Peter's Blog

Price Guarantees Are Almost Always Rip-Offs

There’s a marketing gimmick that is becoming more common in the gold dealer business – the “price guarantee.” It sounds like a great deal on its face, but there’s more to it than meets the eye. Here’s what these dealers will offer: You call to place an order for gold coins and lock in a […]

$300 Million Lost to Gold Scams Since 2001

There was big news this week, when a Senate committee heard testimony about widespread precious metals fraud since 2001. The activity has picked up significantly since the financial crisis, with conmen targeting people who want to protect their savings from a crumbling US dollar. According to the news, US regulators have done virtually nothing to […]

New Collectible Rip-Offs from National Mints

Last week, if you were looking for gold coin news, you were likely to come across two stories about the release of brand new collector’s coins being issued by national mints. The Royal Canadian Mint has released silver and gold coins commemorating the canonization of Pope John Paul II. The US Mint has released a […]

Gold Scammer BUSTED!

There was big news last week in the precious metals industry. Anthony Columbo and his companies (Premier Precious Metals Inc., Rushmore Consulting Group Inc., and PPM Credit Inc.) were banned by the FTC from selling precious metals “investment opportunities.” The FTC charged Columbo with swindling millions of dollars from investors through hard-sell telemarketing schemes. The […]

Beware of “Impartial” Gold Dealer Reviews

The majority of precious metals scams prey on the uninformed, which is one of the reasons we started this blog. Just a little knowledge about best buying practices when shopping for gold and silver can prevent all sorts of nightmares. However, there are a handful of dealers that have started to find ways of tricking […]

The Dangers of Leveraged Gold Accounts

For investors who follow the fundamentals, the recent plunge in the gold price is an excellent buying opportunity. And indeed, physical metals purchases have continued to be strong around the world. Of course, when opportunities like this arise, so do the people aiming to take advantage of inexperienced buyers. If you believe that the price […]

The Myth of Gold Confiscation and “Collector’s” Coins

As more and more ordinary citizens become concerned about fiat money’s instability (not to mention government overreach with the Snowden and NSA scandals), metals dealers are increasingly able to prey upon these fears to unload suboptimal gold products at steep prices. In particular, you may have heard rumors about government gold confiscation and why you […]

Testing Your Gold and Silver

Even if you know all the ins-and-outs of buying precious metals and are buying from a trusted dealer, there might come a time when you feel the need to test a gold or silver product for purity. What follows is a brief synopsis of the most reliable methods for testing gold and silver. We encourage […]

Gold Doesn’t Need To Be “Unique” To Be Valuable

This week, we’re reporting on one of the wackier gold scams that’s arisen amidst the recent gold buying frenzy: scammers in British Columbia have been trying to sell gold that was (allegedly) smuggled into the United States from Iraq, where it was (allegedly) first owned by Osama Bin Laden. These scammers operate in parking lots, […]

A New Premium Landscape for Silver Products

One of the most important questions when buying precious metals can also be one of the most confusing: how much should you pay for gold and silver? Precious metals retail pricing is based on the spot price of the metal at the time of the sale plus the premium surcharge, which can vary drastically from […]