Mint-sealed tubes of silver coins

[Anteater]

I notice quite a few people selling (and buying) mint-sealed tubes of silver coins. I find that a little surprising and I wanted to ask what people's point of view is re these transactions. To be clear, I'm posting out of curiosity - not to criticise anyone!

The reason I find it surprising is that if I were to buy such a tube the first thing I'd want to do is open it up and check the contents. And since I'd break the seals anyway I'd rather that the seller open it before sale and show me just what it is I'm buying.

If you buy these do you keep them sealed? If so, is that based on trust of the seller, or the seal, or some other method of verifying the coins within the tube? Do you expect to sell them on as sealed tubes some day (whether to a dealer or not)? Is there any advantage to leaving them sealed (eg packed in nitrogen)?

Or, alternatively, do you buy them but open them up on receipt and are happy to take the uncertainty re condition?

(In case anyone's wondering, I'm not inclined to trust supposedly tamper-evident seals. I've seen too many clever methods of defeating them. Check out Deviant Ollam videos on Youtube re seals if you're interested, or more generally videos on the subject from conferences such as DEFCON, Black Hat, CCC.)

Edited December 6, 2022 by Anteater

[stefffana]

Interesting point of view and I do agree 90% with you.

People on here are selling sealed tubes having a solid trading history and years of very successful transactions, with 0 issues.

Mostly all of the sellers who are selling "blind" have sourced their stuffs from reputable dealers in monster boxes, this year or maybe years ago and kept them in safe, so they are 100% sure about what they are selling.

I will not hesitate to buy a sealed tube from a very serious seller from forum, but I will never buy "blind" from Ebay, Marketplace, or Etsy.

[James32]

1 hour ago, Anteater said:

I notice quite a few people selling (and buying) mint-sealed tubes of silver coins. I find that a little surprising and I wanted to ask what people's point of view is re these transactions. To be clear, I'm posting out of curiosity - not to criticise anyone!

The reason I find it surprising is that if I were to buy such a tube the first thing I'd want to do is open it up and check the contents. And since I'd break the seals anyway I'd rather that the seller open it before sale and show me just what it is I'm buying.

If you buy these do you keep them sealed? If so, is that based on trust of the seller, or the seal, or some other method of verifying the coins within the tube? Do you expect to sell them on as sealed tubes some day (whether to a dealer or not)? Is there any advantage to leaving them sealed (eg packed in nitrogen)?

Or, alternatively, do you buy them but open them up on receipt and are happy to take the uncertainty re condition?

(In case anyone's wondering, I'm not inclined to trust supposedly tamper-evident seals. I've seen too many clever methods of defeating them. Check out Deviant Ollam videos on Youtube re seals if you're interested, or more generally videos on the subject from conferences such as DEFCON, Black Hat, CCC.)

Mint sealed will be because the seller bought directly from mint/dealer in that state, so has no reason to distrust. 

Tubes of coins are bought primarily to stack weight, so bullion condition is expected and any little marks are acceptable. Works out cheaper buying a full tube with one delivery charge, rather than 25 single transactions with postage each time. ( obviously if budget allows)

But to answer your question on whether I would leave sealed after buying from the secondary market?? No and I will explain why....

It's not because I don't trust the seller ( if I didn't, I wouldn't buy/enter the deal in the first place) it's because anyone can have an off day, so if my name is attached to an item now, then I will make sure as hell they are geniune, even if they came from the pope 😆 

I personally test stuff I buy from dealers too, again not so must as distrust...but they are dealing with hundreds of orders likely daily, so whilst rare,mistakes can happen. 

 

Fun fact, I once bought a tube of eagles on here (20) in a tube. When the tube arrived and I opened, the lid was not closing exactly as tight as it should have ( I thought heat may have warped it ) pulled a few coins out and satisfied they were geniune, I went about my day. Later I checked fully and there was 21 coins in the tube 😆 

My honesty to the seller got me the spare coin for £20, so little surprises like that are a bonus.

 

[codenamedtango]

39 minutes ago, James32 said:

Mint sealed will be because the seller bought directly from mint/dealer in that state, so has no reason to distrust. 

Tubes of coins are bought primarily to stack weight, so bullion condition is expected and any little marks are acceptable. Works out cheaper buying a full tube with one delivery charge, rather than 25 single transactions with postage each time. ( obviously if budget allows)

But to answer your question on whether I would leave sealed after buying from the secondary market?? No and I will explain why....

It's not because I don't trust the seller ( if I didn't, I wouldn't buy/enter the deal in the first place) it's because anyone can have an off day, so if my name is attached to an item now, then I will make sure as hell they are geniune, even if they came from the pope 😆 

I personally test stuff I buy from dealers too, again not so must as distrust...but they are dealing with hundreds of orders likely daily, so whilst rare,mistakes can happen. 

 

Fun fact, I once bought a tube of eagles on here (20) in a tube. When the tube arrived and I opened, the lid was not closing exactly as tight as it should have ( I thought heat may have warped it ) pulled a few coins out and satisfied they were geniune, I went about my day. Later I checked fully and there was 21 coins in the tube 😆 

My honesty to the seller got me the spare coin for £20, so little surprises like that are a bonus.

 

You’d have gained some good JuJu there.