How's this for a rip off?!
 

the other day, i visited a local silver/gold guy just to see what he had.

he tries to sell me this silver gaming token, saying it's one oz .999 silver with gold plating around the rim.

http://www.tias.com/stores/jjt/pictures/d759a.jpg


...something seemed odd to me, and when he said he wanted $38 CDN for it, i declined.

after doing a little digging i found that the silver weight of this token is only .64oz

that's only about $20.30 worth of silver, which means he either is charging a premium of $18, (which he's not, i asked his premium, he said he was $6 over spot.) or he was trying to rip me off.

either way, he won't be getting any of my business...i do have the urge to visit his shop again give him a piece of my mind.

anyone able to verify the silver weight of these tokens? i've seen them on ebay for $12-$34.

any info would be appreciated...

maybe he is unaware of the silver content.. you should let him know.

Plus take a hard copy or the link address for him to see.

Ignorance is forgivable , deceit is not.

both good points...

for now, i'll give him the benefit of the doubt, but if i recall correctly, Awoke has cautioned me about this particular dealer...not necessarily him being deceitful, but charging too high a premium in the past.

is $6 a lot if you're only buying a maple or two at a time?

i just noticed my thanks count, lol....667...the neighbor of the beast lol http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...ilies/grin.gif

anyone else know anything about these silver tokens?

I dunno what the premiums in canada are usually like, when I buy maples here in the US my dealer usually charges me $3 over spot.

as for tokens I stay away from them. Does it say that it is silver anywhere? If it said it was silver I wouldn't mind having them...just gotta carry a scale with you. I take a small scale with me into my dealer all the time. He doesn't mind that I weigh everything before I buy...

+1

I've met more dealers that were clueless to the accurate weights and values of coins than I have dealers that actually knew their stuff. He's probably just ignorant. Helping dealers spot counterfeits and rare coins has helped me acquire cheaper metals over time.

I agree DMac, my dealer isn't ignorant or shifty but he missed some China counterfeits and sold some to me, when I told him he felt awful about it and hooked me up with something else. He went on and on how grateful he was and that I had caught it and got with him quickly, insuring that the mistake never reached more people, possibly tainting his reputation. We're still friends to this day.

I bought and sold these on the ebay for a while back in 09. They are big with collectors since they are mostly limited edition from various casinos. People pay premium for them over the silver content. They almost always say .999 silver but never show any weight and are redeemable at their casinos for their face value.

http://www.rivercitycoins.com/silver...inotokens.html

Unless it's stamped with weight and purity, I'd stay away, because all you have is your dealer's promise that it is what he says it is. AU/AG owners tend to not trust other people's promises, which is why we buy gold and silver instead of paper assets.

...well, it was stamped 999, but there was no indication of weight...

as long as it is stamped weight can be easily determined with a $10 scale. Anyone buying or selling silver/gold should buy one...they're cheaper then getting ripped off...

I have a bunch of these....As i used to live in LV. I have never really delved into them though, they have been locked up for 10 years or so.

On a side note - Imagine Vegas back in the 1970's: ALL coins at ALL casinos were real silver. Sit on that for a moment.

Some of the Silver Strike Gaming Tokens have collector value, like art bars. Some are stamped with the purity; some aren't. My dealer punches out the silver center from the brass outer and they end up in the scruffy bucket. I'd rather pick up 90% or pay the premium for SAE's than mess with the tokens.

Several years ago, I bought around twenty of these off e bay that were advertised as 1oz rounds. After they arrived, I did some research and found out that they're only .6oz. I sent the seller a link to a token collector site and he refunded me the difference. I then took them to my dealer and traded them.

Never buy anything you don't fully understand.

my dealer won't buy them. i've seen him turn away people with ice cream buckets full of them. they must be hard to get rid of other than melting them down.

http://www.providentmetals.com/casin...99-silver.html

$19.80 in US $ when silver is US $33.00

"These Silver $10 Casino Gaming Tokens Contain a .999 Pure Silver center with an Actual Silver Weight of between .5 & .6423 Troy Ounces and a solid brass outer ring"

http://www.providentmetals.com/media...bbps-00613.jpg