COIN NEWS JANUARY 2009 IS NOW ON SALE! Britain's biggest-selling coin magazine is now on sale at newsagents, from our website www.tokenpublishing.com or by telephoning 01404 44166.
at the moment and it seems that even those who have no interest in numismatics per se are increasingly happy to put their money into coins—well, with interest rates at record lows and the stock market in turmoil they have to put it somewhere!
That doesn’t mean though that we can be complacent, so we at COIN NEWS have drawn up a few pointers to keep our readers happy, no matter what the wider economy throws at them!
The first thing to realise is that in a world where money is tight, for many the chances are that there will be those looking to liquidate their assets and make some cash by selling their old coins and banknotes. Maybe they inherited a collection or some odd coins and didn’t really know what to do with them; maybe they were once collectors themselves but moved away from the hobby. Whatever their motivation the end result is the same—suddenly there are opportunities for us active collectors to pick up choice pieces that had hitherto remained undiscovered. So straightaway we see how a “crunch” can actually be a benefit for us; after years of being unable to find decent coins to swell our cabinets we might, fingers crossed, be able to use these lean times to our advantage. Unfortunately it’s not as easy as that (you knew it wouldn’t be) because whilst the lean times might bring the good coins out of the woodwork you can guarantee it will bring the unscrupulous money grabbers out too. Of course we at COIN NEWS would always, and I mean always, suggest buying directly from a dealer when purchasing for your collection. With a bonafide dealer you know you’re getting what you expect to get . . . the grade will (usually!) be exactly what you thought it would be, the coin itself will be genuine and, if you’re not entirely satisfied, most dealers will be confident enough in their own stock that they’ll offer a money back guarantee (as long as you don’t push it too far—asking a dealer to take a coin back many months after you bought it isn’t really on, unless there’s a very good reason!). However, we do realise that in these days of global commerce you may well be tempted to deal directly with collectors, either through internet auction sites or other media. If you do it’s worth remembering a few basic things. The most important is that whilst you, as a dedicated collector, know just what EF should be, most people don’t and a coin marked up as “excellent” by a layman usually won’t be—pay accordingly! Also be aware that there are out and out crooks around. The internet especially allows anonymity and it is easy for those intent on conning you out of your hard earned money to remain hidden in a way a “real” dealer can’t. The crooks will sell you forgeries, they’ll sell you stolen coins, they’ll not even have the coins they say they have
