Why Buy Coins From Shop NBC? Review of The Coin Shoppe

Home >> Why Order Coins From Shop NBC's Coin Shoppe?

Author: Gold Why Webmaster
Date: August, 2008

Morgan Silver Dollar
©iStockphoto.com – LUGO

There's no doubt about it, I love this website. It's the perfect excuse to buy coins! I can always rationalize to myself, "Hey, it's ok to buy those coins, it will make a great review on Gold Why." Following my review of Pennies.com (what fun it was buying coins from them), I will be reviewing Shop NBC Coin Shoppe today, another super store that I recommend buying coins from, especially as you are looking to build up your exposure to rare coins in addition to bullion.

How I Discovered The Coin Shoppe

It was really luck. It was a Saturday night a few weeks ago and I was flipping through the channels half awake. I was not quite ready to go to bed, and I was definitely lucky I decided to stay awake. From the moment I found Shop NBC (channel 28 where I live), I was drawn in and could not turn the TV off. (As an aside, I'm easily sold on coins, among other things, so my weakness played into the heavy salesmanship on the show.) The show was so interesting and exciting, and the products were so good, that I found a new favorite TV show. Since that Saturday night, I have been watching the Coin Shoppe religiously each weekend (I know, sort of sad, but hey I'm a coin nerd.)

About The Coin Shop Show

The show is hosted by one of Shop NBC's regulars (cannot find his name right now, but overall a good salesman). The "guest" each week is Robert Chambers, a coin guru of over 20 years. I definitely enjoy watching the show because I love coins and love learning about them. There's a lot I have learned so far, but definitely also have to keep reminding myself that the hosts are there to sell products to make a profit!

The show is pretty standard for what you would expect from a TV shopping channel. They have new products every ten minutes or so and try to entice you to buy with all sorts of discounts and specials. Each night, they will have at least a few marked down specials where you can really pick up a good deal. In general, I believe the products they are selling are good deals and that's why I made a purchase (more on this below) and will definitely be a repeat customer. A very interesting fact: They offer a 30 day money back guarantee. There are not too many opportunities to get your money back when buying coins anywhere else!

To Easy Pay or Not To Easy Pay

They also leverage their "easy pay&qout; system to make more sales. Easy pay basically means that they divide the price into increments and charge you an increment each month (with no interest). It's actually a really good deal because you can keep that money for longer and earn interest on it in your high yield savings account before parting with your money later. Unfortunately, this system can also go against you if you are buying products that you don't have enough money for today. My advice: pay in full. You don't want to buy coins that you can't pay for today, it's not the prudent thing to do in my opinion (coming from the guy that gets easily sold on everything). If you have a ton of willpower, however, you could use easy pay to get some more interest on your funds before parting with them.

My 1904-O Silver Morgan Dollar, PCGS Rated MS64

Shop NBC offers two ways to buy coins, either by calling in or via their website. I honestly wanted to call in and be part of the Coin Shoppe fanfare, but couldn't since I only own a cell phone to cut down on my monthly expenses and did not want to expose my credit card information over the cell phone. So, I decided to visit the Shop NBC website and pick out a nice coin for myself. I ended up with my first ever PCGS graded coin! I'm so excited coming from a bullion background and really starting to learn about and acquire a few rare coins one at a time. I'm right now looking at my PCGS MS64 1904-O Morgan silver dollar. It's absolutely stunning. How did I pick this one? I saw a lot of Morgan dollars on the show that I really liked. Going to their website, I picked out a Morgan dollar that was in my price range (less than $120), with a good PCGS grade, and also some rarity. I like the 1904-O because there are only 3.7 million of them minted according to Coinfacts.com. Many of the other Morgan dollars had a higher minting number, meaning they are less rare. I ended up paying $117.24 for the coin and $10.99 shipping and handling, coming in right in line with my price point.

Two general takeaways that I have learned so far about rare coins: (1) buy the rarest and most "collectible coins" you can afford, and (2) at the highest grade you can afford. That's exactly what I did. The PCGS MS65 coins were out of my range so I first realized that MS64 was the route to go for me and then I purchased the rarest coin I could find using Coinfacts.com as my guide.

My Coin Arrived In About 1.5 Weeks

About 1.5 weeks after ordering, my coin arrived! This is definitely quick shipping compared to my other experiences. Typically, as a rule of thumb, it takes about 1 month for coins to ship. My coin arrived in a bubble wrapped envelope and was protected inside with a cardboard enclosure around the coin (which is of course sealed in the PCGS holder). Overall, for $10.99, I would have liked to have the coin wrapped a bit better, perhaps coming a box, but I can't complain too much - it was overall more than acceptable. I'm sure also that if I ordered more coins, a box would have been in order.

A Great Experience But Shop NBC Is Addictive!

Overall, I had a great experience and highly recommend ordering coins from Shop NBC, especially if you're like myself and are new to the world of numismatics. It's a great way to learn about rare coins, entertain yourself with a fun and exciting show, and get some good deals. It's easy to get a bad deal if you don't buy from a reputable coin shop. Shop NBC is definitely reputable and trustworthy. My only word of caution: Be careful, they are good salesmen and the show can be addictive! How do I know? I just ordered a new watch from them. I went to the station looking for the Coin Shoppe. While the Coin Shoppe was not on, the watch show was. The watches are equally impressive and I just had to reward myself with a new watch. Overall, again happy with the purchase because I really feel like I got a deal (although my watch has not arrived yet), but need to keep an eye on my spending habits so I have money left to do more reviews for Gold Why over the coming weeks and months. In fact, I already have my next target picked out and am already super excited about my next review!