Free safes? Valuable coins? Probably not

FROM:
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/new...bably-not.html

Free safes? Valuable coins? Probably not

posted by Jim Stratton on May 5, 2009 11:45:34 AM
Orlando Sentinel

The newspaper story sounded like a great deal: "Free armored
safes being doled out to the public," the headline said. And
they're stocked with "4,100 brilliant, never-circulated U.S.
Govt. issued coins that by law will never be minted again."

Wow.

The story even featured a picture of a delighted senior from
Perry Town, Ohio taking delivery of her waist-high steel
vault from the very official-sounding "World Reserve."

Problem is, the item wasn't a news story. It was a full-page
ad that ran in the Sentinel and in papers across the country
last month. And, of course, there was nothing really free
about the offer.

To get the safe, you have to pay for 19 monthly shipments of
those ultra cool coins -- you know, those "brilliant,
never-circulated" ones that "will never be minted again."
But that's got to be a bargain right? I mean 4,100 super
coins for the low, low price of $98 a month (for 19 months).

Let's do some math: $98 x 19 months = $1,862. Plus safe
shipping costs.

And for that, you get 100, $1 coins (total value $100) and
4,000 nickels (total value $200). Hmm. Looks like you're
paying $1,862 for $300 in coins and a "free" safe.

Don't take my word for it, I don't know anything about coins.
Listen instead to Robert Hoge, curator of North American
coins and currency at the American Numismatic Society.

"This basically just looks like a crafty method for selling
safes, taking advantage of the feeling of financial panic
that many people have. It seems ... to be clearly geared to
take advantage of frightened elderly people."

I love a numismatist who cuts through the crap.

Here's the thing: When the economy sinks, a lot of people
do a lot of things to separate you from your money. Fear
is a terrific motivator and the ad here deals it out in
spades. It uses the word "hoard" -- as in your "personal
hoard" of coins -- a dozen times. It asks, "Are banks
safe?" and answers, "Well, maybe."

It talks about the "frantic demand" for coins and promises
that the offer "ends public worry for those who rush to buy
up hoards of brilliant, never-circulated U.S. Gov't issued
coins ..."

But my favorite part is the quote attributed to the elderly
customer in Perry Town, Ohio (a place I couldn't find on
Google, by the way) who says:

"I wanted this whole hoard of U.S. coins as a nice nest
egg. I'll also set aside some of my hoard for my
Grandchildren. Now I don't have to worry about where to
keep my important papers and my Grandfather's gun ..."

So act NOW before the bread lines form! First 50 callers get
a free ShamWow! and Y2K converter box!


...

Arizona Coin Collector wrote:
FROM:
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/new...bably-not.html

Free safes? Valuable coins? Probably not

posted by Jim Stratton on May 5, 2009 11:45:34 AM
Orlando Sentinel

The newspaper story sounded like a great deal: "Free armored
safes being doled out to the public," the headline said. And
they're stocked with "4,100 brilliant, never-circulated U.S.
Govt. issued coins that by law will never be minted again."

[snip]

These things started to appear in our local daily a couple of years ago, and
they're in every single number now. If nothing else, this shows how
desperate newspapers have become for advertising revenue.

By the way, there IS a Perry, Ohio. It's a village of about 1200 people in
the northeast corner of the state, along the lake. It's in Perry Township.
Often the word Town is exploited by hucksters to give the place that
"folksy" flavor that sells, sells, sells.

James

On Tue, 5 May 2009 22:05:58 -0700, "Arizona Coin Collector"
wrote:

And for that, you get 100, $1 coins (total value $100) and
4,000 nickels (total value $200). Hmm. Looks like you're
paying $1,862 for $300 in coins and a "free" safe.

Thanks for that info. I saw the ad and although I was not at all
tempted, I did wonder what value coins were amoung the 4,1000, other
than the 100 Dollars mentioned. I assumed there would had been soome
quaters and a few dimes, not all nickels. But at least it is not all
pennies.