In Defence Of Littleton Coins

It's easy to belittle Littleton Coin Co. they do provide some of the highest priced coins I have ever seen, however.....

The last few things I have ordered from them have been in the Sacajawea Doller series. I don't think these were struck for circulation, and I really didn't want to order a bag of them from the mint. $6 for the latest 6 coins is great (if you like them). Now, of course you get the infamous Littleton "special approvals" all of which are priced ridiculously, but I have never had problems returning them.

One special I just ordered that might be of interest to any cheap people out there, a 2018 Kookaburra for $19.95 with free shipping. littletoncoin.com/specials and the code is 4VC600. I just wanted one for my collection of silver "slugs".

 

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I've tried their ad specials this past year and they keep returning my money. Guess I did that "For new customers only" one too many times.

 

Hmmm...I haven't had a problem yet.

 

People pick on them, but they have to understand. Littleton has TONS of expenses in advertising. Sure, some may come here and get mad they paid more than we would have for some coins, but it INTRODUCED non-collectors to the hobby. I have met many collectors who probably would not be today except for Littleton.

Littleton is retail. We here are all used to basically paying wholesale for our coins. I could make fun of all you "idiots" for paying over $1.50 a pound for cheese, but you are buying retail and I am buying millions of pounds a month. Different markets, different markups.

 

Does that make you a CheeseHead?

 

Littleton can be VERY expensive.
Attached is a screen shot from the Littleton website for 3 common date buffalo nickels in average circulated condition.

 

Living currently in MN, those are fighting words!

 

Littleton is generally overpriced. I have ordered their 20 presidential dollars for $20 deal, and they sent me the dollars... along with plenty of on-approval stuff that I absolutely did not need. So unless you pretend to be a "new customer", they will charge 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x, possibly even 10x what the item is ACTUALLY worth. Even certain COIN SHOPS won't charge as much as Littleton.

 

I believe that they search their name on coin forums regularly, so maybe you will join the Unwanted.

 

I was overseas in the army late 1970’s and early 80’s long before the word “internet” was part of our daily life. Yeah, I received their coins on approval. A few overpriced pieces every other month as I recall. I didn’t care. I much looked forward to receiving those envelopes. Folks can think what they want about Littleton. I appreciate them for the lifeline they gave this young soldier while he was a long way from home.

 

They are the grocery store of numismatics. Generally overpriced, but their specials and sales on newer coins keep them going.

 

When I visited a coin shop about a year ago, in Carson City, I encountered a crisp un-circulated 1957B silver certificate, just like the one at bottom. It only cost me $5 (without the JFK reprint). Littleton is charging over $20 more. Did the JFK reprint cost $20? I don't think so.

https://www.littletoncoin.com/shop/...p_category=&parent_category_rn=&storeId=10001

For everyone who enjoys Littleton's service, I understand why: because it is safer/more secure. Yet, personally, I would prefer going on eBay, or visiting a coin shop to see if you can find the exact same thing from Littleton for 50% less.

 

So Littleton is more of a higher end grocery (Whole Foods) and eBay is more of an Aldi or Save A Lot?

 

There are some foreign coins Littleton sold for 50 cents to a dollar back in the day that now sell for $50+. I always look out for lots of the older envelopes.

 

Well I must say they do send me a nice new Lincoln cent about once a year trying to get me to buy.
When I lived in NH I drove up to check them out, it was, to me, like going used car shopping.

 

I thought they would have more coins for sale on site. I was disappointed, the building is mostly offices.

 

Do the approvals come with post-paid return packaging, or are you on the hook for return shipping costs?

 

Would probably be easier searching their own files for duplicate addresses

I believe most all of their business is by mail only.

 

I agree. I have purchased a Cleopatra VII bronze that came in a Littleton envelope. Many times there are some very good coins to be found there.

Another thing to say about Littleton, you do not have any danger of fakes IMHO. They sell good coins. We have already discussed they simply have a different business model than other dealers we are used to is all. Maybe the person overpaid some, but 20 years later they have real coins. Going to Ebay or other places, many people are building collections full of fakes, something they will only discover years later. Their "bargains" have lost 100% of their value, while the Littleton, (or other honest dealer) purchases have retained value.

 

medoraman- Not necessarily, because if a coin is a VERY GOOD fake, even
Littleton will not be able to tell the difference. And, unless its a gold coin, or an extremely valuable silver coin, no one will bother attempting to fake it. In fact most of the coins Littleton sells are not rare or scarce- just overpriced! Littleton sells silver Roosevelt dimes for around $10. I bought them at a coin shop for $1 a piece back in 2013 or '14. No one is going to counterfeit a dime or even 10 of them, because its just not worth the time or risk! I'm surprised some people would even take the trouble to fake an ordinary coin worth less than $20, when many people fake paper money... or Supreme gear.