London mint coins

Katewalton23

Hi there,

My elderly uncle (75) sadly passed away last month. He told my son (9 years old) that he has been buying some expensive coins over the years from the London Mint which would be his inheritance and it would help him in future, rather than leaving him a monetary value in his will. My uncle was not well off and lived off his pension.
I asked for a statement from the London mint to see how much he has spent and which coins are the most valuable etc. he has spent in the region of £8k over several years.
For probate purposes, we had the coins valued by a registered dealer, who I would like to note after the valuation said he would not be interested in buying them ( so the figure he gave us was not for his benefit) I am absolutely gutted, saddened and also sickened to find out the figure he valued them at was £600.
How can that be? What can I do? Anyone who has an answer or where I can take this matter to , please help? London mint have said they do not buy coins back.
Trading standards?

shaun_from_Africa

Katewalton23 wrote: »

What can I do? Anyone who has an answer or where I can take this matter to , please help? London mint have said they do not buy coins back.
Trading standards?

Unless you are able to prove that London Mint missold the coins either by lying in their adverts or by selling them to your uncle whilst knowing that he was mentally unable to enter into a contract, there is little that you can do.
These coins are generally sold as collectors items and there won't be any guarantee that they will ever increase in value and due to the quantity minted, they rarely if ever become good investments.
There is no legal requirement for LM to buy back the coins.

soolin

Quite a lot of threads dating back years here on MSE

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2018327

The London Mint (a company and nothing to do with any official mint) are not scammers per se, they just are underhand in the way they represent the items they are selling. They are the 'back of the Sunday glossy magazine' type seller, and on daytime TV trying to attract older and perhaps more naïve buyers. They sell over priced 'collectable' items (ie basically worthless) things for buyers to collect.

I suspect that the OP has nowhere to go with this , but this thread should serve as a warning that just because a company sells via the TV, it doesn't make them honest and trustworthy, regardless of what the regulations suggest.

soolin

Another quite interesting article here:

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/experts/article-2799829/tony-hetherington-london-mint-coin-collection-worth-tenth-paid.html

Browntoa

I made an ASA complaint about one of these companies using a large crown at the top of their adverts , I suggested it was giving it the look of a royal seal or official status


The ASA decided in their infinite wisdom that it was not

Katewalton23

That's so wrong, I seriously cannot believe they can get away with it.

Katewalton23

Thank you all for your replies .. I'm pursuing the matter down several different avenues, I will post an update when I have one

Katewalton23

Thank you I did see this and I'm writing to them

soolin

Katewalton23 wrote: »

That's so wrong, I seriously cannot believe they can get away with it.

I perhaps mistakenly used the term 'misrepresenting the items' which looking at the website is perhaps not strictly true. They are very very careful to refer to these as collectable items, which basically means over priced tat to anyone who buys and sells at auction. I can't see anywhere that they currently state these are suitable for investment. The website now shows:

Our history in your hand: Learn and buy with The London Mint Office
Discover or develop your fascinating hobby with world history captured in pure silver and gold!



They are also very clear in pointing out these are replica coins for interest only, they also rather cleverly refer to most of their items as 'medals' not coins as well.

OP, sadly I think you are going to be stuck with these unless you can find any proof that they were ever sold with a guarantee of increasing value.

soolin

Browntoa wrote: »

I made an ASA complaint about one of these companies using a large crown at the top of their adverts , I suggested it was giving it the look of a royal seal or official status


The ASA decided in their infinite wisdom that it was not

Did they used to suggest they were valuable coins? OP , if so try and find something in Google cache to save to make a complaint.

Browntoe, I made a formal complaint about Madbid once, they told me the adverts suggesting you could win on a daily basis and only spend pennies was not misleading! I now believe the ASA to be a completely worthless organisation.

takman

Katewalton23 wrote: »

That's so wrong, I seriously cannot believe they can get away with it.

What exactly do you think they are "getting away with". They sell coins/medals for a set price, you pay the price and they send you the coins.

I've never seen them claim that what they sell is worth more than the price you pay or that they are a good investment.