Scammers want big bucks for old coins

A Rotorua coin collector says people paying thousands of dollars for coins about to be phased out of circulation are being duped.

With just five weeks before New Zealand's old 5c, 10c, 20c and 50c coins become obsolete, there has been an upsurge in their sale as collector's items.

But Rotorua collector Don Ion warns that most of them are worth no more than their face value and people should do their homework before they buy. Other coin experts share his concerns.

Mr Ion, who has been trading coins for more than 50 years, said there had been a coin buying frenzy since a 2004 5c piece sold on a website for $350 after the Reserve Bank introduced new coins.

Since then coins worth only their face value were being listed at exorbitant prices, some as high as $5000, he said.

"It's just a fallacy. People are getting sucked in. They need to make sure they are not bidding for a coin that is only worth face value."

Mr Ion said he had been fielding calls daily from people who believed they had a valuable coin in their possession after seeing them online at high prices.

"It's crazy. It's a scam. It's all driven by hysteria and misinformation. I'm sure it's just a jack up and people need to treat it as a joke."

Rotorua Stamp and Coin Shop owner Lois Ion, Mr Ion's daughter, said was fielding many calls a week from hopefuls who thought they were on to a money spinner.

"I think there is a lot of funny business going on. People are putting stuff on [auction website] Trade Me and trying to manipulate the market," she said.

Many people falsely believed the coins would be valuable just because they were no longer in circulation but that was not the case, Ms Ion said.

Auckland coin collector Jim Johnson said the Auckland Numismatic Society was also concerned about the prices people were selling coins for. "Some people are being duped. It's that same old story. If you don't know anything about the subject then leave it alone."

Wellington Royal Numismatic Society vice president Alistair Robb said people who knew little about the value of coins for which they were bidding would be best to first check catalogues, available from coin collector stores.

"These books only cost about $14 but they could save these people a lot more," he said.

- DAILY POST (ROTORUA)

People can also find out information by checking out a Numismatic Society website at .