When it comes to buying old hammered coins, the internet is awash with opportunities for experienced buyers looking to make a very specific purchase and first time buyers that have a certain level of uncertainty about exactly what they are looking for. With the evolution of e-commerce it is now possible to find, buy and receive old hammered coins from the comfort of your own home.
When buying old hammered coins online, one problem that many people have is worried about whether or not they will receive exactly what they were expecting. Many specialized and well known hammered coin dealers do not have the same level of risk attached, however the same can not be said about everyone who is selling hammered coins over the internet. An example of this would be the many hammered coins that are available on auction websites such as Ebay. One way to make sure that you are less likely to end up out of pocket, can be to always ensure that you buy using a credit card. When you do this, you will always be able to do a charge-back should you end up not receiving the goods that you ordered.
As well as being able to do a charge-back, you should always do certain checks before hand to ensure that everything looks above board. If you are buying through a website, for example, you should look to see if the merchant makes their contact details publicly available – if they do not then you should stay well away. Another great tip can be to ask the seller for the contact details of their prior customers. You can contact them and see if they were happy with the service levels that they received. However, you can avoid these problems by buying from a 'known' dealer. The coin associations (British Numismatic Society or British Numismatic Trade Association) should be able to tell you if the dealer concerned is known to them. Alternately one of the major International dealers (ie Spink & Son) will probably know the dealer and his / her specialized field.
Before you make any purchase online, you should always make sure that you are paying a fair price which reflects the current rates in the market place. This is especially relevant when it comes to buying hammered coins. You should try and find out the price that coins, of a similar time period and value, sold for in the past. You can then use that information to find out if you are going to be charged a fair price. When you buy from hammered coin dealers you should be expecting to, and be willing to, pay more for your purchase. The reason for this is that they will go to the effort of checking the authenticity of the coin and do research with regard to its origin and condition. They will also make sure that buyers pay a fair price, and are not being ripped off due to their ignorance or excess desire to get a particular coin.
Finding a hammered coin dealer online is simple. Firstly go to a search engine and type in hammered coins, or a similar phrase that indicates your intention. You can even visit a directory and find out if they have a section that is dedicated to hammered coins websites.