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HomeDealers and CompaniesThe Rare Coin Company (Australia) Has Entered Voluntary Liquidation Owing Millions

The Rare Coin Company (Australia) Has Entered Voluntary Liquidation Owing Millions

One of Australia’s major numismatic dealers Robert Jackman of The Rare Coin Company, has gone into liquidation owing private investors what is believed to be tens of millions of dollars.

The company sometimes seemed larger than life with well publisized auctions of rare australian coin and Banknotes. In June of 2009 the company sold the incredible Quartermaster Collection, containing many of Australia’s rarest coins. The sale included 344 lots and was conducted by Monetarium (Australia) Pty Ltd. The total prices realized was $10,269,084 Australian Dollars ( or $8.397 Million US ).

robert_jackmanAccording to one Australian dealer, Walter Eigner Numismatics

“The Rare Coin Company has been operating since 1982 earning confidence through investors through their immediate liquidation guarantee. Liquidators attributed the company’s failure to the global financial crisis of 2008, the collapse of John Petit Rare Banknotes, the government review of self-managed superannuation fund rules which led to a reduction in sales and their ill-fated decision to purchase Sydney dealer Monetarium. “

Whatever the reasons for the business failure, it looks as if hundereds if not thousands of local residents and non-numismatist clients could stand to lose significant amounts of money.

Accordiing to an ABC News article…..

Liquidator Jennifer Low says people who own notes or coins that were stored on the company’s property will get them back but the process could take several months.

However, Ms Low says it could take years to sell the company’s assets and pay creditors, including one bank owed about $3 million, any potential dividend.

“The selling of the company’s stock, its coins and notes, they’re unique, it’s not something that will be sold wholesale and the nature of the stock will be considered,” she said. “In terms of returning property – third party property – to the rightful owners, I expect that will take a few months. As far as realising the company’s assets, which are mainly coins and notes, I expect that will take a few years.”

rarecoinco_quatermainAnother Australian dealer site, Sterling & Currency, which is run by the President of the Australasian Numismatic Dealer’s Association (ANDA), Andrew Crellin, had a very insightful article about the situation as follows”.

The Rare Coin Company was regularly in the mainstream media with publicity covering the sale of numerous historic rarities – just a few months ago they were mentioned in the AAP as handling the sale of a complete set of Collins Allen specimen notes dating to 1913 for the expected price of A$5.5 million.

While I believe it’s fair to say that the Rare Coin Company hadn’t been particularly active in the broader numismatic market via auctions and with other dealers for a number of years, their turnover was without doubt quite substantial relative to many other dealers in the market.

Normally, when one coin dealer goes out of business, whether through retirement, death or other factors, fellow dealers are able to either take up the slack or fill the void. Their clients move on, and the products they’ve sold continue to circulate throughout the numismatic market.

The business model of the Rare Coin Company however was quite unique in the Australian numismatic scene, indeed in the world. For a long while they are thought to have guaranteed minimum rates of return on the items that they sold, and are also thought to have guaranteed to immediately buy back items for cleared funds. These guarantees saw them attract customers far removed from the average coin show – people that bought through them were often simply regular mums and dads interested in putting some hard-earned capital to work as they headed towards retirement.

It is this business model however that may see the repercussions of the liquidation of the Rare Coin Company spread far more widely than has any similar event before in the history of the Australian numismatic market. These circumstances are unequivocally without precedent.

rarecoincompanyRobert Jackman was the founder and now former Managing Director at The Rare Coin Company. The only comment we have been able to find was from his LinkedIn account where he said.

“After 31 years in business the GFC took its toll and we have ceased to trade. What the media dont report is the $100 million clients have made and cashed in on in that time. Thats the sad part.”

APAC Investments Summit 2013 – Sponsor Interview – Robert Jackman – The Rare Coin Company
Published on May 24, 2013
For more information about this summit please visit http://www.apacinvestmentssummit.com/me

httpvh://youtu.be/gDEs3FHwUUc

CoinWeek
CoinWeekhttps://coinweek.com
Coinweek is the top independent online media source for rare coin and currency news, with analysis and information contributed by leading experts across the numismatic spectrum.

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