My late father purchased "rare" coins from Blanchard in the mid 1990s. Gold price was approx $380 per ounce at the time. He was elderly and a novice investor looking to diversify. They clearly picked up on his inexperience and sold him 7 coins over the course of a few years for a total of just under $10,000.
Fast forward 25 years. Gold is now just about $1,800. I approached Blanchard about buying back the coins (as they advertise on their site), but only one coin had increased in value over the 25 year period. The other 6 coins declined in value by 14% to 72%.
When I asked the rep how that could be the case, I received a very stock answer explaining gold cycles and if I held on for 12 more months, they should go up. He must have beleived I was completely naive and didn't know that gold was up 370% from when my dad bought the coins. Their pitch is very much focused on the price of gold and as gold goes up, the coins go up.
So, how did these coins go down so much when gold is up so much over such a long time? They WAY over sold my dad, that's how. Without access to internet to do research in 1995, he sadly trusted them. They completely took advantage of an old man with limited knowledge of the coin market. They found an easy mark and exploited him.
Buyer beware! These are not liquid investments and you have to find a willing buyer once you've bought them. Do your research so you do not get ripped off.
In the 1990's, I purchased fifteen coins from Blanchard and Company, Inc. based on their claims that the coins would greatly increase in value over time. I interacted with 3 different account managers on multiple occasions, all of whom took advantage of my inexperience in rare coins and intentionally misrepresented the growth potential, while consistently overcharging me for the items I purchased.
Although this experience took place over 20 years ago, it continues to cause me great emotional distress, given that I entrusted several thousand dollars of my savings to these supposed professionals who turned out to be opportunistic, scam-artists. Indeed, I have only just discovered that the values of nearly all of the coins, as listed in the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) and Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) price guides, are a mere fraction of Blanchard's original sales price.
At the time of purchase, the account managers represented that gains of 20% were expected for these coins. In reality, after 20 years, I am lucky if the coins are valued at 20% of the purchase prices I paid for them! In other words, instead of a 20% gain, I ended up with coins that are worth 80% LESS than what I paid for them!
Blanchard & Company, Inc. Reviews
My late father purchased "rare" coins from Blanchard in the mid 1990s. Gold price was approx $380 per ounce at the time. He was elderly and a novice investor looking to diversify. They clearly picked up on his inexperience and sold him 7 coins over the course of a few years for a total of just under $10,000.
Fast forward 25 years. Gold is now just about $1,800. I approached Blanchard about buying back the coins (as they advertise on their site), but only one coin had increased in value over the 25 year period. The other 6 coins declined in value by 14% to 72%.
When I asked the rep how that could be the case, I received a very stock answer explaining gold cycles and if I held on for 12 more months, they should go up. He must have beleived I was completely naive and didn't know that gold was up 370% from when my dad bought the coins. Their pitch is very much focused on the price of gold and as gold goes up, the coins go up.
So, how did these coins go down so much when gold is up so much over such a long time? They WAY over sold my dad, that's how. Without access to internet to do research in 1995, he sadly trusted them. They completely took advantage of an old man with limited knowledge of the coin market. They found an easy mark and exploited him.
Buyer beware! These are not liquid investments and you have to find a willing buyer once you've bought them. Do your research so you do not get ripped off.
In the 1990's, I purchased fifteen coins from Blanchard and Company, Inc. based on their claims that the coins would greatly increase in value over time. I interacted with 3 different account managers on multiple occasions, all of whom took advantage of my inexperience in rare coins and intentionally misrepresented the growth potential, while consistently overcharging me for the items I purchased.
Although this experience took place over 20 years ago, it continues to cause me great emotional distress, given that I entrusted several thousand dollars of my savings to these supposed professionals who turned out to be opportunistic, scam-artists. Indeed, I have only just discovered that the values of nearly all of the coins, as listed in the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) and Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) price guides, are a mere fraction of Blanchard's original sales price.
At the time of purchase, the account managers represented that gains of 20% were expected for these coins. In reality, after 20 years, I am lucky if the coins are valued at 20% of the purchase prices I paid for them! In other words, instead of a 20% gain, I ended up with coins that are worth 80% LESS than what I paid for them!