by the way, once DECLARED MINTAGE is made, that's it, no more will be minted! You can check with the Perth Mint. Here is the info from there site. When you see Maximum mintage, and then declared mintage...once the number is on the declared mintage side of the ledger, that's it, not more minted!! And as Malachii indicated, the 1 oz have 300k in the case of the Lunar...but the 2 oz or 5 oz or 10 oz...a lot less, so the premium on those many times goes through the roof! But keep the capsule free from scratches, and store them in a dry place!!!! https://www.perthmint.com/documents...nar Silver Bullion Series Two 2008 - 2018.pdf
He is a dealer, man. They can attest better than anyone the safety and high liquidity of basic bullion. He can tell you they will buy ASE all day every day at spot (and then sell it for spot +10% or more) yet they will wiggle and squirm if someone wanted much more than spot price on a few dozen kooks they bring into the shop. He plainly said he makes the best profits off older and higher premium and "collector" coins and the lowest spread on the cheap new stuff (although that is usually their big volume). I'm sure he wishes Perth high end stuff and Queen Beasts and other inflated premium coins were the only type of silver ever made. If they were surely going to be so valuable, they wouldn't sell them, they'd keep most. Instead, they are happy to sell them all... then buy them back around spot later on, when people move on to the next hot thing. The real questions of the day are this: who has ever found kooks or pandas or etc to be sold out? Who sold back a bunch of kooks to a dealer for significant profit? Perth mint buys the kooks at spot (just like they will buy kangaroos or any of their stuff... at spot). Apmex buys them at spot. Most coin shops will buy govt silver at spot (privy or year or art or etc does not matter). It is the same with coin shows. Where are all the buyers, I wonder? I'm sure there are the rare people who sold a small set of kooks or lunar or whatever to another individual on ebay or somewhere for a good profit, but those are the exception... not the rule. All I ever see the kooks sell for is a bit over spot on ebay... or probably spot price at most professional buyers (Perth, shows, shops, apmex, etc). Wrong. They *have potential to* move from being in the bullion category into the numismatic category. Some will, most won't (and will be selling for around spot). Buyers of those coins are paying the premium price for a "maybe." Some buyers like that, all seller bullions/mints/shops of the higher premium coins like that, and that if fine by me. I generally am quite happy to sidestep the primo stuff unless I see something I really like... or get them much later if their premium and/or the spot price goes down. It is like buying baseball cards or stamps or anything in hopes that they may one day become collectible models. Some do, most don't. You never know. As I said above, if what you said was true (that inflated premium bullion will all become numi and valuable), then you would never want to sell any of yours. You would just get them from the mint and put them away for awhile. However, you are happy to sell them all since such a low percent will hold or grow in premium value in the longer term. Likewise, you don't see baseball card shops refusing to sell packs since they will be so valuable in a decade or two... they are happy to sell as many packs and single cards as people will buy! Yep. Everyone has their bias... mints, dealers, numi sellers, numi buyers, miners, stackers, paper metal traders, etc etc etc. That is natural. Your bias is obviously to promote and increase popularity and sales on what gives you the higher premiums. Getting 15% of a $25 or $30 anniversary stamp kook or panda or "collector set" piece is better than 15% on a basic $15 maple or philharmonic. Therefore, selling the dream that the higher priced coins have more potential to shoot the moon in long term value makes perfect sense. I have shops tell me all the time that I should look into premium coins when I show up to buy some basic used bullion. I get it. No worries and thanks for the perspective. I believe it to be obvious, but my bias is to have people think things through and get the most silver ounces and best liquidity for their money. That is generally how to capitalize on silver demand or spot price going up AND be able to sell efficiently and basically anywhere. I find that to generally be accomplished with mostly basic govt bullion. As you've said, volume stacking is mainly after spot price... but plenty of basic bullion can randomly develop a bit of a premium over time (certain years, anniv ones, lower mintage years, etc). When that happens with basic bullion, it is a free bonus and a nice surprise. When it does not, it is no big deal since you did not expect or pay for that (like a premium bullion buyer did). That's why there is something for everyone in metals...
Slyguy, I think you should stick with stacking, which it sounds like you will. We'll pawn all our spotted coins to you - if I find any in my stash, I'll let you know. Thanks for leaving us all the profits for the semi-numi stuff. Lol. You'll be stuck at 14-16 for 20 years, and we'll be sloshing around in the dough, picking up swans for $24 bucks and selling them by the roll for 50, 60 and 70 per coins and higher...sounds like a plan to me. Lol
This Slyguy: "The real questions of the day are this: who has ever found kooks or pandas or etc to be sold out? Who sold back a bunch of kooks to a dealer for significant profit? Perth mint buys the kooks at spot (just like they will buy kangaroos or any of their stuff... at spot). Apmex buys them at spot. Most coin shops will buy govt silver at spot (privy or year or art or etc does not matter). It is the same with coin shows." Apmex a great premium on the older kook stuff (1992 - 2008)...and if they won't some dealer who is has any knowledge of this stuff will...you must be dealing with crack pot coin shops, who are sleaze balls. You need to knock on the doors of dealers who know what they're doing, like Malachii....
slyguy says: 'all I ever see kooks sell for is a bit over spot.' LOL. Are you trying to justify how you maybe bought eagles at 36 (or higher) back in the day, and you are now stuck at $14 - 15 trying to sell them to coin shops? Lol. And now you're trying to throw kooks, lunars, and other semi-numi coins in that same category? I mean really man, you need to wipe the sleep from your eyes. I wouldn't call 2011 Kooks ancient. It may take a little time for the 2018, 2017 to appreciate in value, but you can't throw the kooks in the same category as an eagle, phil, maple - that's just wrong. Evidence AND FACT below. Actual sales of kooks. Dude you are so wrong it's not even funny! What are you smok'n? 2008 https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=2008+kookaburra+1+oz+silver&_in_kw=1&_ex_kw=&_sacat=0&LH_Sold=1&_udlo=&_udhi=&_samilow=&_samihi=&_sadis=15&_stpos=29926&_sargn=-1&saslc=1&_salic=1&_sop=12&_dmd=1&_ipg=200&LH_Complete=1&_fosrp=1 2009 https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...z+silver&LH_Complete=1&LH_Sold=1&_stpos=29926 2010 https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...z+silver&LH_Complete=1&LH_Sold=1&_stpos=29926 2011 https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...plete=1&LH_Sold=1&LH_TitleDesc=0&_stpos=29926 2006 https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...plete=1&LH_Sold=1&LH_TitleDesc=0&_stpos=29926 2004 https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...plete=1&LH_Sold=1&LH_TitleDesc=0&_stpos=29926
Slyguy - I'll try and respond to your post. If I miss something just point it out and I'll try and clarify: All bullion can be highly liquid however not always and not at spot. If you walk into any dealer in Melbourne (Australia) today except us I doubt you would get spot and I would only guarantee spot price for amounts up to 20kg of silver. No one else that I'm aware of is doing spot at the moment. My experience with US dealers is the same although I may stand corrected on that as I haven't been there for 12 months or so. Mostly you'll get spot minus 2-8% for things like ASEs (except for with us - we'll do spot). Depending on the Kook - we'll do spot or spot plus a bit however I have never made it a secret that you would be better selling it privately - same as your used car or anything else. As a shop I have overheads and wages I have to cover never mind the "holding" cost of items which could be hours if I have a buyer in mind or years for some of the rarer things we buy. I do make higher margins on older and collector coins however as you said - I make money out of volumes out of the low premium stuff. You need to understand that making a 200% margin on a collector coin sounds like heaps until you realise I've had to hold the coin for 12 months waiting for the right purchaser. I would prefer to sell low premium in bulk any day. I get small margins (maybe a couple of % if I'm lucky) but I can sell many hundreds or even thousands of ounces a day at that price. If I'm honest I make the big margins from public auctions not from products that people bring in. I give a far too good a price when people come in . Is anything really sold out? I can buy the rarest of rare cars/wines or pretty much anything else you want to come up with and if I have enough money - I can buy it. There are many companies that specialise in finding the "unobtainium". Perth Mint do not buy kooks or anything else back at spot. This is from someone who deals with Perth Mint every day - they have their own version of "spot" (look it up on their website and compare it to kitco). Looking at the current spot and buyback price on PM site right now (114/12/2018 @ 11.13am) spot bid is $20.24 AUD, buyback is $19.63 per Kook and Kitco spot is $20.34. Apmex is similar if you check on their numbers. As of right now - I know of no other coin shop that will buy Govt Silver at spot except us. Depending on the product we buy at spot for resalable products like bars and coins and above spot for coins like kooks/lunars etc but definitely not ASEs. You're cherry picking by using Kooks as there are many others (lunars etc) that sell for far more that spot plus a few % but even with kooks - try and buy a 1990 1oz Kook at spot plus a couple of %. And if you do manage to get them for spot plus 2% - bring them into my shop and I will buy them off you and you will make a good profit. I think to a degree I agree with you. Some will, some won't. But work with me here - if I buy a 2019 1oz Kook or a 1oz ASE is there much difference in price - today? Apmex prices currently are $18.62 US for 1 or $19.42 US for 1 (in Aus the prices are much closer because of the freight on an ASE - the reverse is true in the US for the same reason but let's use the US for now). In 5 years time do you think you will be able to get an extra 80 cents for a Kook that is limited edition rather than a bulk produced, spammed ASE? If you look at Apmex again - the price for a 2014 ASE is $19.81 (and you can still buy them in 500+ lots). The price for a 2014 Kookaburra is $31.81 and they have 56 in stock. End of Part 1 malachii
Part 2 This where you start to lose me. While I cannot tell you exactly which coins will increase in premium faster than basic bullion I can give you high probabilities of which ones will and which ones wont. As the previous example showed - 5 minutes research and I can show you that ASEs wont but there is a good chance that Kooks might. As far as holding them and never selling them as a dealer that is garbage. I make my money from turnover not holding a coin and waiting for premium increase. As a collector I don't care about premium increases. There are some coins that I hold that no matter what price they went for I would be a very reluctant seller. But it is still a comfort to know that when I die - my kids will benefit from the increasing premium above spot. As an investor though I don't make money from turnover or the satisfaction of collecting and I'm happy to hold my coins for increases in premium the same as I hold property for the increases in premium above what it cost me to buy the land and build the house. It is not certain (as the US showed in 2008/2009 for property - but given time it recovered and boomed again) but I know I have done the research to move the odds in my favour. I totally agree - your bias is obvious and that is a good thing. My biases (and yes I have several here - dealer, collector, investor) I hopefully have made obvious as well. There is nothing at all wrong with buying bullion for movements in spot. But I also see nothing wrong with doing a bit of research and paying slightly above bar price to get an item that will probably (not definitely) increase in price irrespective of if spot goes up or down and give me more options of places to sell. With a bar/ASE I can only sell at spot (usually slightly less, occasionally a % or 2 more) to a dealer or fellow bullion buyer. With a kook I can sell it to the same people as the bar/ASE for similar prices but I can also sell it to others for potentially far more. Surely increasing the number of buyers adds to the future security of your purchase. malachii
I don't think Apmex is selling many (any?) of the 2014 Kooks at that price. I would say that because Apmex always over-prices their past year coins (to make current coins look like a good investment... smart business strategy)... and because 2014 kooks seem to go for around $20 on ebay. ...sure, that $20 kook might still be a couple dollars more than ASE from 2014, but I have no idea what the original premiums were. There may be years the ASE outperformed, but I don't know. The main factor is that the kooks probably re-sale better and quicker in AU while the eagles do better in USA. To me, they're both roughly spot when I go to sell them, so cost to buy and liquidity is the tiebreak. Yes, we are all in agreement. It is about the same here. Liquid, or what you term resalable, things (aka bullion from the native country's mint or widely collected sets) will be at spot, and slower moving ones the dealer might have to sit on will probably be bought for less. It is obviously easier to sell anything when silver prices are rising and overall turnover is higher. I guess collecting the local fare of coinage is probably best for most buyers... and that's what I mainly focus on stacking. I also fully agree that the places that sell the coins are usually not the best places for buyers to sell back to (since selling new stuff is their game, not so much resale). Nonetheless, shops the are quick and easy, so sellers pay a convenience fee of sorts. It is often a win-win. The shops also might luck out where people sell some coins to buy others during the same visit. For me, shops are usually much better than paying 13% ebay and paypal, paying postage, packing it and going to post... and still risking buyer scam or problems, often for just selling coins one by one (or paying high post + insurance to sell rolls or large quantities). The best prices I ever buy (and the worst I hear asked) tends to be pawn shops, which are obviously a terrible place to ever sell coins (since they are the loan business, not resale). Their stock of coins is obviously quite unpredictable and erratic since it is probably just ones that were stolen or needed to be sold in emergency, but it is still a fun to try once in awhile. ...in my area, it is almost opposite from yours: ASE can be sold for spot at shops almost automatically, and non-USA bullion might get a bit less than spot. I'm sure that in Oz, Perth stuff gets spot from shops easier than ASE or other foreign coins could. That is why I'd be surprised if Apmex - being American with mostly USA customers - doesn't buy back basic ASE for equal or a bit more than most basic Perth and other foreign govt bullion? Here, even in a grindy or downtrodden silver market, I think I'd have no problem getting rid of a few rolls or even a box of ASE for spot nearly any day by making a couple stops at stores, yet I'd have real problems selling any more than maybe a single roll of silver kangaroos or maples or Brits or philharms without giving up 5% or so. For some of those, I wouldn't mind losing 5% since I tend to pay a lower premium than ASE, but they often won't buy nearly as many of the foreign coins since they know it will take them awhile to sell them. I might get a "we can take one roll, and try back in a week or two with another." Hence, I buy mainly ASE; the slightly higher premium is not quite worth the slightly higher buyback... but the nearly limitless liquidity is the real value. The funny thing is, that local vs foreign gap tends not to be the case with gold coins... those are usually spot buyback at shops regardless of mint (and often regardless of govt or generic rounds). Thank you for the very good overall info and perspective from a dealer/shop, malachii. Good stuff. I definitely didn't know Perth spot was not the same as real spot. Yes, exactly. That is how any business makes its bread and butter. We are on the same page. Best of luck in your biz!
2003 1oz Kook => $35 [SOLD] 2004 1oz Kook => $36 [SOLD] 2005 1oz Kook => $38 [SOLD] 2007 1oz Kook => $36 [SOLD] 2008 1oz Kook => $39 (4x available) [SOLD] recently traded in this forum, so prices may not be as high as those on eBay bidding + fees etc none the less there is some ratio working in ounces here, for a new kook going about $26...old kook cost about 1.5 x at $39 two for every three new ones, market forces at work...$3 step up etc
I don't want to harp on this but it is important if you are to consider all aspects of investing in precious metals. ASEs will only ever follow spot. Kooks will always follow spot plus a premium. On your link there are NO Kooks at or around $20. The cheapest is $26 and many selling up to and including a price of $50 including postage. The most expensive ASE was $26 and I would argue that was an odd one as most sold for $20 or less. So in your example - worst case scenario you get the same. Best case you get more than 100% more. I would say it is well worth the small amount you paid extra. The original premiums on Kooks above ASEs has always been around the 80 cents to a dollar in the US. There has never been a year where Kooks have been valued at less than ASEs. Why would they. They are both 1oz of 999 silver and an ASE does not command a premium above spot. I would also challenge the notion that an ASE would sell better in the USA than a Kook. Whenever I have taken Kooks to the States (or anywhere else in the world) I have been run over in the rush to buy them from me at good premiums. I have never seen, experienced or heard of that with ASEs even in the States without discounting. I can't comment on how many Kooks Apmex is selling and what their pricing mechanisms are but I would be surprised if they would overprice a product to drive sales to a lower priced/lower margin product. It doesn't make business sense. I know of NO bullion/coin dealer in the world that would offer less for a Kook than an ASE. If you can show me one I would show you a shop/dealer that either a) is incompetent and has NO idea what he is doing or b) is a thief. Either way I would suggest you never deal with them again. Even (epecially!) in the USA there is a great respect for the Perth Mint products and no dealer would ever value them at less than an ASE. Ever. Again - why would they? An ASE is a 1oz 999 silver product. It has no rarity and very little collector value. There is no difference from one year to the next except a small year number on the back. At worst you could argue the Kook was a 1oz 999 Silver product and that is the worst you can say about it. Even though it is produced by a foreign (ie Non US mint) it still commands a world wide premium over and above any basic bullion product. Again - there is not a respectable bullion/coin dealer in the world that would value a Kook at a lower value than an ASE. If you walked into our shop on Monday with a load of ASEs - the best price I would pay would be spot irrespective of the year. If you walked in with Kooks - irrespective of the year - the least I would pay you would be spot. As I said earlier - I would not consider Kangaroos, Maples, Britannias or Philharmonics "Collectible Bullion". They are the same as ASEs. No future rarity or collector premium will be built in them. But you can purchase such things as Lunars or Kooks at almost the same price which will have future premium growth over and above spot price increases and this can and has been proven over time many times over. I am not overall disagreeing with a lot of what you say. As I said in a previous post - there is definite validity in buying bullion to position yourself for a move in spot. I just think people need to also see that by doing a bit of research and paying a small premium above normal bullion bar price you can get added insurance in the case where spot prices do not do what you thought they would do. I can't tell you the number of people we had buying bars at $30+ an oz telling me that spot was "going to the moon" only to have it fall back within 6 months to below $30 and then work it's way back to below $20 over the following couple of years. If they had bought Kooks, Lunars or several other of the "slightly above spot price" bullion coins that had future collector value - they would have protected themselves from a lot of that fall and if they had held until now they would be in front - unlike the guys still holding bars bought at twice the current spot price. Just out of curiosity - why would you buy ASEs and not Maples if you wanted to get just plain bullion? At Apmex Maples are 5% cheaper than ASEs so you would be able to buy more overall for $$ and get more exposure to the spot price movements and if you are only giving up that 5% when you sell surely they are a better buy? malachii
Malachii - spot on!! I’m so thankful that when spot price of eagles were 30 or so several years ago, I dumped every single one of them (1500) and bought rolls and rolls of kooks (during the re-minting phase everyone was up in arms about)! And man oh man, I’m thankful I did. Because my eagles would be worth about 14.75, but my kooks in the Perth rolls from 1992 through 2006 are worth hell of a lot more than those eagles. I suggest that folks heed your advice, especially if they can buy the kooks and lunar for just a smattering more than eagles...all day, every day, period end of story!!!!!!!!
Yes, I realize that. But that is in Australia, where Perth is on a pedestal. I think it might be the opposite for most of the USA, though. Usually, either the ASE and kooks are both worth spot when you trade them in. In the USA, they will typically buy equal or more volume on the ASE coins. So, in Aust, kook might win on price and they tie on liquidity... in USA, they might tie on price and ASE might win on liquidity. Again, locality and the shop's ability to sell them soon is the main thing. They all make their money on turnover, as you attested to earlier. A shop in USA might be able to sell ASE for $17 and price kooks for $18-20, but if they took in 100 of each (at spot), the ASE volume would turn over by the end of the month... while the kooks might take a year to sell all 100. Even if they hypothetically can make twice as much (above their spot buy price) on the kooks, it will probably take them ten times longer to do the sale with few buyers grabbing a kook or two while the ASEs get bought up quickly by the dozen. A lot depends on locality. I think the best advice for any new stacker is to collect their local govt bullion for max liquidity and ability to re-sell. Our main difference in viewpoints is simply that we are on different sides of the pond. I am looking at both price and liquidity, though. With your logic, if I were simply hunting for lowest premiums, I would be best buying pre-1964 junk 90% USA silver or generic silver rounds or bars, but those are not as liquid and will often be penalized on the buyback both in % below spot and limited quantity which I can sell (if they even want to buy any at all). I want stuff that is cheap yet liquid, so that means highly recognized govt bullion... I wish it wasn't that way, but that is how it is. I do buy mainly Maples as my new bullion. I pick up whatever silver govt bullion is cheapest (usually Maples) for my new or random year coins from bullion dealers and eBay auctions and best offers. If Elephants or Kangaroos or whatever were on sale, that's what I'd buy. It is almost always the Maples, though... occasionally Phils or Brits or something else if there is a good sale or motivated eBay seller that takes my offer for his lot of coins... or gets few bids on his auction. I do the same thing with gold... cheapest .9167 stuff I can find (between AGE, Keugerrands, pre-1933, and sovereigns). ASE are just easier to find and easier to sell in the USA, though. Most shops here currently try to get spot + $1 or $1.50 for generic rounds, spot + $2 for maples, and spot +$2.50 or more for ASE. Like I mentioned, the ASE can also generally be sold in large quantity more quickly and easily. That is worth something. A large quantity of Maples or ASE would generally not be treated equally, even in northern US. Most shops would want maybe one tube of Maples but would take many tubes of the ASE. Big shops might take nearly unlimited quantity of both, but the 5% more is generally worth the improved overall liquidity on ASE... at least for part of my stack. You are comparing apples to oranges. You talk about "when the spot price of eagles were 30" (aka 2011, 2012, and early 2013)... and then you compare it to "my kooks in the Perth rolls from 1992 through 2006" (when silver spot was much lower). That makes no sense.
Back in approximately 2012 (which is what barsenault is referring to) the Perth Mint decided to mint all the previous Kookaburras that hadn't hit their maximum mintage at that time. That meant that the market was flooded with "brand new" minted Kookaburras from 1992 through to 2006 years that were all minted by the Perth Mint in 2012. You could buy the new mint kooks (dated 1992 through to 2006 even though produced in 2012) at very little above the price of an ASE. The premiums contracted and there was a huge outcry and backlash against anything Kookaburra. Almost everyone dumped the Kooks they were holding and swore they would never touch a Kook again. I was buying Kooks at spot hand over fist of every year - even the 1990s. It was seriously a case of people throwing the baby out with the bath water. Within 6 months the premiums had pretty much returned to where they were prior to the remint. This is the period that barsenault is talking about. He traded in his ASEs and immediately picked up Kooks of various years for very little extra premium. This would have been done at exactly the same time. In the 6 years since - the price of silver and therefore ASEs has gone down to below $20. At the same time his Kookaburras (that he exchanged his ASEs for) have increased in value to $35+ each. Again - a good example of why a little research can provide you with insurance against adverse moves in spot for very little extra cost above the price of a straight bullion coin/bar. As an aside - I would be very curious if you could ask your local coin dealer if they would balk at buying a serious number (1000+) of Kookaburras. I have never heard of it anywhere - even with the smaller dealers in Europe and the States. We almost all talk and trade between ourselves. If someone walks into a shop with a huge number of Kooks or similar (not rare or obscure coins) - most shops would buy them and then instantly start selling them to their contacts at other shops so they weren't hurt by spot or cashflow problems. Admittedly you probably wouldn't get as great a premium as you would selling them in individual rolls but even still - I'd be very surprised if you couldn't move as many Kooks as ASEs just as easily even in a small US coin shop and still get at least as much as an ASE (but I would expect you'd get more). malachii
Slyguy, sorry for the confusion. Malachii, hit the nail on the head. PM did a re-mint of prior years, and thankfully I was lucky, and sold all my ASE’s and dumped it all into the kooks 1992 - 2006, and even continued to buy as many rolls as I could during that time...and I’m thankful I did...I still have them...still pristine...yes, vacuum sealed, in air-tite containers, with moisture absorbers...I know, I know...call me nuts...but it’s worked for me over the last 6 or so years.
That is totally insane. I've heard of that with vintage trading cards or sports cards or magazines being reprinted for profits (and drawing the ire of collectors). "Re-issue" with coins? Govt coins? Never would have dreamed that. Wow. As if I didn't have enough reason to stay out of the numi markets already, haha. That would be like the US Mint deciding to just start pumping out shiny mint 1950s Ben Franklin 90% silver half dollars next year. People would flip out. Lol I can check with coin stores and at shows if they buy kooks and if they'd buy a monster box of them. I will tell you that half would probably not buy that many of anything (I have had even ASE limited to 100 or even been told "come back next week" in the past). The "We Buy Gold" and pawn shops would always buy them... but probably at spot minus 10% or worse, same as scrap jewelry or generic rounds. The coin stores are starting to be a dying breed due to online bullion dealers beating them on price and eBay having more numismatic selection, though. I don't know if their cash flow is where it once was. It is really the same with nearly any USA brick and mortar business outside food or clothing: people may walk in, but they often just check their phone to price compare, find it cheaper on Amazon or somewhere, and usually leave without buying anything. A lot of coin stores I've walked into in the last couple years don't have much of anything in stock, everything is highly overpriced, and some even tell me "we can order you any coins you want" (for about 10%+ above Apmex)... so I imagine those will soon be gone. The few coin shops that are left and still thriving haven't survived by overpaying for coins or buying mass amounts of coins that have low liquidity locally. There just aren't many USA stores or coin show vendors that have the Perth coins at all. At the main coin show I attend a few times annually, I would estimate only about 5 of the approx. 25 vendors has any Perth stuff... and even fewer would probably want to buy Perth. The savvy coin shops and vendors basically just seem to survive by buying gold and silver stuff with good resale value and liquidity for spot or below. As soon as the shops that "get it" buy something as a trade-in, the smart ones have it sold already or quickly list it on eBay and put it in their display case also... happy to take whichever method will sell first. In the USA, liquidity and volume mostly means ASE, Maples, pre-1964 junk silver, Morgans and Peace dollars, generic silver rounds and bars, AGE and Buffalo, pre-1933 gold, generic gold, and not a whole lot else. Most of the remaining stores that are in my area also have some other business within the same shop also (stamps, sports cards, guns or knives, crafts, pawn, antiques, etc)... and one is a shop that deals only in high premium and older hard-to-find numi stuff, so they don't buy or sell basics at all. I am certainly glad the coin stores all exist, and I hope they continue to. I look forward to doing business with all of them, but I'm not too optimistic about many of them. Their existence is what allows me to hold substantial physical amounts of metal, though. And physical is the only way I want to own it. If they all closed up, I would probably cut metals to 1% or less of my overall portfolio, and I would possibly just trade unallocated gold and silver online once in awhile.
I think, the thief would know when those coins dealers that sell on eBay, they steal them in Post office or after they reach the warehouse centers so I stop buying with eBay for sometime at the end of the day, it comes to the market size, if the amount unloaded at one place, it is going to impact those so call premium of that particular coins being dumped there are just few thousands here and there of buyers in each forums countries, wherever bunkers they may be if you just have 1 kind of coin, unless you forgot about it, they are just calling into question what are you in need a few monsters boxes of these for ??? you can always stacks other things like gold which may be more space conscious for the kooks, was 1991 up to 2006, re-mint up to the mintage limits...the noise was just too horrible and loud that mint call it to a stop...but at least we had a chance to complete these kook sets nonetheless this had provided us a good life example for comparisons of what is better performer during certain market conditions
I would have thought that the risk is on the ebay seller, if you don't receive the package, you can request for a refund? Lost in mail is the reason why I'm hesitant on buying any valuable stuff through mail, our Singpost is notorious for losing packages. Even stuff toys that cost $12 can be lost in mail. Singpost even declares publicly that they are not liable for any parcel from overseas that is lost in their mailing system. So it doesn't matter if you're using courier or express, the moment it reaches Singpost, it can be lost without implication because all overseas parcels are not tracked. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/youve-got-mail-but-its-lost-in-transit
it is categorically eBay, warehouse centers problem in USA, no issue with Australia Post, SingPost nor USPS, EU UK or other places, all items are received un-tampered a bit doubtful with UK centres as well... since eBay forced people to select their service or other you know when 5/5 of your items are tempered with...then the problem is real, they can not be just a coincidence
