Gaithersburg Coin Exchange, WARNING
Radoc5
Posts: 2
Need to warn all subscribers. I recently sent a shipment of gold and silver coins to Gaithersburg Coin Exchange to sell. Waited two weeks and heard nothing from them. I then got concerned and called. Got the biggest run around at first then finally the owner Marc Watts informed me that my shipment "accidentally" got mixed in with their general inventory and they lost track of what I had sent them. Long story short I am out about $25,000. Use extreme caution using this company.
Alex Vennos
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Comments
If I was to sell $25,000 worth of my collection, I would deliver the coins in person and get the check before I left the premises.
Just sayin'...
So, you're saying that the owner acknowledged receipt of your shipment, and is keeping it all? Somehow, I don't think the story is over.
I knew it would happen.
<< <i>something doesnt add up here
-Paul
Well...speaking for myself...I've also mailed this much via USPS to a dealer known on this board, so the OP didn't do anything off the wall crazy. And I'm also always nervous that something doesn't go haywire somewhere along the line.
But c'mon...a dealer doesn't just have inventory magically appear in their inventory. They've got to know what they previously had vs what they have now. But if their tracking really IS this sloppy, this could be a real mess.
If the stuff you sent were coins, can you provide them with your list (which I hope you have) and they can confirm if they now have those items on hand? Or are they claiming to have already sent everything to a smelter?!?
Either way, I wish the OP lots of luck.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
<< <i>Need to warn all subscribers. I recently sent a shipment of gold and silver coins to Gaithersburg Coin Exchange to sell. Waited two weeks and heard nothing from them. I then got concerned and called. Got the biggest run around at first then finally the owner Marc Watts informed me that my shipment "accidentally" got mixed in with their general inventory and they lost track of what I had sent them. Long story short I am out about $25,000. Use extreme caution using this company. >>
Thanks for the warning. Have you contacted the police or the Attorney General's office?
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
I wish you best of luck.
<< <i>something doesn't add up here
It didn't when I saw the same post on another forum either. Still have to ask what form of proof can the OP provide of the claim.
There's more to this story.
<< <i>Would you like to see a letter signed by Mr Watts admitting what happened? >>
Yes.
Yes.
I knew it would happen.
<< <i>Would you like to see a letter signed by Mr Watts admitting what happened? >>
While we may like to see that, the amount of money you're talking about makes it worth your while to ask your attorney just how much you should be posting here.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
<< <i>Would you like to see a letter signed by Mr Watts admitting what happened? >>
I'm sorry, I agree w/ most. Something isn't adding up.
No one is out $25k while having a letter from the owner saying they have lost your shipment.
And no one comes onto a coin board to warn memebers that they are out $25k and to use extreme caution w/ the biz in question as if that is the end of the story.
Edited to say : But welcome! And to add a link to a previous thread about them.
<< <i>Would you like to see a letter signed by Mr Watts admitting what happened? >>
Better you should show such a letter to your lawyer, along with a list of what you sent.
<< <i>Need to warn all subscribers. I recently sent a shipment of gold and silver coins to Gaithersburg Coin Exchange to sell. Waited two weeks and heard nothing from them. I then got concerned and called. Got the biggest run around at first then finally the owner Marc Watts informed me that my shipment "accidentally" got mixed in with their general inventory and they lost track of what I had sent them. Long story short I am out about $25,000. Use extreme caution using this company. >>
WOW.. .MY worry all time call the police
<< <i>
<< <i>Would you like to see a letter signed by Mr Watts admitting what happened? >>
While we may like to see that, the amount of money you're talking about makes it worth your while to ask your attorney just how much you should be posting here. >>
I agree with this. The problem is that the OP should refrain from muddying the waters. By posting statements about what happened, the other party may become offended and make claims of their own, which could take a number of forms, including claims of defamation. While this does not appear to have happened yet, caution should be the rule. I am from the DC area but not admitted in Md. If the OP would like to contact me, I can refer them to competent counsel in Md to assist them. Certainly, it would appear that, if 25k was lost, and party B admitted he lost it, then party B is liable. But it is not always that simple as there are almost always other details to the story.
I should add that while I know who Gaithersburg Gold Exchange, and Mark Watts, are, I have not dealt with them and I don't know any of their folks personally.
Tom
If you sent them a group of coins certainly you included an inventory list of some sort. And no doubt these were sent insured for $25K via the USPS.
So like a similar post a few weeks back on a $2,000 toned Peace dollar, the potential buyer is on the hook for that insured amount.
Fwiw if a buying dealer says anything but we have your coins and are working up an offer or we are returning them to you, then a red flag should indeed go up.
Who needs this type of added aggravation that your coins were mixed in with regular inventory? But it would be interesting to see what the GCE has to say on it.
But appreciate the heads up that a problem or miscommunication of some sort has occurred. I've sent groups of coins larger than $25K through the mail to dealers
before. Ironically, the only time I got shafted was when I hand delivered $20K in coins on consignment to a highly recommended dealer at a local coin show. Out of a dozen or
so numismatic affiliations they had back in 1990, the only one missing was PNG. These guys ultimately stiffed me for $11K as they indeed merged my consignment into their
general funds and used my money for quite some time before going bankrupt. So much for the "safety" of hand delivery or knowing your dealer. Truth is, you really never
know until the deal is done. One of my local dealers keeps little track of what comes in the door other than "group of coins for X dollars." But if this deal were basically silver
and gold bullionesque coins, that should have been tabulated and an offer made within an hour upon the potential buyer opening the package. Even if you sent them a box of
rocks insured for $25K they should have immediately notified you upon receipt and what their offer (if any) was. They would have to ship those rocks back to you insured for
$25K unless you said differently. Though if I were in their shoes, I'd make you pay insurance up front before shipping the rocks back.
Not the standard 1st or 2nd post, that's for sure. If there's decent evidence of what you sent, you aren't out anything yet. These guys aren't PNG members so there's little that
the hobby can do for you. If they AND you are both ANA members, the ANA can apply some pressure. If either is not a member, forget it. Unless one is intimately familiar with
a dealer these days, it's getting to the point where you should have the contents verified by a 3rd party upon sealing or film the entire evolution. The only safer thing is hand
delivering and not leaving either w/o a check/cash in hand or with your coins.
roadrunner
President
HERITAGE AUCTIONS
3500 Maple Avenue
Dallas, Texas 75219-3941
Phone: 214-528-3500 / Private fax: 214-409-1596
Email to: Greg@HA.com
One bankruptcy and that's that. A year or so before National Gold Exchange went down I'd bet there were plenty of dealers who would have said similar things about them.
I also got mixed up with a FED sting in 1988 when another dealer out of Maryland was shutdown. They had some of my coins on consignment at the time and I only got paid
what a 3rd party thought they were worth...not our agreed upon prices. Up to that point they were apparently 100% clean too. Stuff happens.
I've known Dealer ABC Coins for 30+ years. He's extremely honest, reliable, and has a virtually unlimited line of credit with Dealers X, Y, and Z.
In our current environment, it pays to be very cautious because you just don't know. And it's going to get worse before it gets better. But having been down this road before
and lost big once and moderately twice, I have since learned to use all firepower as soon as possible, regardless if a few stray bullets hurt someone's feelings. That's better than losing
your $25,000. This thread will now show up on any search of GBC or MW....power of the modern net. Check with PNG anyways, it's possible GBC could be in the process of applying
for membership or may have been considered in the past. BBB of Maryland shows BGC with an A+ rating, but not accredited. An on-line search of GBC lists a full range of reviews.
roadrunner
<< <i>I've known Marc Watts/Gaithersburg Coins for 30+ years. He's extremely honest, reliable, and has a virtually unlimited line of credit with Heritage. I don't profess to know what happened here, but I do know the man, and he's A+. I encourage you to speak to him directly. I'd be shocked if you couldn't get this resolved amicably. Greg >>
Sounds like a case for "reputation.com" which I hear advertized on satelite radio all the time. --Jerry
<< <i>... The only safer thing is hand delivering and not leaving either w/o a check/cash in hand or with your coins. >>
As the sign in my local delicatessen says"In God We Trust - All Others Pay Cash".
The only time I would not leave w/o payment or coins is if I consigned some lots to a major auction house - and even then I'd be worried, since I just read in CW that a rare CC Double Eagle was stolen from a Brink's delivery truck on its way to (or from) Heritage!
<< <i>
<< <i>I've known Marc Watts/Gaithersburg Coins for 30+ years. He's extremely honest, reliable, and has a virtually unlimited line of credit with Heritage. I don't profess to know what happened here, but I do know the man, and he's A+. I encourage you to speak to him directly. I'd be shocked if you couldn't get this resolved amicably. Greg >>
Sounds like a case for "reputation.com" which I hear advertized on satelite radio all the time. --Jerry >>
I don't know the man nor have I dealt with the company but...
If the OP is to be believed, a dealer mixing the coins in with his stock strains all credulity with its tremendously incompetent bungling.
To my way of thinking, it is outright theft and/or fraud but I'm not a lawyer.
If it was me, I'd have my lawyer on this IMMEDIATELY. I'd probably call the police, the State AG and the BBB but then I've been known to over-react slightly
I knew it would happen.
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Yes! I've dealt with Marc for years and never had a problem. I find it disturbing the poster signs up just to post this.
It doesn't make a hill of beans what they say they did with it.
The receipt makes it in their possession.
Payment should be immediate.
Or a visit should be made. Me, I'd start picking things off their shelves if they didn't have some cash for me.
And they'd probably call the cops. You could maybe say you were using up "credit."
But I wouldn't wait a day longer.
Bring in the post office NOW
<< <i>Need to warn all subscribers. I recently sent a shipment of gold and silver coins to Gaithersburg Coin Exchange to sell. Waited two weeks and heard nothing from them. I then got concerned and called. Got the biggest run around at first then finally the owner Marc Watts informed me that my shipment "accidentally" got mixed in with their general inventory and they lost track of what I had sent them. Long story short I am out about $25,000. Use extreme caution using this company. >>
The way your post is written it is very hard to understand what happened.
I understand that your coins were mistakenly mixed into the dealers inventory, I also understand that the dealer admitted the error, the part I am unclear on is how did the dealer propose to fix the mistake.
Coin's for sale/trade.
Tom Pilitowski
US Rare Coin Investments
800-624-1870
Hope things work out for you.
Thanks for the heads-up !!!
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
A search on Google turns up many complains and, to be fair, so positive reviews.
As pointed out by another poster to this thread, the OP has posted in other venues with a slightly different story, leading me to wonder about his credibility.
This is something I can see myself doing if I had a few million in bullion laying around the house.
The more qualities observed in a coin, the more desirable that coin becomes!
My Jefferson Nickel Collection
<< <i>There's more here that meets the eye and the op is way way out of line. >>
Maybe so. But there are enough "interesting" reviews on Coin Talk and other sites to suggest the OP is not just making this up. If I were outside the normal coin community
and got burned selling bullion, that might prompt me to join up and air my grievances. Based on the number of on-line reviews I've run across today, I wouldn't do any business
with these guys unless it was face to face and cash/check in hand. The OP was foolish not to have at least written up an inventory of what he sent off and included a copy of that
in the package. That leaves this whole affair as basically a he said - she said. Maybe the package was only worth $12,500 and not $25,000, we'll never know. And how could the
seller even ship out the package not knowing what it was worth? Did they just assume the max REG value amount of $25,000? With all the complaints flying around here the past
few months, there are a lot fewer buyers and sellers that I would do business with today.
insider pages reviews
Coin Talk 1 - hmmmm
roadrunner
<< <i>Is it ran by a a tall big guy or am I thinking of maryland coin exchange or some other company? >>
I think you are thinking of Maryland Coin Exchange.
Tom
Once I asked how silver was going once it had passed $30 and they said they had lines, but there was no line that day. I thought Hmmmm... I returned another day when silver was in the high 30s and they had TWO lines: one for selling and one for buying. It was crazy. They were crazy busy. I guess the other day it was just late in the day. I've seen them politely handle people trying to circumvent the various laws. e.g. sales tax and transaction reporting. They wanted to follow the laws.
I can believe there are people with negative reports. No one is 100% all the time, plus we don't know the other sides to those negative stories. I know they do the paperwork for instore sales. I'm not sure how they handle not in-person sales.
For $25k to go missing and someone just gets a "sorry" letter makes me also think there is more to the story and more happening than just what has been stated.
As was said, I'd be calling the G'burg police if I were out $25k....
<< <i> these guys unless it was face to face and cash/check in hand. >>
you'd love them face-to-face... well up to a point.... they only offered me bullion prices on a PR70 Buff.
and the lines for both buying and selling were quite long.
they didn't rush people through the line. At least in this respect they were not the soup nazi's. (and I've not experienced any soup nazi behaviour from them)