need help with 20 Swiss franc Helvetia coins

MoneyLA

A friend says he bought some of these when gold was at $600 an ounce, and he says he got them from Goldline. You all know the company. He called Goldline on Friday and they offered to pay him $12 per coin over the price he paid when gold was at $600 an ounce.

Question: what would be a current price to sell these now?

My own observation-- how the heck could he only be offered $12 per coin more now, with the price of gold up more than 400 an ounce from the time he bought these?

PerryHall

These are bullion coins with a little less than 1/5 oz of gold. Currently worth about $200 or slightly more.

gecko109

Either he got screwed when he bought them, or is being screwed now, or a little of each perhaps. Perry has it right, they melt at about $200 apiece right now, and melted at around $110 back then. Thats a $90 move, not $12. Another greedy dealer.

MoneyLA

thanks for the info. thats what I figured given they have about point-19 ounces of gold

brokeer

From CNI:
Swiss 20 Franc Choice Brilliant Uncirculated/Hand Selected. Pre-1933 .186 Oz $208.00/$228.00

CaptHenway

What was the number he paid, the date he bought them on,
and what was the actual offer he received?

MoneyLA

email from my friend:

Thanks, I paid $ 202 when I bought them, today Goldline is selling the same coin close to $ 400.

I read several complaints lately about them. Most of the people were lured to buy gold coins at about double the price of other places. I am attaching just one of them.




Terrible experience

Complaint Rating:
Company information:
Goldline International
United States
goldline.com

Several years ago, I filled out an online form of Goldline Interntional's to receive some literature about investing in precious metals. Soon after I was contacted by John Arnette, a salesperson with Goldline. John was pleasant and convincing. He informed me that I should view him as an 'adviser' similar to my stock broker. I was interested in buying gold but was not yet ready. When the time was 'right', I called John back with the intention of purchasing a large amount of Bullion gold. The price of gold at the time was $420/ oz. and the price of silver was less than $7 per oz. In my opinion that was pretty good timing. John 'advised' me to talk further with one of Goldline's Numismatists. I was young as a precious metals investor and was looking forward to the education and 'advice'. The Numismatist sounded very educated and convinced me to invest half of my money in Silver PCGS MS64 Peace Dollars. I agreed, as he told me that these had sold for as high as $250 each in the 1980's. I purchased 1000 of them at a price of $52 each ($52, 000 in Peace Dollars).

I recently called them back to re-sell my Peace Dollars. They told me that they would pay $47 each. At this time, the price of silver had doubled from the price it was when I first bought from Goldline. I asked the representative, 'What would the price of silver have to be for me to get my money back?' The buyer from Goldline informed me that it would likely have to hit $20 per oz. before I could get $52 a piece for them. When my stock broker 'advises' me on an investment, he certainly does not trick me into buying something that would have to more than triple before I can break even. It was this phrase from John and I quote - 'We are telling our customers that they should view us as someone similar to a stock broker' that hooked me. What a bunch of liars and deceivers these scam artists are at Goldline. Beware friends. If there is a class action suit against this company, I want in.

Cladiator

Apmex is currently selling generic Peace dollars in PCGS MS64 for $39.99 in quantities above 20 coins and they have a buy price of $33 each. At least when compared to these current Apmex prices the $47 offer from Gold Line doesn't look that bad.

jmski52

Wow, thanks for the heads-up, Alan. I've been buying and selling bullion for myself since about 1974, and I've never had occasion to contact Goldline.

I was toying with the idea of making a quick call to screen them as a potential resource, since they advertise so much on tv. I kinda figured that they wouldn't be that great, but this story shoves them into a category completely different than what I thought!

Now, I'm almost positive that I want to call them. There's simply nothing like a firm who skirts the law and ethical issues as a company policy, in order to fleece the public. They must be so proud! The jerks.

MoneyLA

jmski I hope you do call them, and here's why:

I wonder if my friend was ripped because he knows NOTHING about gold. And perhaps someone who "knows" would actually get a better price??

years ago, when I was on the new here in LA I did stories with Goldline and never got a complaint about them. but that goes back about five years ago, and perhaps management changed?

let me know what you find out. I could use the info on my website. Im tempted to call myself, but let's see what you get first.

thanks

today's selling price:

B.U. Swiss 20 Franc 'Vreneli' Gold Coins BDGSF$394.95

PerryHall

I'm amazed at how much some people will spend on some investment that they know nothing about when they could do a little research and avoid getting ripped off.

MoneyLA

I couldnt resist. I called Goldline myself. Theyre out of the Swiss, but the French are selling for 352 and they are buying for 230. When I questioned the markup over the price of gold, the sales guy said they are a 35% spread.

So I asked about one ounce american eagles, and he said they have a 5% spread and the selling price now is now 1098 and thats with gold now at 1056. one coin minimum.

notlogical

<< <i>So I asked about one ounce american eagles, and he said they have a 5% spread and the selling price now is now 1098 and thats with gold now at 1056. one coin minimum. >>




Even a YN knows what that means. A future of phone calls from goldline at night instead of from that hot girl in the cafeteria.

Fountainhead

An outfit called Tulving seems to specialize in 20 franc coins, might want to give 'em a shot: http://tulving.com/goldbull.html

CaptHenway

FWIW, right now we are buying single 20 francs of the common young lady's head or Vreneli type at about $8 under melt, and selling single coins for about $25 over melt, and can usually do better on quantity either way.

Question: are these the older type from the 1890's with the older lady's head wearing a tiara of sorts? If so, those might be considered numismatic rather than bullion.

TD

jmski52

Tulving usually has reasonable prices and spreads, but since last year they've upped their minimum gold purchase to 20 oz. I haven't sold anything to them, so I don't know what their buy prices are for 1, 2 or 3 coins at a time.

MoneyLA, a 35% spread tells me that they aren't "making a market" in that coin, which in reality is just an excuse to rip off the public. That is true whether or not they are reasonable in their pricing of American Gold Eagles or not. It's not as if the Helvetias aren't a widely-accepted form of bullion, which they are.

I still plan on calling them, but I'm busy at work and won't be able to do that till the end of the week or so.

Added: Tulving is selling these at spot + 3 1/2% and selling them at spot + $4.00.

If your friend bought these for $202 each, that is exactly what Tulving will pay for them now, $1,061/oz. basis.

And at the same time, Tulving is selling them at $205.00/ea. (20 oz. minimum.)

If he bought them when gold was $600/oz., he should have paid no more than $116/ea., especially for the quantity that he was buying.

Sorry to say, that your friend was defrauded. I say defrauded simply because they represent themselves as "trusted" and reliable. He didn't do his due diligence. And Goldline should be ashamed, but I'm sure that they are not. I wonder if Jay Johnson (former Mint Director) knows what type of rip-off he is endorsing on tv.

MoneyLA

jmski52 wrote: "Sorry to say, that your friend was defrauded. I say defrauded simply because they represent themselves as "trusted" and reliable. He didn't do his due diligence. And Goldline should be ashamed, but I'm sure that they are not. I wonder if Jay Johnson (former Mint Director) knows what type of rip-off he is endorsing on tv. "

Let me tell you, this is very ironic. Years ago when I was on the news, I did multiple reports on Goldline, and they even advertised on one of my websites years ago. In the past 5 years I have had no dealings with them, and wow am I relieved that I didn't have any dealings with them after finding out about their pricing.