ukcoinage.com?

[Simonz]

Anyone any experience with dealer 'ukcoinage.com'?

They have a few coins I fancy but my web browser threw a 'invalid certificate' alert a couple of times which is a worry?

Did a search on the forum and they're not listed in the 'Dealer Directory'

Any help appreciated.

[Silverlocks]

'Invalid certificate' means they have misconfigured their HTTPS (encrypted web traffic) or allowed their certificate to expire.  This doesn't necessarily mean they're dishonest, just that they don't know how to run a web site properly.  For a small boutique coin dealer, this wouldn't really be a red flag per se.  When I hit them I don't get any certificate errors.

What's also interesting is that they've never turned up in my search results, which means their SEO is pretty terrible.

Their stuff seems to be mainly expensive rare coins and collectibles.  

whois tells us that the domain is registered through godaddy.com, which doesn't tell us a great deal as godaddy is a big domain squatting site.  The only contact details on the site are a mobile number and an email address, suggesting that it's probably a one man band.

Nothing to suggest that they're crooked, but you might want to try calling them on their mobile first.

 

[Simonz]

1 hour ago, Silverlocks said:

'Invalid certificate' means they have misconfigured their HTTPS (encrypted web traffic) or allowed their certificate to expire.  This doesn't necessarily mean they're dishonest, just that they don't know how to run a web site properly.  For a small boutique coin dealer, this wouldn't really be a red flag per se.  When I hit them I don't get any certificate errors.

What's also interesting is that they've never turned up in my search results, which means their SEO is pretty terrible.

Their stuff seems to be mainly expensive rare coins and collectibles.  

whois tells us that the domain is registered through godaddy.com, which doesn't tell us a great deal as godaddy is a big domain squatting site.  The only contact details on the site are a mobile number and an email address, suggesting that it's probably a one man band.

Nothing to suggest that they're crooked, but you might want to try calling them on their mobile first.

 

Thank you, yes just made me nervous when that alert popped up, abundance of caution and all that!

[Happypanda88]

Their website certificate has been updated.

The new one is valid from 19th Jan 2023 to 19th Apr 2023 (for 3 months !!! 🙄)

 

[LawrenceChard]

7 hours ago, Simonz said:

Anyone any experience with dealer 'ukcoinage.com'?

They have a few coins I fancy but my web browser threw a 'invalid certificate' alert a couple of times which is a worry?

Did a search on the forum and they're not listed in the 'Dealer Directory'

Any help appreciated.

One piece of advice I often give people using any website is to look for information about who owns or runs the site.

If you are lucky, this may be on every page, but sometimes only on the home page.

If I can't see it quickly, at the top or bottom of the page, I look for an "About UIs" page; sometimes this is just full of waffle and hype, but ukcoinage.com doe not even have one.

Then I look for a "Contact Us" page,  but ukcoinage.com doe not even have one.

Lastly, I may look one their Terms and Conditions, or Legal pages. ukcoinage.com's T&C page fails to reveaal who you are dealing with.

While their csn be valid reasons for some of this on coin dealers sites, ikt does not inspire much confidence.

If you ever look, you will find all of my / our sites have our contact information on almost every single page. That is because we want people to know as much about us as possible.

You may also find this helpful:

https://www.chards.co.uk/blog/advice-guide-for-uk-bullion-investors/1041

😎

[paulmerton]

4 hours ago, Happypanda88 said:

Their website certificate has been updated.

The new one is valid from 19th Jan 2023 to 19th Apr 2023 (for 3 months !!! 🙄)

 

Nothing unusual about that validity period. 

[Simonz]

9 hours ago, LawrenceChard said:

One piece of advice I often give people using any website is to look for information about who owns or runs the site.

If you are lucky, this may be on every page, but sometimes only on the home page.

If I can't see it quickly, at the top or bottom of the page, I look for an "About UIs" page; sometimes this is just full of waffle and hype, but ukcoinage.com doe not even have one.

Then I look for a "Contact Us" page,  but ukcoinage.com doe not even have one.

Lastly, I may look one their Terms and Conditions, or Legal pages. ukcoinage.com's T&C page fails to reveaal who you are dealing with.

While their csn be valid reasons for some of this on coin dealers sites, ikt does not inspire much confidence.

If you ever look, you will find all of my / our sites have our contact information on almost every single page. That is because we want people to know as much about us as possible.

You may also find this helpful:

https://www.chards.co.uk/blog/advice-guide-for-uk-bullion-investors/1041

😎

Thanks so much Lawrence for your advice. Yes I was already a little wary of it for all those reasons even before the certificate alert popped up. Will give it a miss for now.

[Happypanda88]

12 hours ago, paulmerton said:

Nothing unusual about that validity period. 

People in business for the long term would renew their website certificate for at least a year. 

[paulmerton]

2 minutes ago, Happypanda88 said:

People in business for the long term would renew their website certificate for at least a year. 

You'd better not look at the certificate this forum uses then 😉

90 days is actually the most commonly used certificate validity period on the web. It limits the impact of key compromise, and as most domain validated certificates are automatically managed/updated/reissued using the ACME protocol, the trend will be for lifespans to get even shorter in the future.

[Happypanda88]

35 minutes ago, paulmerton said:

You'd better not look at the certificate this forum uses then 😉

Four months is better than 3 ! 😉 

36 minutes ago, paulmerton said:

90 days is actually the most commonly used certificate validity period on the web. It limits the impact of key compromise, and as most domain validated certificates are automatically managed/updated/reissued using the ACME protocol, the trend will be for lifespans to get even shorter in the future.

Obviously not automaticated for ukcoinage as it expired and was not renewed in time. Hence, a user reported a certificate verification error.

90 days is seen as the most commonly used certificate in the industry is news to me. Just taken a snapshot of three popular bullion dealers on TSF.  They are for 12 months +.

 

 

[paulmerton]

6 hours ago, Happypanda88 said:

Four months is better than 3 ! 😉 

It's 3 months for this forum too, not 4 months.

6 hours ago, Happypanda88 said:

Obviously not automaticated for ukcoinage as it expired and was not renewed in time. Hence, a user reported a certificate verification error.

Part of the reasoning for 90 days was to encourage automation, but also to allow enough time for manual reissuance if needed. They obviously messed up, but imagine what a mess things would be in if everyone had an entire year or longer to discover their automation didn't work and to try and remember how it's supposed to work. The recommendation is to renew every 60 days so there would be plenty of time to fix problems or do it manually in the worst case.

6 hours ago, Happypanda88 said:

90 days is seen as the most commonly used certificate in the industry is news to me. Just taken a snapshot of three popular bullion dealers on TSF.  They are for 12 months +.

90 days has been the most common for several years now. Obviously there are sites that have longer lived certificates.

Going back to my original point, a 90 day certificate is absolutely no cause for alarm (other unrelated factors, like not being on top of reissuance is, though)

A good counterexample to your three would be the National Security Agency website (https://www.nsa.gov/) which also uses the same type of 90 day certificate. I suspect they know what they're doing 😀

 

[Happypanda88]

5 hours ago, paulmerton said:

It's 3 months for this forum too, not 4 months.

Part of the reasoning for 90 days was to encourage automation, but also to allow enough time for manual reissuance if needed. They obviously messed up, but imagine what a mess things would be in if everyone had an entire year or longer to discover their automation didn't work and to try and remember how it's supposed to work. The recommendation is to renew every 60 days so there would be plenty of time to fix problems or do it manually in the worst case.

90 days has been the most common for several years now. Obviously there are sites that have longer lived certificates.

Going back to my original point, a 90 day certificate is absolutely no cause for alarm (other unrelated factors, like not being on top of reissuance is, though)

A good counterexample to your three would be the National Security Agency website (https://www.nsa.gov/) which also uses the same type of 90 day certificate. I suspect they know what they're doing 😀

 

What you're describing is best practice. But in the real world, it doesn't happen that way. 

Edited January 22, 2023 by Happypanda88

[james999]

On 21/01/2023 at 01:37, Simonz said:

Anyone any experience with dealer 'ukcoinage.com'?

They have a few coins I fancy but my web browser threw a 'invalid certificate' alert a couple of times which is a worry?

Did a search on the forum and they're not listed in the 'Dealer Directory'

Any help appreciated.

Hello Simonz I Run ukcoinage my name is James I read all comments was shocked at some comments from people who dont even know me, I dont do websites im a coin dealer I pay a company to host my site and do any work which needs doing to keep the site running all I do is list some of my stock, if you ask the right people they would know me, as to no contact details like somebody said well thats just rubbish there's a link on the home page and on every listing where you can email me from, my phone number is also on the site you can call me on what else should I do ??, all the stock on the site I own and along with a great many more coins I dont list and sell coins I dont own like a great many websites who dont own a lot of the stock, they are selling it on behalf of clients, I have ebay shops with 100% feedback I have MA-shop account with 100% feedback there was links to view all this feedback on home page 

[ChrisSilver]

7 hours ago, james999 said:

Hello Simonz I Run ukcoinage my name is James I read all comments was shocked at some comments from people who dont even know me, I dont do websites im a coin dealer I pay a company to host my site and do any work which needs doing to keep the site running all I do is list some of my stock, if you ask the right people they would know me, as to no contact details like somebody said well thats just rubbish there's a link on the home page and on every listing where you can email me from, my phone number is also on the site you can call me on what else should I do ??, all the stock on the site I own and along with a great many more coins I dont list and sell coins I dont own like a great many websites who dont own a lot of the stock, they are selling it on behalf of clients, I have ebay shops with 100% feedback I have MA-shop account with 100% feedback there was links to view all this feedback on home page 

@james999 I have approved your post, please can you however upgrade your membership to a Business Account in line with forum rules at your earliest connivence. Please do private message me if you have any questions  

 

Quote

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[AndrewSL76]

I have dealt with James initially via MA-Shops and then direct. It was for a rare half sovereign. The coin was offered to me at a good rate (in April 2023) and I received exactly what was expected. Very, very happy with the coin and the service. Filled a gap in the collection at a great price and gave me great confidence in James and his company. 

Whilst the online shop may not be the best, you have to understand the criteria for being able to sell at MA-Shops. It’s extremely strict and I would say that anyone selling via MA-Shops should be afforded some degree of trust. Another example of sellers on that platform include Svcollector.

Cheers.