Glass
10th July 2013, 07:57 PM
Could be a nice influx of some numismatics to the market shortly.
Retirees snared in collapse of coin dealer
Thousands of investors have been caught up in the collapse of a rare currency dealer, which a liquidator says held stock valued at about $240 million.
Though customers who typically paid hundreds of thousands of dollars each for coins and banknotes stored at The Rare Coin Company are likely to get them back, the value of their investment is under question.
The failure this week of the Albany-based business owned by Robert and Barbara Jackman has snared many retirees who bought the collectors' items through self-managed superannuation funds.
"In this case, it's particularly distressing because they're probably older than average creditors and also generally each of them has put in substantial funds," liquidator Jennifer Low, of Sheridans Chartered Accountants, said.
"Their stock is still there and they will eventually get it."
Ms Low said it would be difficult for investors to realise the value of their investment.
The collapse of the company has been blamed on a drastic stagnation in what had been an over- heated market.
"They couldn't sell stock," Ms Low said. "They had a lot of stock to sell and were under instructions from clients to sell."
The Rare Coin Company owed a bank about $3 million but she said the extent of its total debt was uncertain.
It stored customer-owned stock valued at about $200 million, $37 million in consignment stock placed for sale and $7 million in company-owned goods.
Some people are believed to have used entire super funds or the proceeds of selling their house to fund their purchases.
Albany investors Rod and Rosalind Sawyer, whose purchases included a holey dollar - Australia's earliest currency worth tens of thousands of dollars each - are hoping to recoup at least part of their investments.
"At the end of the day they're still worth something," Mr Sawyer, a retired farmer, said.
"They may not be worth the value that The Rare Coin Company last put on them."
Another investor said he had bought banknotes for $50,000, later valued by the company at $75,000.
But a buyer could not be found and another dealer told him they were worth only about $10,000.
Perth coins and stamps dealer Mickel Smits said The Rare Coin Company was one of about half a dozen dealers nationwide that had been focusing on the private superannuation market.
"Everything was fine for a number of years and the market was rising 15 per cent on average," Mr Smits said.
"But no market can sustain that for time immemorial."
Australasian Numismatic Dealer's Association president Andrew Crellin said: "It seems a lot of people weren't aware of the way that the market operates or the value of the items they had."
link to story (http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/newshome/17950567/retirees-snared-in-collapse-of-coin-dealer/)
Retirees snared in collapse of coin dealer
Thousands of investors have been caught up in the collapse of a rare currency dealer, which a liquidator says held stock valued at about $240 million.
Though customers who typically paid hundreds of thousands of dollars each for coins and banknotes stored at The Rare Coin Company are likely to get them back, the value of their investment is under question.
The failure this week of the Albany-based business owned by Robert and Barbara Jackman has snared many retirees who bought the collectors' items through self-managed superannuation funds.
"In this case, it's particularly distressing because they're probably older than average creditors and also generally each of them has put in substantial funds," liquidator Jennifer Low, of Sheridans Chartered Accountants, said.
"Their stock is still there and they will eventually get it."
Ms Low said it would be difficult for investors to realise the value of their investment.
The collapse of the company has been blamed on a drastic stagnation in what had been an over- heated market.
"They couldn't sell stock," Ms Low said. "They had a lot of stock to sell and were under instructions from clients to sell."
The Rare Coin Company owed a bank about $3 million but she said the extent of its total debt was uncertain.
It stored customer-owned stock valued at about $200 million, $37 million in consignment stock placed for sale and $7 million in company-owned goods.
Some people are believed to have used entire super funds or the proceeds of selling their house to fund their purchases.
Albany investors Rod and Rosalind Sawyer, whose purchases included a holey dollar - Australia's earliest currency worth tens of thousands of dollars each - are hoping to recoup at least part of their investments.
"At the end of the day they're still worth something," Mr Sawyer, a retired farmer, said.
"They may not be worth the value that The Rare Coin Company last put on them."
Another investor said he had bought banknotes for $50,000, later valued by the company at $75,000.
But a buyer could not be found and another dealer told him they were worth only about $10,000.
Perth coins and stamps dealer Mickel Smits said The Rare Coin Company was one of about half a dozen dealers nationwide that had been focusing on the private superannuation market.
"Everything was fine for a number of years and the market was rising 15 per cent on average," Mr Smits said.
"But no market can sustain that for time immemorial."
Australasian Numismatic Dealer's Association president Andrew Crellin said: "It seems a lot of people weren't aware of the way that the market operates or the value of the items they had."
link to story (http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/newshome/17950567/retirees-snared-in-collapse-of-coin-dealer/)