Dead: Midas Resources (Ted Anderson)

[swissaustrian]

I've heard of Midas Resources (Ted Anderson) recently through David Morgan whose silver investor newsletter I'm receiving. He just notified subscribers that he'll be on a radio show together with Ted Anderson of Midas. I didn't know who that guy is and so I briefly checked out his company Midas Resources.
The first thing I learned was that this guy is apparently pushing his company hard on the Alex Jones show - bucket shop ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bucket_shop_(stock_market) ) / boiler room ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiler_room_(business) ) style . He claims to offer silver coins "below spot" because he bought them "at a lower price". That is almost certainly a lie. Generally speaking: Any coindealer who wants to sell below spot "because he bought early at a (much) lower price" is basicly saying that he is NOT hedging. That is totally suicidal. Sooner or later he will be out of business. But that's not what I think Midas is doing. To the contrary, here's an example of an offer that has been pushed on the Alex Jones show:

First of all (Anderson/Midas doesn't sell bullion products, they sell collectible coins only. Midas then claims to sell two oz of silver together with an Alex Jones DVD, another DVD and one book for $72. ( http://www.midasresources.com/store/store.php ) How can that be? That would be the deal of the decade. 2 oz of silver cost $65 alone (at 32.5/oz) . But there is a problem: You don't get 2 oz, you get 1.54688 oz because the 2 coins you're purchasing are peace dollars (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_Dollar ) coins whose silver content is 0.77344 oz of silver per coin. This is classical false advertising.

After discovering that I went on to research customer opinions on Midas. Unsurprisingly, Midas brokers are described as aggressive and deceptive. There are quite a few stories of people who mums/dads where tricked into buying stuff from Midas at heavily inflated prices. Where did these poor seniors get the Midas hotline number? You guessed it: at the Alex Jones show.

Anyway, to conclude my findings:
Treat Midas with extreme caution. And don't deal with them at all if you're interested purchasing the largest amount of pure (!) metal for the lowest possible price.

And now you can blame me for bashing Alex Jones if you want ffftt:

 

[dontdeBasemebro]

I don't see where they claim it is 2 oz but send you Peace dollars. All the offers I see on the site say silver dollars and show corresponding photos of silver dollars.

???

 

[swissaustrian]

I don't see where they claim it is 2 oz but send you Peace dollars. All the offers I see on the site say silver dollars and show corresponding photos of silver dollars.

???

The photo I posted in the op shows a coin that was minted in 1921. I think we can agree on that. So the next question is: Which coins ("silver dollars") were minted in that year?
According to my research there were two types of coins minted in 1921:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dollar_coin_(United_States)

1. The Morgan Dollar (1878–1904; 1921), looking like this:

2. The Peace Dollar (1921–1935; 1964), looking like this:

I think it's very clear that the coins in the Midas banner are peace dollars.

Funny thing is that 1921 peace dollars are pretty rare, because minting really got going in 1922. 1921 peace dollars are selling for 4 times their metal value, 1922 and the following years are selling basicly at metal value:
http://coins.about.com/library/US-coin-values/bl-US0100-Peace-Dollar-Values.htm

That's why I think he wouldn't even sell 1921 peace dollars, but probably other years. That in itself would be false advertising.

Besides that, it wouldn't matter in terms of metal content whether it's a 1921 Morgan Dollar or a 1921 Peace Dollar, both contain the same amount of silver:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_Dollar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_Dollar

--------------------

Which brings me too your other question, is Midas claiming to sell two oz? They don't do it on their website. I grant you that. BUT, watch the following video of Ted Anderson on the Alex Jones show on October 4th promoting the offer from the op, I'm transscripting the relevant pieces for you:

9:00, telemarketing starts.

9:30, AJ "pitch doesn't really support the network" - lie Ted Anderson owns the GCN network.

9:40, $72 offer promotion starts, AJ "Ted bought them when they were lower, so he can do that now"

10:05, AJ "two silver dollars"

10:32, AJ "[Ted], you sold out of most of the gold/silver you bought months ago..., I know that's how you pass on these savings to people"

10:48, AJ "super radio specials"

11:00, Ted Anderson "You can't buy 2 silver dollars for $72 anymore" Of course you can.

11:08, TA "Price of silver has gone up to $35/oz, so they're not available."
That's a clear suggestion to potential buyers that he is talking about coins that contain one oz of pure silver. That clearly false advertising.

12:15, AJ "Ted, I know you sold thousands of them over the few weeks, two silver dollars for $72, you can't even buy those in the market, with two free films and a book, ... I feel so good promoting that

13:00, TA "With silver soon at $40 an ounce, I'm simply not going to be able to to sell two silver dollars, give away all these other goodies, for $72 delivered when the shipping alone is $6.5 . But it does educate the people. It's a great way to get new people started with precious metals ... at $40/oz silver, I'm not going to be able to to sell two silver dollars ... I would be broke, I would be out of business."

That's another clear suggestion to potential buyers that he is talking about coins that contain one oz of pure silver. Additionally, he specifically adresses pm newbies, because they don't know the details. That's false advertising and I think it's quite disgusting.

15:50, AJ "800..., the brokers there are great guys, and ladies, they can answer all your questions ... you're getting the deals I get"

And the whole piece finishes with AJ specifically talking to the target demographic, well-meaning but naive grandmas. That's really the icing on the cake.

 

[pmbug]

I posted this offer from Midas one year ago:

http://www.pmbug.com/forum/f8/free-books-dvds-order-silver-dollar-s-112/

The offers were clear about being silver dollars without guarantee as to the specific coin (Morgan/Peace), year or numismatic quality. At the time I bought them, there was a clear discount over buying the individual items separately elsewhere on the 'net. Seemed like a good deal for some Christmas presents.

I ordered the items via the internet and don't recall ever talking to anyone on the phone. I don't recall ever receiving any follow up solicitations from them for further sales or numismatic products.

I don't see where his website ads are any different from what you find on ebay. Caveat Emptor.

 

[swissaustrian]

I posted this offer from Midas one year ago:

http://www.pmbug.com/forum/f8/free-books-dvds-order-silver-dollar-s-112/

The offers were clear about being silver dollars without guarantee as to the specific coin (Morgan/Peace), year or numismatic quality. At the time I bought them, there was a clear discount over buying the individual items separately elsewhere on the 'net. Seemed like a good deal for some Christmas presents.

I ordered the items via the internet and don't recall ever talking to anyone on the phone. I don't recall ever receiving any follow up solicitations from them for further sales or numismatic products.

I don't see where his website ads are any different from what you find on ebay. Caveat Emptor.

Definitely.

I find it quite interesting when looking at the banners you posted in the other thread, the first one contains a little star with a link to a footnote that most likely explains the quality of the coin. The second one specifically names the coin's quality. That's a huge difference to the current offer which is deliberately intransparent.

Also notable: the peace dollars in the second image are 1923 peace dollars, not 1921.

 

[pmbug]

They appear to be dead.