Coin purchases don’t live up to claims

[theo]

A very sad, but predictable scenario.

http://heraldnews.suntimes.com/business ... laims.html

D ear Mr. Berko: During the past 25 years, I purchased more than $47,000 in collectible silver coins and beautiful non-silver coins from the Franklin Mint for my retirement because I thought the scarcity and limited-edition minting of these coins would drive up their value over the years and because I believed the silver content in the silver coins would also increase in value. Now I’m 64 and decided to sell these coins to a coin dealer who offered me $2,500 for the whole lot. He told me most of the coins were worthless, and the only coins that had any value were those with silver in them. I was devastated because when I was buying all those coins, the people at the Franklin Mint told me these coins were minted in limited production and would be more valuable to collectors in the future. I called two coin dealers in Detroit (these coins are too bulky to carry around) and both said they had no interest in Franklin Mint coins and said they don’t know any dealers who would buy them from me. My son told me to write you because he said you might know of buyers for them, and at this point I’d be very happy to get at least half of what I paid for them if possible. Please help me if you can. And if you cannot help me, do you think I can sue the Franklin Mint and recover my cost? And could you recommend a lawyer for me to sue them?

DA

Click the link to read the reporter's response.


"A fool and his money are lucky to get together in the first place"

Gorden Gecko

[Copper Catcher]

The Franklin Mint or the US Mint. I'd say both are selling lots of bull most of the time!

Lets be honest and think about the money people have spent in the past and in the present on Bicentennial Quarters, Presidential Dollars, State Quarters and the list goes on and on.

"The Hobby" is being killed little by little in my opinion. The following is a decent article that points out some of the problems:

Problems of the Hobby
http://www.acoin.com/hoprobs.htm

I hope at some point before it is too late all the bad guys will get weeded out. However it is hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys nowadays!

[Thogey]

DA, the complainer, is a MORON!

Get an lawyer? that's the answer to everything!

I hope he does and spends the rest of his money in a legal battle trying to correct his own stupid decisions.

This is what is wrong with America.

[Bluegill]

D ear Mr. Berko: During the past 25 years, I purchased more than $47,000 in collectible silver coins and beautiful non-silver coins from the Franklin Mint for my retirement because I thought the scarcity and limited-edition minting of these coins would drive up their value over the years and because I believed the silver content in the silver coins would also increase in value. Now I’m 64 and decided to sell these coins to a coin dealer who offered me $2,500 for the whole lot. He told me most of the coins were worthless, and the only coins that had any value were those with silver in them. I was devastated because when I was buying all those coins, the people at the Franklin Mint told me these coins were minted in limited production and would be more valuable to collectors in the future. I called two coin dealers in Detroit (these coins are too bulky to carry around) and both said they had no interest in Franklin Mint coins and said they don’t know any dealers who would buy them from me. My son told me to write you because he said you might know of buyers for them, and at this point I’d be very happy to get at least half of what I paid for them if possible. Please help me if you can. And if you cannot help me, do you think I can sue the Franklin Mint and recover my cost? And could you recommend a lawyer for me to sue them?

I hate to sound cold hearted, but come on. A little common sense goes a long way. This individual comes across as the type who believes everything he is told without a second thought. This is the by-product of expecting somebody else to do your thinking for you.

I feel bad for the guy, but going by his claims, the Franklin Mint didn't do anything wrong. They offered a product and an opinion of future worth. He's a grown competent man, it's up to the individual to do some due diligence. He chose to believe it as if it were the gospel.

He made his bed now he needs to sleep in it...

[theo]

A few things occurred to me as I was reading your responses.

1. Its curious that Congress hasn't gone after Franklin Mint and their ilk with the same energy that they attacked Goldline, who is at least marketing wealth protection (albeit at a high price). None of GL's clients have lost 95% of their investment.

2. From what I've seen Franklin Mint's advertising method, while highly unethical, is completely legal. Their business model depends on the uneducated consumer. To paraphrase Churchill; never in the history of mankind, have so many had so much money with so little understanding of real value.

[fb101]

Franklin mint is history now, isn't it?

[Thogey]

Churchill "Never in the history of human conflict, have so many, owed so much, to so few"

This was regarding the awesome performance of the RAF during the battle of Britain.

I recently bought a pile of 'collector plates' at a garage sale. I bought them for under a buck each. These plates have invoices for up to $50 in the original boxes.

I don't know weather to use them for target practice or BBQ parties. This 'RIP' lady thought they were a good investment.

Where does this crap come from?

[Rodebaugh]

Should have bought less coins and more collector plates.....those things are better than silver!

[theo]

http://www.franklinmint.com/collectible ... coins.html

They still seem to be in business, but they are run by a private equity firm out NYC according to Wikipedia. And they do sell gold and silver coins, but they are wildly over-priced. $3300 for a one ounce AGE.

[Thogey]

I've never been able to get more than about 85% of spot for franklin mint art bars.

Their silver is worth a little more than scrap value.

[CtrlAltBernanke]

WAIT! Does this mean that the $10,000 of Obama coins I bought from Montel Williams in 08' aren't going to be worth anything when I retire? *Sarcasm*

[audinut]

A local car dealer here just ran a promo where my wife and father both were promised a "gold" coin, and free hotel stay. My father and I were laughing about it and wondering what you would really get. My wife went, the gold coin was a Sacagawea.

[Chief]

Thing is coins with Ag or Ag are worth money, but you cannot overpay for them. BS commemorative coins and the like are BS.
This person got f'd by someone, themselves. Get rich quick scheme thinking backfired, and the first thing the person thinks of to make this f'up right is to get a lawyer. Sad thing is there are many, many people out there that think just like this. From weak hands to strong, as the saying goes. I see it everyday. The average person is a f'ing idiot. Makes honest, intelligent people, like many on this board, and their thoughts/opinions invaluable.

[Treetop]

47k on coins from a private mint? honestly Im to baffled to respond past that.

[Morsecode]

Manufactured collectibles rarely are. How anyone can think that a thing in current production is rare enough to increase in value is a sad commentary on American gullibility.

I'm reminded of the demise of baseball cards: start with something legitimately collectible, saturate the market with "limited" editions, bundle them in deal-of-a-lifetime offerings...repeat until the music stops.

Saw an ad in the paper here for 10,000 cards in unopened packs for $99. Wonder how that worked out.

[cesariojpn]

Manufactured collectibles rarely are. How anyone can think that a thing in current production is rare enough to increase in value is a sad commentary on American gullibility.

I'm reminded of the demise of baseball cards: start with something legitimately collectible, saturate the market with "limited" editions, bundle them in deal-of-a-lifetime offerings...repeat until the music stops.

Saw an ad in the paper here for 10,000 cards in unopened packs for $99. Wonder how that worked out.

Comic Book market as well. Variant covers, fly-by-night publishers, gimmicks in the 90's to early 2000's. Most of it now are considered to be glorified wastepaper.

Full disclosure: I do have a pile of 90's comics languishing in a box in my closet somewhere. I'll be lucky to even recoup 5% of what I spent on them back, if ever.

[My2Cents]

I can't believe he actually thought he'd have a retirement based upon a Franklin Mint collection....

[Hawkeye]

Caveat emptor. Always pay attention to what you're doing and what you're investing in.

When I was about 12-14 years old, I thought I was going to fund my retirement with baseball cards. Of course, I was in junior high and have since grown slightly more intelligent. On a side note, does anyone want to buy several thousand dollars worth of baseball cards?

[Diggin4copper]

A friend of mine had an Aunt who sent his kids Beanie Babies... She owned a gift store.. they had all the rare ones.. He was offered 5 grand for the collection. I told him to sell as fast as he could. He decided to wait; "Ill be able to pay for their college education" is what he said to me.........

[barrytrot]

DA, the complainer, is a MORON!

Get an lawyer? that's the answer to everything!

I hope he does and spends the rest of his money in a legal battle trying to correct his own stupid decisions.

This is what is wrong with America.

I agree other than it's not the only thing wrong with America.

This guy has zero leg to stand on though anyway unless somehow the Franklin Mint included a "guarantee of price escalation" document.

25 years ago the rules on sales weren't super strict.

[barrytrot]

A friend of mine had an Aunt who sent his kids Beanie Babies... She owned a gift store.. they had all the rare ones.. He was offered 5 grand for the collection. I told him to sell as fast as he could. He decided to wait; "Ill be able to pay for their college education" is what he said to me.........

Every year there is the "get rich quick" idea of the century.

You know what? I know a good number of rich people and all the ones I asked told me, "they got rich SLOW."

The only "get rich quick" idea that works is winning the lottery or other prize. The only other thing is insane levels of athletic talent. And even that takes years of cultivation generally.

[slickeast]

A friend of mine had an Aunt who sent his kids Beanie Babies... She owned a gift store.. they had all the rare ones.. He was offered 5 grand for the collection. I told him to sell as fast as he could. He decided to wait; "Ill be able to pay for their college education" is what he said to me.........

When something is hot, make as much as you can as fast as you can. As soon as it cools off 1 degree, dump it and move on. We have seen this with the 2009 pennies and the 25th American silver eagle sets.

[twoten01]

Manufactured collectibles rarely are. How anyone can think that a thing in current production is rare enough to increase in value is a sad commentary on American gullibility.

I'm reminded of the demise of baseball cards: start with something legitimately collectible, saturate the market with "limited" editions, bundle them in deal-of-a-lifetime offerings...repeat until the music stops.

Saw an ad in the paper here for 10,000 cards in unopened packs for $99. Wonder how that worked out.

Baseball cards are doing amazingly well, alot of cards will outpace any metal in terms of % gained on your inital investment, they actually sell boxes now for $500 for 1 pack with 8 or 9 cards in it, crazy but the hobby has never been doing better. I recently sold a Ken Griffey Jr rookie card from 1989 Upper Deck, it was grading a BGS 9.5( I paid $200) I sent it back in for regrading and got a BGS 10(only around 75 out of 26,000 have graded a BGS10) and sold it for $1040, so after ebay fees and grading fees, I made over $700 in 4 business days, and there are 10's of thousand's of these same deals every day on ebay, you just need to knolw what cards to look for.

But I dont collect cardboard, the second I get the cash, I buy more silver.

[BamaJoe]

I gotta contact this guy. I have some pet rocks that I'm sure he would be interested in.

[PMLurker]

Every year there is the "get rich quick" idea of the century.

You know what? I know a good number of rich people and all the ones I asked told me, "they got rich SLOW."

The only "get rich quick" idea that works is winning the lottery or other prize. The only other thing is insane levels of athletic talent. And even that takes years of cultivation generally.

Great post!

When I was much younger, I met a gentleman that was quite wealthy. I asked him the secret to being a millionaire and this what he told me, "Kid, if you want to have a million dollars in the bank, don't spend a million dollars."