Beware of overpriced coins

Many gold investors become not clients of the coin dealers they hook up with but become victims of those firms. Over pricing of so-called numismatic and collectible coins is a major problem that Bill Haynes, president of CMI Gold & Silver Inc., has rallied against for decades.

In the mid-1980s, he first wrote about these coin dealers’ practices in his hardcopy newsletter, Monetary Digest. His most famous piece, Myths, Misunderstandings and Outright Lies, is one of the most popular pages on this website. Today, Bill is not alone in warning against falling for telemarketers’ stories.

Telemarketers are under attack across the country. In some cases, government agencies have filed lawsuits. In other instances, private individuals are suing. In Texas, a major class action suit was filed against a consortium of firms. And, a member of Congress has gone on the attack.

Over the years, we have heard some absolute horror stories about people who have bought from telemarketers. Some suffered 50% loses the moment they wrote their checks. Telemarketer markups of 30% are in the low range; 70% are probably not uncommon; and, a few firms actually mark up their coins 100%.

Such markups are unconscionable, considering that gold bullion coins can be bought with premiums of 5% to 7% and even lower for large purchases.

We are hoping that the information on this page will alert investors to the dangers of buying overpriced coins.