Trustworthy?

GoldCoinLover

I like gold .. alot. So I was looking on ebay for the only gold bar I could afford, a 1gram gold bar

I was looking for something like "fountana" but couldn't find it and I found Pamp Suisse instead.

This guy though listing these gold bars he has like 200+ 1 gram gold bars listed with the annoying L@@K thing in the description. Where does the guy get all this money?? His user ID is mrmcmcp. It's hard to find another dealer selling the same thing because he has it flooded with all his 1 gram gold bars! His feedback is 99.7%. Can I trust this guy?

The 1 gram gold bars are beautiful, and sell for about $15 per average I'd guess. The gold is 24k, pure, .9999 gold.

Here's a picture of what one generally looks like:

Placid

I would buy from the seller if he had something I wanted.

Aethelred

I don't know if this helps, but there are 31.103g to 1 troy oz. At the close today these bars melt at $13.41, so it does not sound like a bad deal.

lordmarcovan

You know, there are other possibilities for cheap gold coins- the 1945 Mexican 2-peso coin comes to mind. Before gold prices spiked recently, you could get one for about twenty bucks. Sure, they're small, but they're gold. The 1915 Austrian ducats are nice and cheap, too, and look much bigger (about nickel sized, but thin). They used to go for fifty bucks or less (I remember not too long ago they were down to $38 or so, but now they're probably back up around fifty or so).

Both the coins I mentioned above are restrikes. They are real coins made by the Mexican and Austrian mints, but they're struck with "frozen dates", i.e., they continued to strike them after that particular year, but left the date "frozen". They're still the same gold content as the non-restrike coins. Restrikes don't carry much numismatic value but they have the same bullion value, and they look just like the earlier issues.

Another thing to consider are the gold fanams from the Indian Princely States. These are undated but usually from the 1600's and 1700's.

Get this- they are real gold coins and 200-300+ years old, and you can usually get one for $20.00 or less! Twenty bucks!

Does that sound to good to be true? How can you buy a 200-300+ year old gold coin for so little? Well, the reason is because they are very, very tiny, and rather crudely struck. They're no bigger around than a pencil eraser (usually 8-9 mm in diameter or so, I think). You know those powerful little breath mints they sell now- the teeny little ones that are about the size of a saccharine tablet? That's how big a gold fanam is. But they're cool little things. You should keep your eyes open for one. I'd like to buy a few more, myself.

Stork

The design shown is called Fortuna--here is a link to the Pamp Suisse website:

Pamp


I used to snicker when some of those 1 gram bars would go for $20 or more when gold was MUCH lower than it is now--more like a 75% premium (or worse) than a 15% premium.

He seems to have reassuring feedback, he's not a seller I would worry about--I'd buy if I was interested in the item. His shipping is $3.55 which seems a little steep for a $15 item, which is what would make me hesitate in an auction such as this. If I was getting alot of them and he combined shipping it would be one thing, but $15+3.55 you are now looking at around a 38% premium for the gold content.

Just my opinion of course.


Cathy

SYRACUSIAN

trozau

For whatever it is worth, it is all he sells so he should be okay. As Aethelred has said, a gram is pretty small. I even find the 1/20 ounce small already and the 1 gram would be smaller.

docday2003

<< <i> >>


What were you going to say?

Bruce

Another consideration, What will they nail you for shipping? Sometimes a "bargain" can be not so much of a bargain if $15 shipping is tacked on.

GoldCoinLover

<< <i>You know, there are other possibilities for cheap gold coins- the 1945 Mexican 2-peso coin comes to mind. Before gold prices spiked recently, you could get one for about twenty bucks. Sure, they're small, but they're gold. The 1915 Austrian ducats are nice and cheap, too, and look much bigger (about nickel sized, but thin). They used to go for fifty bucks or less (I remember not too long ago they were down to $38 or so, but now they're probably back up around fifty or so).

Both the coins I mentioned above are restrikes. They are real coins made by the Mexican and Austrian mints, but they're struck with "frozen dates", i.e., they continued to strike them after that particular year, but left the date "frozen". They're still the same gold content as the non-restrike coins. Restrikes don't carry much numismatic value but they have the same bullion value, and they look just like the earlier issues.

Another thing to consider are the gold fanams from the Indian Princely States. These are undated but usually from the 1600's and 1700's.

Get this- they are real gold coins and 200-300+ years old, and you can usually get one for $20.00 or less! Twenty bucks!

Does that sound to good to be true? How can you buy a 200-300+ year old gold coin for so little? Well, the reason is because they are very, very tiny, and rather crudely struck. They're no bigger around than a pencil eraser (usually 8-9 mm in diameter or so, I think). You know those powerful little breath mints they sell now- the teeny little ones that are about the size of a saccharine tablet? That's how big a gold fanam is. But they're cool little things. You should keep your eyes open for one. I'd like to buy a few more, myself. >>



I might be interested in those gold fanams. But how can I make sure if I buy one it isn't counterfeit? And where could I buy one?

trozau

Gold Fanams on eBay

spinaker2000

<< <i>I might be interested in those gold fanams. But how can I make sure if I buy one it isn't counterfeit? And where could I buy one? >>

GoldCoinLover

I'm concered with buying a gold fanam off ebay because I realize its not good to buy coins raw, especially gold coins, on ebay. Do you think I'm safe for the most part?

And thank you lordmarcoven, I think I'll buy a few gold fanams.

trozau

Best way to be safe is to know what you are buying. Learn about the coins you like before you start buying. Read up on them through research in the library, internet or buying books and catalogs about them. That being said, it goes without saying that you must exercise patience until you feel confident about the coins which would be the time when you could start buying them without worries.

The other option is to be obcenely rich and not care how much you spend on the coin (real or not) so long as you like it.

historygeek

<<I realize its not good to buy coins raw>>

Who told you that?

lordmarcovan

<< <i>I'm concered with buying a gold fanam off ebay because I realize its not good to buy coins raw, especially gold coins, on ebay. Do you think I'm safe for the most part? >>



Usually it is a good idea to buy gold coins certified, yes. But, as with ancient coins and many kinds of world coins, it doesn't matter so much- folks who collect that sort of thing aren't really into slabs. The fanams are one of these cases. For one, they are not really worth slabbing, and two, nobody would really care about it if they were slabbed. They are tiny and crude. Most of the grading services probably have little or no experience with them so their opinion wouldn't carry much weight anyway. While slabbing has its usefulness, you'll find it is not always so important here on the "Darkside" as it is with U.S. coins.



<< <i>And thank you lordmarcoven, I think I'll buy a few gold fanams. >>



Me, too. I just emailed this seller to see if they will sell me a half dozen or so at a fixed price.

Back about twelve years ago, I bought three or four fanams from a dealer for $9 each. That ain't so easy to do anymore. Now they usually go for $20+.

Oh, I wouldn't worry too much about counterfeits on the fanams. While it would probably be easy to counterfeit fanams, as crude as they are, I somehow doubt that somebody would waste their time making the dies (or molds), when they would probably find other stuff more profitable to copy. Why copy a crude little coin the size of a mouse turd?