The effect of a rising coin market: will dealers and collectors suffer because of who might be comin
dan1ecu
Posts: 1,573
Greetings, All -
Do you think that the bull market in coins will start attracting shady characters into the coin business? You know the type that I'm referring to - coin doctors, scam artists, etc.
Are any of you starting to see an increase in dishonesty as the market heats up more and more?
What happened the last time that the coin market was hot? Did all sorts of "investment companies" spring up to take advantage of the publicity that coins were getting? Did many honest dealers suffer as a result? I know that many collectors/investors suffered losses because of various scams.
Do you think that greed will eventually limit the coin market? Does it always?
Dan
Do you think that the bull market in coins will start attracting shady characters into the coin business? You know the type that I'm referring to - coin doctors, scam artists, etc.
Are any of you starting to see an increase in dishonesty as the market heats up more and more?
What happened the last time that the coin market was hot? Did all sorts of "investment companies" spring up to take advantage of the publicity that coins were getting? Did many honest dealers suffer as a result? I know that many collectors/investors suffered losses because of various scams.
Do you think that greed will eventually limit the coin market? Does it always?
Dan
0
Comments
I grew up in South Florida where the activity was especially intense, what with all the retirees to take advantage of and such.
i think all the crooks----coin doctors, scam artists, etc.----have been involved for quite some time now. what aggravates me about the scammers is that those in the know are reluctant to divulge identity. they seem to hide behind the "liability" excuse when "advantage" might be compromised.
an example might be a Coin Doctor Posse update. whatever happened to that endeavor??
al h.
The thing I fear most is lasered proof gold. It seems to be a taboo subject at the grading services. I have personally found that a lot of coin dealers and long time collectors of proof gold, cannot tell if a coin is lasered or not. A former, grading service, grader admitted to
me that when lasering first came out, about 6 years ago, ( this was scary news to me, as I thought it could be only 2 or 3 years ), one or two lasered coins slipped by him, and a person who can identify lasering, ( I think these people can be counted on one hand ), showed him the signs, which as I remember, he said, would be a sort of " wavyness " in the metal, where it was lasered. I believe you have to observe the wavyness under magnification.
Since I have been doing a PRoof Gold set, I asked somebody at one of the third party grading services to tell me what to look for, to tell if a coin has been lasered. That was over four months ago. No Answer !! Either they do not know how to spot a lasered coin or they want to keep lasering a "SECRET ". I have searched high and low for information on coin lasering, but the best source for this info, would seem to be the third party grading services.
Maybe they are afraid that if the public could spot a lasered coin, then they would be paying out huge sums of money to cover their "guarantees " on lasered coins that may have been encapsulated by mistake. PRoof gold is very expensive.
In the last 6 years or so, that lasering has been used, the third party graders must have a technique to spot a lasered coin, and I wish they would share this information with the public.
It is not like everybody is going to run out and buy a lasering machine, as I am guessing they must be pretty expensive and some skill must be required to operate the laser.
So why the big secret ???
One thing I should add is, lasering seems to be undetectable to most collectors and dealers, and some third party graders, so is it a good thing or bad thing ?? Lasering is used in many types of surgery
to correct or repair, without any side effects. It seems to be the same for PROOF GOLD COINS. The object of the lasering is repaired and not hidden as with wax or putty. The " repair " has no " after effects ". The coin remains repaired / restored, and does not change
later in the holder.
We have sort of accepted "dipping coins " ( to some extent ), including the third party grading services, and some dipped coins do in fact "change " later in the holder, so it would seem to follow that lasering is the ultimate restoration for an expensive PR gold coin.
Undetectable by the best "eyes " in numismatics and no "side effects ".
After stating the above facts, I admit I am against lasering, as it is the ultimate form of coin doctoring. But I wish somebody would have the guts to explain what to look for on a lasered gold coin.
Anybody with this knowledge ( no coin doctors please ), could you please share the info. ????
ZERBE