A week and a half ago, I shared a moral and financial dilemma I was having. Apmex.com fulfilled my order for a random mint 1/4 ounce gold coin with a coin that had greater numismatic value/Apmex price, but less actual gold, than what I had expected. Comments to the post favored exchanging the coin for what I had ordered, selling the coin and buying what I wanted while pocketing the profit, and just keeping the coin. I chose to exchange the coin, and received a 1984 $10 Gold Maple Leaf in its place. The funny thing about the whole transaction is what has happened to the prices of both coins since I made the exchange.
The 1976 Canada 1/4 oz Gold $100 Olympic BU coin that was selling for $836 (credit card, one coin) is now on sale for $676, while the $575 1/4 oz Gold Coin - Random Mint is now selling for $603. Ordering the specific coin that I received in exchange, 1/4 ounce (random year) Gold Maple Leaf today costs $691. So, all in all, I made out okay.
Here's another situation. My wife likes to shop at estate sales. We went to one the other day and I asked about coins. The saleslady answered that there were some coins but that they hadn't priced them yet. My heart skipped a beat when she pulled out a cigar box to show me the coins. And...
The "coins" were a disappointing mix of "collectible coins" ranging from old nickels and old pennies that, to me, seemed more historical than collectible. The only bullion I saw in the bunch was this Mercury Dime, sold originally by Littleton Coin Co..
The saleslady asked me if I knew what a fair price was, so I looked quick on Coinflation and told her it was worth $1.86 in silver, so she let me have it for that price. Today it is worth $1.79 melt. But, Littleton is selling it for $17.75. Wow! That's part of the adventure of stacking.