Since our postal service came into being 175 years ago, anticipation for mail ordered goods has been palpable. Of course, what we expect and what we receive are often at odds.
That was the case in a 1959 episode of the TV show Leave It To Beaver. On it, Wally and Beaver sold enough perfume door-to-door to qualify for a fabulous movie projector. They eagerly awaited delivery of their prize. When it came, their father Ward Cleaver intercepted the package.
Inside was a crummy, cheap, little plastic “projector.” It would have devastated the two boys. Ward wisely switched it with a higher quality projector. When the boys opened the package they were overjoyed (though they suspected their dad had intervened)....
Especially as children, we have waited with baited anticipation for items in the mail. Growing up in the 1960s, my friends and I enthusiastically ordered precious items from the old Johnson Smith, Co, catalog. Be they X-Ray spectacles or spy cameras, super cool pocket knives or sea monkeys it all seemed almost too good to be true. More often than not, it was. Invariably, what we received didn’t match the descriptions. We’d like to believe we’re wiser now. That waits to be seen.
Last week, a full-page ad in a major national newspaper reminded me of those days. The promotion was for bags of coins and currency sold by a company with an official sounding name ending with the word, “Mint.” Similar ads seem almost commonplace these days. The advertisement was for sealed bags containing “nearly four pounds of US Government issued coins and currency” some dating “clear back to the early 1900’s.”
Those who have worked in advertising will understand the craft of writing compelling copy. Especially in respect to the wording in ads such as this, I wouldn’t be surprised if some in the ad game have taken courses in psychology. Not unlike the enchanting descriptions in those novelty catalogs of our youth, the phrasing in this ad was irresistible.
Throughout the copy were tantalizing descriptions of coins that “could be worth 100 times their face value.” According to the ad, these could include, “…the rarely seen Morgan Silver Dollar, the iconic Peace Silver Dollar, stunning Silver Walking Liberty Half Dollars, the scarce Franklin Silver Half Dollar, beautiful Standing Liberty Silver Quarter Dollar” and on and on with equally elaborate adjectives. From those descriptions one might expect there to be plenty of silver in the bags.
In addition, the “sealed Bank Bags” may contain a “$1 Dollar (sic) Silver Certificate Note, $2 and $5 Dollar (sic) Red Seal Notes and collectible $2 Notes just to name a few.” They may not but, possibly, they may include one of those.
If each bags weighs upwards of four pounds, with all the silver coins the ad mentions that would certainly be a lot. At today’s prices, four pounds of silver would come to over $1,100. Or, in Troy ounces (12 ounces to the pound), a little over $850.
But, wait. Among the wording in the ad is, “rare Indian Head coins, scarce Buffalo coins, old Wheat Cents…and more found inside..” Those would be copper or nickel coins. I phoned several coin dealers and asked about that. They said they sell circulated examples of many of those coins for just a few times their face value. In the case of Wheat Back pennies – some dating back over 100 years – one dealer buys them for two-cents and sells them for four-cents. With enough such pennies the weight of a bag could add up very fast.
The ad states the price for a bag is $849. For those who meet a deadline, (according to the ad, “operators…are bracing for a flood of calls”) the price is just $649. Those who order multiple bags (the ad says a strict limit of three per household) can get them for just $590 per bag.
Even though orders can be returned within 30-days, I opted not to pay to find out what was actually in one of the bags. Yet, here would be my query…why would someone sell bags “full of valuable U.S. coins and currency” in exchange for today’s less valuable modern money if a hefty profit weren’t involved?
I’m sure the bags of coins are an intriguing glimpse into the past. But, at what price? The one given is that none of us have Ward ready to intervene and help us out should the package arrive.
For more collecting advice, visit www.prexford.com