Your precious metal learning curve

[ady]

It's great to see the forum onto the fake metal market with "ebay yet again" and "another laughable seller" but has anyone never been bitten by a fake or even genuine but overpriced. I believe in the mantra "he who has never failed has not done anything". I started off buying "junk" for a long time and may well have some duds amongst the hundreds of 3 & 6d's but always thought I was pretty safe bet buying. Some of my first few purchases of really shiny were some eagles and prospectors were duds which I have always suspected, but I learned. It i sad to see the rip-offs but we all have to learn somehow. Anyone want to share experience of their learning curve. Keep up the good work!

[SilverDrum]

My mother unfortunately! An antique dealer sold her three "Prospector" coins for me and my brother for a Christmas pressie. After a quick look i was 95% sure they were fakes. Even sent them to @BackyardBullionto double check and let him cut them in half! Think he sent me some picture's, but i can't find them to share. Now she has a list of bullion dealers for future gifts 😂

[modofantasma]

Not so much a major error but being wary of spreads when buying and selling via the dealers. It takes a fair shift in price to break even that way 

[Paul]

I used bullion by post starting out (blush)

[Stu]

I bought from a US dealers via ebay. Got hit by tax and import duties. Still, would make a small profit if I sold them today. 
Also ebay + alcohol are not a good mix! 

[Fishface220]

1 hour ago, Paul said:

I used bullion by post starting out (blush)

Ha, me to! Gotta learn the hard way in life sometimes I guess.

[Fishface220]

My biggest learning curve was don’t rush.... do the maths and stick to your limit.

Most things will come around again.

[badar]

When I started out I was buying silver from some expensive UK dealers and bought a sizeable amount. Then I learned about EU silver from a BYB video and started looking into customs and how the prices are cheaper in the EU. 
 

Coins after that were around £12 cheaper an ounce. Felt a bit silly for not starting buying from the EU sooner. It would’ve been so many extra ounces stacked. 

[KevinFlynn]

I had to learn

to not overextend myself financially (I manage)
to not buy all the hot stuff ( I used to be a Perth Mint addict)
to have a budget for more playful purchases (keeping the itch in check)
 

[Bigmarc]

I bought metal detector finds on eBay. You know the photos where one or two dates were visible, hoping to find more silver in the rest... There wasn't... Done it a few times as well.

[TeaTime]

Biggest lesson for me - never panic buy a coin.

The secondary market is full of coins, both proof and bullion, that are for sale at considerable discounts on the release or mid-frenzy price... Don't believe the hype !

 

 

 

[Tn21]

I bought what I thought  1/10th cook island Au coin. Bought 2 infact from the same guy on eBay, anyway I listed one here and was alerted by Ash and one other individual about the coin and how it was not 1/10th gold but something ridiculously smaller then 1/10. Luckily for me I got my money back Minus the cost of SD postage but it was a great lesson learnt. The guy selling was not playing ball but eBay sided with me thankfully.

 

[Tn21]

http://about.ag/FakeCookIslands24Gold.htm

 

Fyi

[silenceissilver]

My first piece of PM was a fake - went into the jewellery and decided to finally start buying gold coins. I had played with the thought for a long time and finally was ready for it. I had no idea about any coins on the market although I had heard about Krugerrands, Eagles and Philharmonics but I'd no clue what they look like, how much they cost and how big they are. 

I asked for a gold coin for about 100 Pounds. I wasn't sure gold coins for that price would exists but I thought I'll give it a shot. I got a half Sovereign which later turned out to be I think it was 17K or was it 19K - I can't remember now - but far off 22K anyway. 

My first piece of silver was a fake too, briefly afterwards a one ounce bar that was only plated and was only meant to be plated - from the same jeweller. Luckily, I found this out myself, when I googled the bar and found out it was even officially sold as plated.

Got proper replacements for both, for the half sovereign even a proof half sovereign.

It's the best scenario to make this experience with not too high a budget and right at the beginning.

Edited August 21, 2021 by silenceissilver

[Pete]

I got a fake sovereign once from a very well known UK bullion dealer.
I sent the dimensions and my specific gravity measurements to them and instantly received an apology with an exchange.
What irritated me is that this fake full sovereign had gone undetected by a company that you would have expected had a rigorous means of verification.

The worst experience though was buying a 1 kilo silver Kookaburra on eBay.
It was described in the text, obviously pasted from the internet, with library pictures and a single zoomed up face-on photo of the actual coin.
What I received was a miniature replica maybe 10 mm diameter that weighed a couple of grams.
It was very thin with a smooth edge but the faces were precise copies of the real Kook kilo coin.
The seller pleaded ignorance - not knowing the difference between 1 kg and 1g clearly.
She must have thought she had won the lottery considering the price that this little thing, could have been from a charm bracelet, was worth so much.
Fortunately there was no argument and the problem was quickly resolved.

I also had multiple bad experiences purchasing proof silver coin and proof gold coin sets.
Described as perfect, free of marks etc, FDC etc too many coins showed fingerprints and often hairline scratches that you would create by wiping off dust.
It didn't matter whether you purchased from eBay or some of our better known dealers, I was often let down and had arguments.
This made me ditch buying used proofs.

 

Edited August 21, 2021 by Pete