Warning about buying gold and silver!

The following are posts off the infowars.com message boards. This did not happen to me. I am only posting this so that you are more informed and cautious when purchasing precious metals from ANYONE, not just midas resources.

Post #1

Warning: Midas Resources Scam Says:
October 13th, 2009 at 11:18 pm

I trusted these folks because of owner Ted Anderson’s radio spots on the Alex Jones Radio program (out of Austin TX). Anderson’s pitch that they buy when the market’s low and sell when the market’s high at only a little above their buy price was convincing. The average AJ listener doesn’t have any knowledge of the coin market trusting Mr. Anderson not to rip them off.

Unfortunately I learned the hard way Midas Resources does rip people off with very high mark ups on their common gold coins. In January of 2009 I bought thousands of dollars of $5 liberty gold coins at $400 and $429 a piece. With the rising price of gold I thought when I called Midas to sell off a few for some quick cash I’d be offered near the same price. Unfortunately I learned the coins were only worth a little more than half of what I paid at $236. This was just 10 months later after gold rose significantly so my losses were even greater in reality.

If you think maybe this is an anomaly having to with gold, think again. For their half dollar silver Walkers they advertised them at practically wholesale prices on the Alex Jones Show. In January of 2009 I bought a bag of 200 Walkers for $1,700. Ten months later the bag is worth $975. As you can see, Midas commonly marks up their precious metals to around 35-40% while claiming in radio ad spots they sell at nearly wholesale levels. They are con artists who will say anything.

I spoke with a local coin dealer who says its common for people to be scammed by radio advertisers this way. He said these companies may indeed have large overhead to justify their mark-up but obviously you can find much better deals in the marketplace then buying coins from Midas Resources.

I lost about $9,000 but have addressed the situation with another coin dealer who is helping me to recover the loss. Most coin dealers only market up 5% as their commission. Midas marked up around 40% and that’s a crying shame scam in my book.

The Midas rep Ed Stately is a smooth talking good guy character but won’t hesitate to misrepresent facts to get the sale. I detected considerable deception from this salesman. I spent considerable amount of time on the phone and he knew all along I was getting royally screwed with the sale.

Don’t trust these guys, their mark-up is way, way too high and the fact Ted Anderson tries to make it seem like he’s doing Alex Jones listeners a favor selling his coins at nearly wholesale price, is a joke to say the least. They’re lying to people. Check out the real market value of coins prior to purchase, don’t trust these kind of large operations that feed off of people’s ignorance of their market.

Post #2

Warning, warning, warning! Midas Resources, Inc., is a precious metals coin dealer that promotes itself heavily on the Alex Jones Show and on PrisonPlanet.com to the average mojo. Genesis Communications Network (GCN) is the spine for Jones’ radio program and is owned by Ted Anderson, who happens to also be the President of Midas. He goes on the Alex Jones Show frequently promoting his gold and silver coins while hyping up the dollar’s decline.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (Dr. Laura) is also now on the Midas site promoting it as a company you can trust. I wasn’t aware of any strong trust people place in Dr. Schlessinger for her wisdom about precious metals being appropriate for the site.

Ted Anderson of Midas often talks to Jones’ audience as if he’s doing charity work in offering them great deals on gold and silver non-bullion coins. He often claims he’s hardly making any money on his sales of precious metals passing along great deals to Alex Jone’s listeners (I rarely listen to Mr. Jones any more, he’s too much of a downer and way too cynical).

I invested quite a bit in precious metals predicting the economy would collapse soon. Though I believe this is still forthcoming, I recently wanted to trade in on some of my metals for cash to learn Midas devalued my $5 liberty gold coins to half their value since January, 2009 when I purchased them. That’s right, I was offered $233 per coin as opposed to $409 I had paid 8 months ago. Midas Resources gets away with this highway robbery due to a disclaimer at the bottom of their site that reads:

“While collecting coins can be fun, exciting and rewarding, certain risks are inherent to the market. Among these, exist the risk of devaluation. The coin market is relatively thin and subject to market pressures. Buy/Sell spreads and storage cost may also erode a coin’s investment performance. While it is Midas’ policy to assist the client by providing a liquid market, we cannot guarantee this market.

Midas Resources has taken every precaution to provide the most accurate information possible. However it is provided without warranty or claim of reliability. It is accepted by the site visitor on the condition that errors or omissions shall not be made the basis for any claim, demand or cause for action. The information and data were obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but we do not guarantee its accuracy. It is the responsibility of the reader to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any of the information provided.”

Gold went up in value per ounce since January, but apparently that doesn’t affect the value:

There are two types of gold coins, numismatic and bullion. The chief difference between numismatic coins and bullion coins lies in how they are valued. Unlike a bullion coin, which derives its value from it’s gold content, the value of a numismatic coin is determined by a combination of variables including age, rarity and its condition.

Numismatic coins, such as pre-1933 United States gold coins, are highly sought after by astute collectors and investors for their beauty, historical value and investment potential.

Obviously, I have no recourse. I already spoke with an attorney who called it a scam. Am I upset I got ripped off in the short term stuck with dirty old silver dollars and gold coins half the value I paid for? A little. I’m not that upset though because the dollar will eventually collapse. It’s a minor inconvenience I can’t convert the metals into cash based on what I paid for it.

I certainly won’t be trading my metals in for a while, nor will I be doing any more business with Midas. Especially since their Midas broker, Ed Stately, essentially misrepresented to me their buy back policy wouldn’t seriously depreciate my coins. Stately led me to believe they’d buy them back even if it was for more than they sold them to me for. They most likely never offer more than what you pay for them unless it’s 3-5 years down the line. If you try to sell your coins back to Midas within a year they will shaft you big time for half their value!

Mr. Stately was playing all kinds of mind games with me as well with his phone tag lies. Con’s learn how to perfect their manipulation game. He’d come back with all kinds of lame excuses why he couldn’t get a hold of me though I left multiple messages on several different occasions I needed to speak with him. I wonder what his commission was on my sale.

Also, you order your coins and it takes 6 weeks to get them. I find that unacceptable. You wire over the cash into their bank account and should get your coins within a reasonable time frame. Six weeks isn’t a reasonable time frame.

~ by Scat on December 3, 2009.