Guest Article - Joshua Rotbart - Malca-Amit Precious Metals
Recently we were requested by one of our clients to help with the liquidation of bullion coins holdings they’d purchased a couple of years earlier from another provider. Upon receiving the coins we quickly realised many of them were damaged, scratched, and generally looking worse-for-wear. The damage most likely occurred during the international transit – The client had bought the coins from one dealer, and shipped them to another location for storage.
Whoever had been responsible for moving them had simply dumped them all in a box, without any thought for what the results may be, and shipped them off.
This inexcusable lack of regard for the proper packaging of the coins ended up costing our clients thousands of dollars on the sale price, because the coins were sold as scrap, and not as good bullion coins.
This pointless loss would have been easily avoided if only our client were aware of the following tips:
Buy coins from reputable suppliers:
When buying precious metals, in any form or fashion, you must really be certain regarding the pedigree of your purchase and your provider. You should avoid 2nd hand purchases and always aim to only buy newly minted coins from mints that are recognized as members of the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA). LBMA membership is only awarded to expert providers who meet a strict set of criteria. Malca-Amit Precious Metals sources all branded bullion and coins purchased for our clients exclusively from LBMA mints.
Ship and store with reputable suppliers:
Here again it seems a little weird we should have to actually mention this, but as the story above very clearly illustrates, there are many people who make the mistake of choosing otherwise, and paying heavily for it. Dealers on the lower end of the spectrum may try to save money by cutting corners and opting to use transportation services that haven’t got the expertise required, with the result invariably being that coins are damaged in the transit process.
When you opt for cheap freight you’re at best saving a few bucks, and at worst risking thousands of dollars in damage to your investment. Your best option is to ensure your holding is being transported by a logistics company that’s also a member of the LBMA.
If you’re in doubt regarding the storage of your coins you should either go to the storage facility and inspect your holding, or ask your custodian to take photos of the coins and send them to you.
