Dave Lieber 
Trying to make heads of tails of coin prices
Star-Telegram staff writer
The first thing I saw in the advertisement was, "Free coins are being handed out ..."
Ahh. I love the thought of free money.
So I read the ad in Parade magazine, which is distributed in the Sunday Star-Telegram. Sounded like a great deal. Buy a roll of new presidential dollar coins and get a free $1 coin with it.
The commemorative coins come wrapped in plastic "vault tubes" designed to protect them from harm. For an extra cost, the tubes can be tucked inside gold foil "vault bricks" for safe storage.
The seller is World Reserve Monetary Exchange. That name sounds as if the group could be related to the Federal Reserve Bank. But World Reserve states in its ad that it is "not affiliated with the United States government or any government agency."
The ad said the offer was good only for 72 hours. "You can show them off like a diamond ring or a brand new car. You just won't believe the expression on people's faces when you hand them one of these," the ad says.
So I called the toll-free number before the 72 hours were up.
The call center employee told me that the new presidential dollar coins, which arrived last year and will be printed every year until 2016, are already increasing in value.
He offered to sell me four rolls and toss in a fifth roll and five additional coins for free so I wouldn't have to break open the vault tubes when I wanted to show them off.
"How many coins in a roll?" I asked.
"Fifty," he said.
I did the math: 255 coins worth $255 without the fancy wrapping.
"How much?" I asked.
"$496 plus shipping."
"How much with shipping?"
"Total is $543."
Remember, this is for $255 worth of coins.
Hmm.
He offered me a smaller package: 51 dollar coins for $135.
When I thanked him and prepared to hang up, he reminded me that the 72-hour deadline was approaching.
I learned that the U.S. Mint sells the coins, too, marking up the price, but not as much. The mint's Web site shows that the James Monroe $1 coin, in a 25-coin roll, costs $35.95 before shipping. The rolls are much plainer than World Reserve's packaging.
The mint also sells the coins in bags: A bag of 250 Monroe coins costs $319.95. Eventually, The Watchdog found a way to get the coins at their exact value, and I'll tell you how later.
First, though, I began studying coin collection blogs to read what collectors say. I also called North Texas coin experts.
Bloggers say the coins do not have much value because hundreds of millions are in circulation. "Not exactly a limited supply," blogger Les writes.
Fort Worth coin dealer Mike Adcock says a buyer can get a better deal at a coin shop or show. He said, "There's going to be all kinds of people out there collecting them for their kids. They don't realize they ... are just a dollar. They have no precious metal in them whatsoever."
An area coin shop owner who requested anonymity said: "Obviously, they are preying on people's lack of knowledge" about coin collecting. I contacted the Canton, Ohio, company, and World Reserve spokeswoman Monica Wallace defended the markup:
"The proprietary golden vault brick," she wrote (after insisting my questions be placed in writing so they could be shared with company lawyers), "is a hard plastic case that is covered in gold foil and resembles a gold bar. Inside, the vault brick is lined with protective foam to house the tube.
"It is true that we charge more for the products than we pay for them," she wrote. "But no one could continue to operate a business if they could not make a profit on the product."
The Better Business Bureau in Canton reports 230 complaints about the company in the past three years; 177 were settled.
In February, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal criticized the company, saying the advertised "illusionary discounts" disappeared "upon closer scrutiny."
So what's The Watchdog's best bet to get these coins for what they are worth?
Go to your local bank and ask them to save a roll of the new coins when they come in. (They are released every three months.) You'll pay a dollar for each coin. And remember to send your bank a card every Presidents Day. (Remember, this project lasts until 2016.)
The World Reserve spokeswoman pooh-poohed that idea: Bank coins, she wrote, "will be circulated and wrapped in a paper roll that is not sealed. The paper roll does not protect the coins from most harmful elements," and the packaging is "not the most attractive."
Oh well. I still think it's worth a try.
If I can't get free money, at least it won't cost me more than a dollar to get a dollar at the bank.
News researcher Cathy Belcher contributed to this report.
A closer look
The World Reserve Monetary Exchange sells commemorative coins at greater than face value in attractive packaging.
The U.S. Mint also sells coins at greater than face value but at a lower cost and in less attractive packaging. Visit moneyfactory.gov.
The presidential dollar coin program began last year with the release of the first four coins: George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.
This year, coins with the images of James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren will be released.
The final two presidents on the schedule are Richard M. Nixon and Gerald Ford in 2016. Presidents must have been dead for two years before their images can be used on coins.
Source: U.S. Mint
The Watchdog column appears Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Dave Lieber, 817-685-3830
