California Numismatic Investments

ALWAYS A GREAT EXPERIENCE!
I would not go anywhere else. I am always welcomed with a smile and warm greeting starting at the door as well as walking up to the counter. The fine gentleman and women that work here are intelligent and they know their stuff. They are always looking out for your best interests. I need to give a shout out to the people whose service is always on point. Kirk, Alex, Harry, and Dana. Thank you for your service and always making it a pleasure doing business.

I’ve had nothing but good experiences when purchasing gold/​silver bullion from CNI. Every time I’m ready to buy, CNI is there with the cheapest price I can find online, and free shipping. In addition, the staff is super friendly, and low key, not aggressive. There is NO pressure to buy. Also, ladies might like to speak with another woman when deciding what’s the best purchase for their situation… so call and ask to speak with Dana. She absolutely knows what she’s talking about, and super patient with any questions you might have. Happy Investing Peeps!!!

I’ve been buying Gold Bullion for years with several sources. My purchases with this Company started over a year ago with no problems buying Eagles and other 1 oz gold bullion, mostly coins. I recently called to place a buy order for 20 pcs of the 1-​oz Eagles. Before I told them I wanted to buy I thought I’d test them to see what their price would be to buy my bullion. I told the person that I was interested in «selling some 1-​oz Eagles in the original packaging that I bought from them a year ago». The person transferred me to «other person», only to be put into a voicemail box where I left a message. I did this twice never to receive a call back. Needless to say I won’t be buying any gold coins form CNI as I believe they are only interested in selling and also believe they prefer not to disclose what their actual (low) price would be to buy coins back from their customers.

STAY AWAY!
Here is how it went down:
1. Staff is not really friendly.
2. They tried to sell a fake 1oz Canadian Maple Leaf coin.
3. When confronted, they viciously retaliated with «historical» argument (s): «We’ve been in business since forever, how dare you»?
4. What is that plastic tool you are using? I don’t trust that stupid thing.
I used my Fisch fake gold tester in order to make sure I don’t get screwed buying a fake gold coin. Sure enough their 2016 Canadian Maple Leaf gold coin turned out to be a fake due to a diameter being too big. Mind you, I previously purchased 2016 Maple Leaf gold coin from another source, and it was 100% legit.
Here is a link to Fisch gold detectors (with some intricacies related to my case):
Don’t trust these guys because they (willingly or unwillingly) push fake gold coins
P. S. I am not advertising Fisch detectors; I am just exposing potential issues with certain retailers.

I recently inherited my grandfather’s coin collection, so my brother and I searched for coin shops that would give us a an appraisal of our collection. We found California Numismatic Investments to be the better one. The place was really nice. Upon entering we met with a guy name Harry, he went through our collection pick out the coins that had serious value and we both were pleased with his expertise and knowledge of the coins, we decided to sell. The service here is was great.

Besides the fact I inquired on the phone and they could’ve informed me that I could’ve locked in the price over the phone… I lost about $ 6 but so what. it’s a volatile investment. They are a business as well. I’m sure the employees are busy with E customers which is why they don’t acknowledge you right off. But who cares. it was good service and the gentleman explained to me my options.
Sal gave me directions after I was lost. Wasn’t too bad of an experience. Maybe some ppl are so spoiled with their money and riches, that it takes over them and their moral values to where impatience breeds anger and hostility. IJs relax ppl it’s just metal.

I live in south Orange County fairly close to that other place in Newport Beach that offers a similar service to CNI but prefer to drive the distance near LAX to do business with this company. They offer superior service, straight forward no hassle transaction, no attempt to bait and switch or push me in to an online product. They accommodated my requests, answered my questions, protected my interests and served my needs. The American Dream, right! No B.S. from them.

I went here to buy all our gold silver coins and the lunar coin I love it her they are the best and the guys here are very nice and helpful when ever you buy or sells and questions they are the best guys and place to buy would trust these guys to get my gold and silver bought here I would recommend to everyone go here the team guys here are the best in town. Love them them

My daughter and I have been visiting this place for the last 6 – 7 years… extremely professional and polite people. We have never thought of going elsewhere, ever!
Kudos to the customer service of Harry Johnson, he makes the buying process so simple, informative and entertaining… yes, entertaining. One might think how can buying metal be entertaining:) But he makes it so. he would inform you of all the options, will suggest you all different options that you can buy for the $$ that you intend to spend and has a great sense of humor.
I would recommend this place wholeheartedly!!!

I’ve been going here for the last 5 years. They have incredible prices and are very professional. I can ask them questions and they’re always helpful. The area is a big shady, but they have security guards so you definitely feel safe walking out of there with the goods.

Upon arrival, I was enthusiastically greeted by Harry, who made sure I had a great experience and got exactly what I needed. He offered educational bits which helped sculpt my purchase that made the most sense for my needs. Very professional and safe environment! Super happy with my investment, and will be visiting CNI again. Highly recommended!

3O+ years ago, I started collecting coins. I was only a kid with $ 1 to spend, but the staff at CNI treated me with respect. Because of that, I still continue to collect. Over the years, I have tried other dealers, but none can beat CNI’s service or prices. Now, my 9yo and his classmates have started a coin club. Once again, CNI was my first choice. And, again, they were there to nurture the next generation of collectors. Thank you, Gary

No fuss purchase of precious metals at market prices.

So, this company had my comment removed by some lady named Lucy that works for Unilocal and that’s find, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that the staff was rude, the service was unprofessional and I will let everyone I know who has ever been or thought about going how horrible this place is.
Think very hard before utilizing them.

I see many of the same complaints in the reviews here. They seem so oft repeated that many of these glowing reviews should be eyed with suspicion.
Like others have pointed out, they make you wait, even when the store is empty of customers. No one greeted me. No one looked at me. Very unfriendly, except for the guard at the door. My only thought is that they do this negating/​ignoring thing to try to wear you down, so you sell for less or buy for more than you had planned.
The spot price or coin price that is regularly updated on their web page was not displayed in their store. Anywhere. TV monitors are on the wall, none displaying current prices. No updated chalk board or dry erase. They did give me the silver spot price eventually, slipping it to me on a piece of paper, but only after the salesman had established if I was there to buy or sell.
The price he gave me was $ 8 per silver eagle higher than what the web page advertised 20 minutes before I got there. A huge leap in price. When I mentioned that, he tried to flimflam me about the volatility of the market. Ugh.
If you do visit the store, check the spot price and their page price on your smart phone in the parking lot before you go in (you won’t be permitted to use it once inside)… and then don’t be pushed or pressured into a bad deal, be prepared to say «no».

this is the only place ill go for my gold and silver, been coming here for almost 2 years now, the store is very clean, security guards are friendly and always get the door for you, the prices are fair and the service is great, really cant ask for much more. i was shocked to see the other reviews that stated they had bad customer service. their service is amazing. I’ve mainly dealt with harry and ken, who are both very helpful and very accommodating, and I’ve had no problems with the other guys as well. i highly recommend this place.

This coin shop is fantastic, very professional. They carry excellent coins, the help I received from Ed Hodson was superb. I feel very lucky to have this coin shop close to me in Los Angeles, they carry the coins I like, and they make a point to put the customer at ease. Ed was especially helpful, he is so knowledgeable and helpful that you want him to be your coin dealer.
Thank You for having your shop and thank you for having Ed. Oh, the prices here are fantastic, quality of coins excellent, easy parking, friendly staff, If you want a professional shop GO TO CNI

So to be clear, when I’m buying and selling my bullion now, this is the only place I go. (I’ve completed over 20 transactions with them over the years.) For numismatics it’s a bit more complex, which I’ll explain below.
As far as the buy and sell pricing goes and the clarity of their pricing, I give them 5 stars. There is only one other dealer I’ve seen seriously compete with them on bullion spreads, and their minimum order quantity last time I checked was about $ 20k (vs. $ 2K for CNI). For numismatics, they have the best prices in their bread and butter (MS63-​MS66) half dollars, dollars, and gold coins. For lower grade coins (in particular if you’re selling coins) other dealers can compete favorably. I would assume that is because the MS63−66’s they buy and sell directly (eliminating middle man) while those outside that range they likely liquidate into the wholesale market. If you’ve got a lot to unload and a good chunk of it is in the ‘sweep spot’ mentioned above, it’s probably not worth the time to shop the other coins around. If you have quite a few outside their range, I’d shop and compare a bit. Pricing also definitely has to do with inventory levels at every dealer, so shopping when you have a large transaction is never a bad idea.
My experience is that their customer service is mixed. Most of my experience is on the phone. They have a few people that not only were knowledgable but willing to spend time to discuss options, etc. on particular purchases /​investments. They have some reps that made it pretty clear they didn’t have time for that. So if you want to get a great price (buy or sell), know what you want and are ready to get down to business. call them. If youre a newbie, aren’t sure what you want to do, or have questions, you’ll want to make sure to call on a day when the market is flat and usually not Monday or Friday. You’ll probably have better luck getting more time then. I’ve read through a good chunk of the reviews here and I believe most of the poor reviews are by people that are newbies to buying/​selling bullion and numismatics. The simple fact is that at the margins that CNI keeps, they can not afford to hold everyones’ hand indefintely regardless of when you call or go to see them. Once you understand that, it really helps the interaction. In fairness I have not bought/​sold in about 3 years now, so I am unable to speak to the improvements that have been made according to Mr. Schwary, but I believe the people at CNI to be honest enough so I’d take what he says they have improved at face value. Although from my few times in the store I’d agree with the observations made about the deficiencies in their customer service, again if you know what you want and what you are there for, the deficiencies pointed out are not very appliciable.
One additional suggestion is for first-​time customers… call them even if you’re a local. When you go in to the store, it absolutely feels like you’re pulling up a chair to the high-​stakes poker table. Check out their very informative website, call them on a slow day, get your intial questions answered, consider what you’d like to do, and then go see them in person once you have some idea about what you want. You’ll be a lot more comfortable going in there with a bit of a plan, even if it isn’t finalized.
In closing, don’t let the low star reviews of CNI disuade you from giving them a try. They are honest and have the best prices. If you follow the suggestions I’ve provided above, I believe you’ll come away with a very positive experience.

I am updating my review on this business because the nice response and assurance to committed great customer service by their president which is really nice to hear that there will be changes since this place is good gold and silver dealer, but they lack in the department of customer service and it is hard to loose customers for something that is easy to fix.
A continuous customer service improvement is necessary for a business to thrive and develop and I had to say what is wrong with the business I go to in an effort to help this business focus on its opportunities since I am a process and an Industrial engineer and see all the issues because it is my job to improve businesses. Thanks and I’ll visit the store again in the near future to see if there are positive changes

After a small gift from somebody, I decided to «go buy some silver», but had no clue how to do it. We weren’t talking about much money, but I still wanted to do business with the best place possible. So I went onto the Internet to find a place, and spent hours and hours reading website text :(. Why did I decide to take my small purchase here for my first experience, this venture into precious metals? :)
(1) It was the first website I found that was even vaguely interesting and useful. In fact I would go so far as to say it was helpful for a first-​timer.
(2) Other serious dealer websites seemed quite uninterested in doing any business with a person unless the minimum ante of $ 50,000+ was met … well, that precluded our doing business :)
So off I went. No point pretending to be anything other than a neophyte so I just owned up, said I had no clue what I was doing and could they help me. Well, they did. It’s not a «warm and fuzzy» place just because of the nature of the business (high security building, and a lot of pretty busy people); but I felt I was treated respectfully and with a few smiles thrown into the conversation. Dealt with a nice young man who I think might have been related to an owner.
Ultimately, I realized the score … Everybody will be treated with respect when they come to buy or sell, as long as they have the goods or money to actually do some business, and regardless whether its a small or large amount. No b.s. here … it’s not how you’re dressed, it’s whether you’re there to get some business done. And I mean that … I saw a couple people come in who looked [let’s just say a little ragged and rough] and they were treated just as politely as me … and in fact it looked as if they had some serious business to conduct compared with my paltry little effort, LOL.
It could be nerve-​wracking walking out if you were dealing in large sums, but then you see a serious-​looking guard out in the parking lot which would make a serious Investor feel better I imagine.
If I needed this type of service again, I would definitely use them, even though it’s much further away than other places and requires a significant drive.