What follows is a series of questions frequently asked by prospective clients. The topics discussed range from the concepts of precious metals investment to the mechanics of actually purchasing gold, silver, platinum, and palladium coins and bullion. You are welcome to call or write us with other questions.

1. How do I make purchases from Liberty Coin Service?
2. How do I make payment?
3. How are my coins delivered? Are they insured? What are delivery charges?
4. How do I know I will be satisfied with the quality of rare coins I receive?
5. How does Liberty Coin Service determine prices?
6. What is the "spot" price? And why do newspapers, radio and television sometimes give different spots on the same day?
7. When I buy precious metals from you, will I pay more than the spot price?
8. How do I calculate the premium of an item?
9. How do I know that the coins I receive are genuine?
10. Can I leverage purchases or buy on credit?
11. Do you offer storage of coins or bullion that I buy from you?
12. What is the easiest way to accumulate gold and silver on a regular monthly basis?
13. How do I sell my coins and ingots?
14. If I sell my coins or ingots, will they have to be assayed?
15. Do I have to pay sales or income taxes on my transactions with you?
16. What advantages do I have in dealing with Liberty Coin Service rather than some other dealer?

Question: How do I make purchases from Liberty Coin Service?

Answer: Call us on the phone. Outside of Michigan, call our Trading Desk toll free at 800-527-2375. In Michigan, call us locally at 351-4720 or toll-free at 800-933-4720 and ask to be transferred to the Trading Desk. Ask for quotations of the current prices. If you wish to make a purchase, we will make a binding contract on the telephone. We will ask for your name, address and a daytime telephone number, then give you a confirmation number to note with your payment. If you are paying by check, you should send your payment on the same day or by the next business date after confirmation.

In some circumstances, telephone confirmation is inconvenient because the buyer is located in another country, or away from telephones during the hours when we are open. In such instances, you can send us a payment along with your order, using the most recent Computer Quotes. We recommend adding 10% to this price to cover any subsequent market fluctuation. We will charge you the current price for the items you order as of the closing U.S. market on the day your payment arrives. Any excess payment will be refunded with your shipment. Be sure to advise us exactly what you wish to purchase.

We can also accept orders via E-mail for non-bullion priced items such as those offered in our monthly newsletter.  Send orders to barbr@libertycoinservice.com .  If the item  is available, Barb will send you a reply to confirm the order and amount.  You can then send a check for payment.  If you wish to use a credit card for purchases, please call us for arrangements.  Do not send credit card information via e-mail.  

Return to top of page

Question: How do I make payment?

Answer: For fastest shipment, pay by bank wire. We normally receive payment the same day and ship within one business day. Your bank will probably make a small charge for this service. If your order is over $5,000, we waive the $15 charge that our bank charges us to receive bank wires.

The most common payment we receive is personal check. It is more convenient and provides more financial privacy than other payment forms. For many modest numismatic purchases, we ship immediately on receipt of a personal check. Where we do not ship immediately, we hold the merchandise for 10 banking days (effectively 2 weeks) after receipt of your payment. 

Another alternative for fast shipment is to send a bank draft (often called a cashiers’ check, money order, and so forth) payable to Liberty Coin Service. We normally ship within one banking day upon receipt of such payments.

We do not accept certified checks for immediate shipment because of past problems with altered amounts. 

We also accept Visa, Mastercard, and Discover credit card payments under the following terms:

1. Minimum order $20
2. Bullion items marked with an Asterisk (*) on the Daily Quotes page are subject to a 3.5% administrative fee.
3. Orders are usually shipped within one business day.  However, these orders will only be shipped to the credit card's billing address.
4. As an additional security measure, you will need to tell us the v-code for your card. This is the last 3 digits of the number on the back of the card, in the signature block.

Return to top of page

Question: How are my coins delivered? Are they insured? What are delivery charges?

Answer: We ship your merchandise by U.S. Postal Service registered mail. We carry insurance that covers up to $100,000 value per package.

For gold, platinum, palladium, and numismatic purchases, we charge a flat $15 postage per shipment. For silver bullion coins and ingots, we add actual postage charges. Our postage charges are among the lowest in the industry.

Incidentally, our policy of shipping the same or next business day on most customer shipments is the fastest in the industry. In survey after survey, no other dealer shipped to clients as fast as we do.

Return to top of page

Question: How do I know I will be satisfied with the quality of rare coins I receive?

Answer: Our rare coin standards are among the toughest in the industry. We have two reasons to be extra strict: 1) we want you to be so satisfied that you become a long-term client and even refer others to us, and 2) someday we hope to buy back these coins when you want to cash them in--so we provide you the very quality we would like to repurchase.

With our "Iron-Clad No Risk Money Back Guarantee," you have 15 days after your receipt to examine rare coin purchases in the privacy of your own home. If you are not 100% satisfied simply return them for a full, prompt, no-questions refund of your purchase price, your original postage costs, and of your postage costs to return them to us by registered mail.

Return to top of page

Question: How does Liberty Coin Service determine prices?

Answer: We have constant on-line communications with literally hundreds of other coin and precious metals dealers. This enables us to quote firm prices based on current markets. Our bullion margins are among the smallest in the trade, generally 1-3% for gold and 1-4% for silver. The larger the bullion transaction, the smaller our margin.

Return to top of page

Question: What is the "spot" price? And why do newspapers, radio and television sometimes give different spots on the same day?

Answer: Spot price is the price quoted per troy ounce on a cash basis for very large purchases on commodity exchanges. It does not include commissions, delivery charges, insurance, and taxes.

There are major precious metals markets around the world. Since each had different trading hours, the closing prices usually vary. For gold, the media often quote the London PM fix--the price on the open market in the afternoon in London, England (about 10:30 AM in the Eastern time zone in the U.S.). Silver, platinum, and palladium spots are usually derived from U.S. commodity futures markets in New York. Sometimes, you will see Zurich, Hong Kong, Tokyo, or Sydney spot prices quoted.

Most U.S. markets are open from 9:00 AM to 1:30 PM. Very early in the day, we base our spot prices on London and Zurich markets. During the day, spot is usually derived from New York and Chicago markets. Late in the day, we refer to Hong Kong and Sydney markets for spot prices.

Spot prices are quotes in troy ounces. They are slightly heavier than the more familiar avoirdupois ounce that is used in everyday measurements. A troy ounce weighs 31.1033 grams; the avoirdupois ounce is 28.35 grams.

Return to top of page

Question: When I buy precious metals from you, will I pay more than the spot price?

Answer: It depends on the market for the item when you buy. The heavily traded bullion-priced items usually sell at a small premium over the melt value (melt value is the value of the precious metal content at the current spot price). For example, when the spot price of gold is $400, a one-ounce gold coin selling at a 5% premium would cost $420. Is the spot price of silver is $6.00, a $1,000 bag of U.S. 90% Silver Coin (which contains approximately 715 ounces of silver) selling for a 3% premium would cost $4,420.

Generally, the major gold bullion coins (Austria 100 Corona, South Africa Krugerrand, U.S. American Eagle, U.S. American Arts Medallions, Canada Maple Leaf, and so forth) sell at a premium of 1% to 6% over melt value.

Silver coin and ingot premiums tend to vary more widely and are sometimes quite high. For example, when spot silver fell to $5.00 in 1982, U.S. 90% silver coin sold for as much as 60% over its melt value! And during the crisis-boom of early 1980, when spot silver topped $50.00, U.S. 90% silver coin sold below its melt value.

Whatever the markets, we almost always have items available at low premiums.

We believe that the premium above spot (or discount below spot) is vitally important in determining which form of precious metals to purchase. The relationship between an item’s price and its bullion value changes, but the change is usually gradual. We attempt to keep our clients informed of these changes. Our daily Computer Quotes lists our prices, the cost per ounce, and the premiums above melt value for many commonly traded items. We are always ready to advise you the premiums on various precious metals coins and ingots when you call for quotes.

Return to top of page

Question: How do I calculate the premium of an item?

Answer: You can easily figure the premium over melt value of any item with the aid of a calculator. Simply divide the price of the item by its fine weight (the precious metal content) to determine the cost per ounce. Then divide the cost per ounce by the spot price. The fine weights for many items are listed on the Computer Quotes page.

For example, suppose that gold spot is $400 and the price of an Austria 100 Corona is $402. Divide the coin’s price ($402) by its fine weight (.9802 oz). Then divide the result by gold spot ($400):

$402/.980 = $410.12 $410.12/400 = 1.025

The coin sells for 1.025 times its melt value; its premium is 2.5%.

Return to top of page

Question: How do I know that the coins I receive are genuine?

Answer: Gold coins are sometimes counterfeited. However, unless a gold coin is made of gold, it is relatively easy to detect. Gold is heavy, resistant to corrosion, and has a distinctive color. Bullion priced coins sell so close to bullion value that they are rarely counterfeited-it costs more to manufacture a passable counterfeit than it costs to purchase a genuine specimen. An ounce of gold can be used to make over 20 U.S. $1.00 gold coins which, if genuine, have a wholesale value of more than $2,000. So counterfeiters usually fake only rare coins. The few counterfeit bullion-type coins are easy to detect, even by someone with only a passing familiarity with gold.

To a far lesser extent than gold, there are counterfeit and altered rare silver and other coins. Greater dealer and collector education since the 1970s along with the advent of independent third party grading services have continued the trend of fewer counterfeits successfully passing on the market. 

Our staff consists almost entirely of experienced precious metals experts and rare coin specialists. We are consulted by other collectors and dealers to help them determine if a piece they have may be counterfeit. We absolutely, unconditionally, and indefinitely guarantee the authenticity, as described, of every coin and ingot we sell.

Return to top of page

Question: Can I leverage purchases or buy on credit?

Answer: As a general rule, we recommend against leveraged purchases. However, a few banks make such loans and we can make arrangements. If interested, contact us for more details.

Return to top of page

Question: Do you offer storage of coins or bullion that I buy from you?

Answer: We strongly recommend that you avoid storing any purchases with any dealer. Historically, many dealers who encouraged their clients to store their holdings with them have proved to be frauds; some have gone bankrupt leaving their customers with nothing.

If you do not want to take physical possession of your precious metals, please contact us for the names of some independent banks and trust companies that offer storage services.

Return to top of page

Question: How do I sell my coins and ingots?

Answer: The procedure is that same as when you purchase coins and ingots from us. Call for current quotes and confirmation. We make payment within one business day of our receipt of your items.

Return to top of page

Question: If I sell my coins or ingots, will they have to be assayed?

Answer: Almost certainly not. We have never required an assay of a gold or silver coin. Unusual ingots, however, are occasionally subject to assay.

Return to top of page

Question: Do I have to pay sales or income taxes on my transactions with you?

Answer: Retail sales of bullion (with the exception of palladium) and coins in Michigan are no longer subject to Michigan sales tax.  Supplies, references, paper money, tokens, and other non-coin items are subject to Michigan sales tax.   Transactions outside of Michigan are not subject to Michigan sales tax. However, if the purchase would be subject to sales tax if made within your state, you have the responsibility to report and remit the equivalent use tax; LCS makes no such reports. Our clients also have the responsibility to report sales (but not purchases) on their income tax returns; in only a handful of instances is LCS required to prepared a 1099 form to report amounts paid for some kinds of merchandise sold to us by customers.

We do not report client purchases to the government except as required to comply with IRS regulations on "cash" transactions. Please check with your tax advisor for further information on this subject.

Return to top of page

Question: What advantages do I have in dealing with Liberty Coin Service rather than some other dealer?

Answer: I may be biased, but I believe that you gain a number of advantages by dealing with LCS.

Competitive prices: It is our conscious policy to keep our prices at the lowest levels in the trade. We are confident that by dealing with LCS you will accumulate your precious metals portfolio at the lowest possible price.

Professional experience: Our senior staff has over 150 years of experience as a collector, investor and dealer. Our traders are not simply order takers. We have researched and published books, articles and papers on precious metals and rare coins. If you have questions, we can provide answers.

Friendly personal service: When you call us, you won’t get high-pressure sales tactics or canned sales pitches. We never make cold calls. We realize that everyone’s circumstances are unique, and tailor our recommendations to your needs. We respect your right to make up your own mind.

Informative newsletter: Liberty’s Outlook, our monthly newsletter, emphasizes timely, usable information on precious metals and rare coins. It is mailed by first class while it is still news, not history. We frequently scoop the competition on important breaking stories--often to be reprinted elsewhere. Many subscribers pay $79 per year to receive Liberty’s Outlook. However, customers of Liberty Coin Service receive a complimentary one-year subscription.

Your privacy: Your privacy is important to us. We have never released or sold client names for advertising or direct mail. Any paper that contains a customer’s name or address is shredded before disposal.

Reliability: Since 1971, we have made reliable buy and sell quotes every day, filled client orders, and shipped purchases on time. Even during the financial crises of 1974 and 1987, and "Silver Thursday" in 1980, we answered our phones, quoted prices, and bought and sold coins to our clients.

I believe that you will find Liberty Coin Service can serve you better. I look forward to a long-term mutually profitable relationship.

Sincerely, 

Patrick A. Heller

Return to top of page