This is an article I wrote a while ago, having become frustrated at the long winded, keyword stuffed "guides" which too several lenghty pages to deliver some pretty basic information. So, I wrote my own and published it.
US Mint Marks
Monday, August 8, 2011
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Listia - Viable Ebay Alternative?
Listia is a great place to find good quality coins which are basically free. They have just celebrated their 2nd anniversary and are becoming pretty well established. It's pretty much an ebay clone minus the corporate greed. It's not quite as user friendly but once you get used to it's quirks, peculiarities and limitations it is great. I've been using it to trade coins and other collectables for a while now and I'm very favourably impressed.
First of all there are no fees to buy or sell, they make their cut by selling points. Points are what you use to bid with. Now here's the really neat part, you get a sign on bonus using the link below, of 400 points (to buy 400 points would cost you $20). Most of the coins have free shipping so you can pick up a nice piece for free. It gets better, by the time you have done the tutorial, linked to Twitter & Facebook, place a bid or two, listed your first item, you should have around 750 points. That's an awful lot of free bidding power.
http://www.listia.com/signup/678498
Coins are listed as a sub-category of "Collectables". If you intend to list a few items, then offer free shipping. That way no money changes hands and you are not going to be liable for the $30 PayPal charges you for fraudulent chargebacks. Listia is becoming more and more established (I don't think the generous sign on bonuses will be around once they get a bigger user base) and if they begin to eat into ebay's market, then the ebay management might start cutting their inflated fees, dealing with the fraudulent listings and protedting honest sellers. It's a win/win for coin collectors.
I have no idea how practical Listia may be for non-US users at the moment. Many of the coins offer free shipping to the US only but some ship internationally. As you can't use your points to pay for shipping you will either have to add this to the calculation or find sellers in your own country.
First of all there are no fees to buy or sell, they make their cut by selling points. Points are what you use to bid with. Now here's the really neat part, you get a sign on bonus using the link below, of 400 points (to buy 400 points would cost you $20). Most of the coins have free shipping so you can pick up a nice piece for free. It gets better, by the time you have done the tutorial, linked to Twitter & Facebook, place a bid or two, listed your first item, you should have around 750 points. That's an awful lot of free bidding power.
http://www.listia.com/signup/678498
Coins are listed as a sub-category of "Collectables". If you intend to list a few items, then offer free shipping. That way no money changes hands and you are not going to be liable for the $30 PayPal charges you for fraudulent chargebacks. Listia is becoming more and more established (I don't think the generous sign on bonuses will be around once they get a bigger user base) and if they begin to eat into ebay's market, then the ebay management might start cutting their inflated fees, dealing with the fraudulent listings and protedting honest sellers. It's a win/win for coin collectors.
I have no idea how practical Listia may be for non-US users at the moment. Many of the coins offer free shipping to the US only but some ship internationally. As you can't use your points to pay for shipping you will either have to add this to the calculation or find sellers in your own country.
Monday, August 1, 2011
A Profitable Trade
I bought a collection of 100+ mostly British Commonwealth coins for $5 at a flea market this weekend. Because of the extreme temperatures we've been getting, attendance was down and sellers were looking to make a deal wherever they could. Buyers were too tired to haggle. I didn't even look at the coins closely - a superficial glance to make sure it wasn't absolute junk. A closer examination of dates and cataloging would have to wait until I'm back home in the AC.
So, much later, armed with an iced tea and my trusty loupe I'm quickly finding several very nice coins, a 1935 50 Reichpfennig, 1926 Straits Settlements Cent, 1658 French Liard, it's looking like a great buy already. Of course there is a lot of junk in there too, but already it's clear I'm going to get my $5 back several times over. Then I find the star of the show.......
A 1947 Canada 5 Cent in pretty good condition, somewhere between a VF and EF, with the much prized "dot" after the seven. It's worth around $60 conservatively.
As coin collectors "war stories" go I reckon mine is pretty modest but I'm pleased. I have a dozen or so highly collectable coins with a combined value well in excess of $150 plus about 20 fillers.
So, much later, armed with an iced tea and my trusty loupe I'm quickly finding several very nice coins, a 1935 50 Reichpfennig, 1926 Straits Settlements Cent, 1658 French Liard, it's looking like a great buy already. Of course there is a lot of junk in there too, but already it's clear I'm going to get my $5 back several times over. Then I find the star of the show.......
A 1947 Canada 5 Cent in pretty good condition, somewhere between a VF and EF, with the much prized "dot" after the seven. It's worth around $60 conservatively.
As coin collectors "war stories" go I reckon mine is pretty modest but I'm pleased. I have a dozen or so highly collectable coins with a combined value well in excess of $150 plus about 20 fillers.
Friday, July 29, 2011
E-Bay Rant
Have you noticed how E-bay is fast losing all credibility as a coin trading venue due to their inability, or more accurately unwillingness, to deal with the crooks and scam artists who are infesting it in ever increasing numbers?
I am seriously considering stopping selling there after many years, mainly because of the fraudulent charge back issue. This has always been a problem, buyers pay by credit card then contest the charges once they have received the coins. It's happened to me twice now, although not recently as I am very rigid about who I will trade with. To add insult to injury, PayPal, which is owned by E-bay, charge you $30 each time.
The cost of shipping is another factor and while E-bay are not responsible for that, they insist on very expensive proof of mailing / delivery in order for you to qualify for their seller protection. It's not at all unusual for the shipping costs to exceed the value of the coins.
So the outlook for sellers is not good but what about buyers?
There are so many scams going on it's hard to imagine that E-bay can continue with it's hands off approach for much longer. Honest sellers are being squeezed out by the crooks.
There are hundreds of rolls of "unsearched" wheat pennies on offer every single day. It's strange how they always, I mean ALWAYS, have an Indian Head cent showing at each end of the roll. It's an absolute certainty that the other 48 coins will be worthless 1940's and 1950's cents. The odds on this happening with a single "unsearched" roll are very long indeed. The likelihood of it happening hundreds of times a day is non existent. It's a scam. Unscrupuluos traders are getting rid of face value coins by stuffing them in between two desireable ones. Of course, they claim the rolls are "unsearched" and that they have no idea what's in them, which means the hapless buyer has no grounds for complaint.
How about the guy who finds hidden treasure several times every week? This guy is a real classic. Coin collectors dream of finding a hoard of valuable coins, in the attic, hidden inside a wall.....just once in a lifetime would be great. This lucky individual has found coins hidden inside a grandfather clock, in a secret, hidden room of his house (I mean, really, you have a room in your house which you never noticed?), you name it, he's found hidden coins there.
The buyer thinks it's a great opportunity to pick up some old coins and gets a bunch of pocket change. To make the deal seem better some of the coins are shown in slabbed cases. Unfortunately the slabbed coins are still pocket change, graded by a very disreputable company and worthless. The company is owned and operated by none other than our miracle coin finder.
This guy must have an inexhaustable supply of "hidden treasure" because he has been running this little caper for years now and despite hundreds of complaints and massive negative rating he is still there. Of course word has spread around and no experienced collector would dream of trading with him but there is a steady stream of new victims every day. E-bay won't act because they take a very nice cut of the thousands of trades he does every week.
Predictably several aliases are now being used, selling the same trash, using the same stock photos and even trading from the same address.
Perhaps E-bay just haven't noticed yet.
I am seriously considering stopping selling there after many years, mainly because of the fraudulent charge back issue. This has always been a problem, buyers pay by credit card then contest the charges once they have received the coins. It's happened to me twice now, although not recently as I am very rigid about who I will trade with. To add insult to injury, PayPal, which is owned by E-bay, charge you $30 each time.
The cost of shipping is another factor and while E-bay are not responsible for that, they insist on very expensive proof of mailing / delivery in order for you to qualify for their seller protection. It's not at all unusual for the shipping costs to exceed the value of the coins.
So the outlook for sellers is not good but what about buyers?
There are so many scams going on it's hard to imagine that E-bay can continue with it's hands off approach for much longer. Honest sellers are being squeezed out by the crooks.
There are hundreds of rolls of "unsearched" wheat pennies on offer every single day. It's strange how they always, I mean ALWAYS, have an Indian Head cent showing at each end of the roll. It's an absolute certainty that the other 48 coins will be worthless 1940's and 1950's cents. The odds on this happening with a single "unsearched" roll are very long indeed. The likelihood of it happening hundreds of times a day is non existent. It's a scam. Unscrupuluos traders are getting rid of face value coins by stuffing them in between two desireable ones. Of course, they claim the rolls are "unsearched" and that they have no idea what's in them, which means the hapless buyer has no grounds for complaint.
How about the guy who finds hidden treasure several times every week? This guy is a real classic. Coin collectors dream of finding a hoard of valuable coins, in the attic, hidden inside a wall.....just once in a lifetime would be great. This lucky individual has found coins hidden inside a grandfather clock, in a secret, hidden room of his house (I mean, really, you have a room in your house which you never noticed?), you name it, he's found hidden coins there.
The buyer thinks it's a great opportunity to pick up some old coins and gets a bunch of pocket change. To make the deal seem better some of the coins are shown in slabbed cases. Unfortunately the slabbed coins are still pocket change, graded by a very disreputable company and worthless. The company is owned and operated by none other than our miracle coin finder.
This guy must have an inexhaustable supply of "hidden treasure" because he has been running this little caper for years now and despite hundreds of complaints and massive negative rating he is still there. Of course word has spread around and no experienced collector would dream of trading with him but there is a steady stream of new victims every day. E-bay won't act because they take a very nice cut of the thousands of trades he does every week.
Predictably several aliases are now being used, selling the same trash, using the same stock photos and even trading from the same address.
Perhaps E-bay just haven't noticed yet.
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