EXTRA FOR NOTHING BUT HYPE AND HOOPLA.

T

Re: For Those New to Precious Metals
 

Depends which coins they are. If the massive premium is pretty much because of the rarity of the grade not the relative scarcity of the coin then I agree it would be a scam. Rare modern graded coins are a different kettle of fish altogether. And I'm not talking about rarity in an American sense, I mean less than 5000 pieces for example or <1000 especially.

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I said bullion coins not limited mintage collector stuff although I don't think they should be graded either.

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It's true, you did! :confused_ma:

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LMAO! "Monster Box Now Only $14,999.00"

http://www.morganmint.com/product.cfm?Prod=3126

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Makes me want to CMAO.