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The business of buying and selling coins sure has changed over the years!
Once something done strictly behind bricks and mortar, coin dealers have made the jump to the internet as a way to buy and sell coins.
This has allowed once-localized retail shops to go international. And today, there are literally hundreds of coin dealers who sell coins over the internet.
I personally have loved this trend, as now my ability to buy practically whatever coin I want is no further away than my computer! But there are some things you need to be aware of…
Advantages Of Buying Coins Online
The advantages of buying coins from an online coin dealer are many.
The top reason why I have come to enjoy buying coins online was mentioned earlier: I like that whatever coin I want I can now find and purchase — quickly and easily. And if one online coin dealer doesn’t have the coin I want, I can simply click onto other online coin dealers’ sites and see what they have to offer. Eventually, I always find what I want when I’m shopping for coins online.
Another advantage to buying coins online is the ability to do some price comparisons. You have no idea how many times I have gone online to find a coin I want, only to find the same coin cheaper elsewhere online.
Of course, you must be wary of getting too keen on finding deals — or you might end up buying a coin that’s inferior to another one that may cost just a bit more.
Buying coins online is generally safe and convenient. Credit card transactions and PayPal have made the check-out process with online coin dealers a cinch. And doing it all from the comfort of your home is truly a luxury in its own right.
However, there are downsides to buying coins online, too…
Disadvantages Of Buying Coins Online
The #1 problem: Buying coins sight unseen.
The inherent nature of buying coins online is that you will generally only see the coin you’re purchasing after it arrives in the mail. How nerve-wracking, right?
Very few online coin dealers actually show a picture of the coin they’re selling, and even with those who do, you can’t be absolutely positive that will be the coin you receive.
What if the coin you thought you were buying never shows up?
What if the coin you get is a cleaned, damaged, worthless coin you would never want seen in your hands?
While those scenarios are quite possible, they are unlikely — as long as you know that you’re buying from a respected online coin dealer.
Here are some things you can do to avoid being “taken”:
- Check the coin dealer’s return policy before you buy.
- Snoop around online to see if anybody has had any problems with the coin dealer (look for complaints).
- Check with the Better Business Bureau in the coin dealer’s town.
- You could even take a small chance and try a sample order with the dealer before buying an expensive coin from them.
Another downside to buying coins online is that you never really get a chance to talk with the coin dealer personally. That and being able to hold, touch, and examine what you’re buying before you buy it are luxuries that you only get when buying coins from a local coin dealer.
If you’re like me, you probably enjoy “window shopping” a bit before you buy coins. That’s why I make it a point to visit a few local coin dealers whenever I get a chance.
The bottom line is… If you can choose a coin that’s right for your collection without having to physically examine it first, then you may actually want to buy some coins online. In the end, if you feel comfortable with the online coin dealer whose website you are perusing, then you may find that, in some ways, nothing beats buying coins online!
Before You Buy “Unsearched” Coin Rolls…
Inexperienced coin roll searchers should be extra cautious in this arena. Often, buying so-called unsearched rolls online turns out to be a bust for coin collectors.
Here’s why…
Have you ever looked at coins for sale on eBay and noticed a roll of old coins that had what appeared to be a key date coin on the end? (Like a roll of old pennies with the reverse of a VDB penny appearing at the end of the roll.)
And how come a dime always seems to wind up at the end of the penny roll that’s listed for sale on sites like eBay?
The chances of these things happening with an automated coin-rolling machine by accident are extremely slim — so why do so many of these rolls seem to exist? How is it that a coin that offers tempting hints that it could be a rarity always seems to pop up at the end of the roll and not in the middle?
The answer: The coins on the ends are almost always “plants” to entice people to buy the coin rolls and see what’s on the inside. In most cases, the rolls aren’t worth as much as the inflated buy price.
That’s why you should be extra careful when buying what appears to be old penny rolls with, say, a Mercury dime (possibly a rare 1916-D Mercury dime) on one end and a VDB penny (maybe a 1909-S VDB penny) on the other.
Often, penny rolls that are capped with a silver dime on one end and/or an Indian penny or VDB penny on the other will get many bidders excited — because they think they’re hitting pay dirt if they buy the roll. Yet, in so many instances, these rolls are simply filled with common (if not worthless) coins between the two tantalizing end coins.
Many times, these types of rolls with unusual coins on the ends are just gimmicks to make you think you’re buying some type of gold mine roll that may be full of rarities or other valuable coins!
Also, think twice before buying something like “an unsearched roll of Lincoln wheat pennies.” I mean, how can the roll be unsearched if the seller knows that they’re all wheat pennies?
Again… it’s a marketing gimmick!
These types of gimmicks are designed to entice you to bid higher — and they’re usually aimed at beginners who are just getting started collecting and buying coins.
So before you spend big bucks with the hopes of striking it rich with these supposedly unsearched coin rolls, consider the following:
- It’s possible to buy a coin roll crimping machine and supplies for just couple hundred dollars — which means anyone can make a crimped roll of coins – not just a bank!
- How do you know a roll of coins is really unsearched? You don’t. Shotgun rolls and unsearched rolls offer no guarantees.
Remember… “Unsearched rolls” is simply a marketing term with the hopes of leading the buyer to believe nobody has looked through any of the coins in the roll.
The only unsearched rolls out there in this day and age are the ones that a non-collecting family member might have rolled up years ago and forgotten about.
You could get lucky and find some truly unsearched rolls for sale at an estate sale — but that’s about the only way.
You can pretty much count on any coin rolls advertised as “unsearched” to have already been prefiltered (at some point or another) by someone who knew which rare and valuable coins to look for!
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