This company is actually a precious metals refinery that you can find located in southern Oregon. They first entered the industry in 2008 mainly because the precious metals market was heating up at this point because of the financial crisis that spread across the globe. Precious metal demand went through the roof at this point in time, and it was a good time to get involved in this industry.
Monarch’s main claim to fame is that they mint silver and then sell it to investors looking to add it to their portfolio.
What are the important factors regarding company practices? Do past customers have good things to say about them or not? We’ve looked at everything for you and we’ll fill you in on the details below.
Products & Services
Since this is actually a precious metals refinery, they have the unique ability to mint silver bars that they stamp with their company logo. They sell other precious metals as well including coins, collectibles, gifts, and much more. You can find out more about the items they sell by visiting their online marketplace.
Minting Silver
They aren’t focused on precious metals IRAs, so they do not distinguish whether or not a particular product is IRA eligible on their website. You need to connect with a gold IRA specialist to set up your self-directed IRA account. And they can fill you in on the regulations and other details set forth by the IRS.
Minting Silver
Monarch Precious Metals’ biggest claim to fame is their specialty which is minting silver. You can buy silver bars, rounds, novelty products, and specialty products as well.
Take a look at the silver rounds that they have available. One great option is to buy a 1-ounce silver zodiac round. Or if you prefer, you can choose specific silver commemorative pieces for holidays and special occasions. They also have fractional rounds, oversized rounds, and much more.
The silver bars that they sell are one of the unique products featured by this company. They have all kinds of interesting features and designs including minted building blocks, bars with skulls on them, and their Egyptian silver series as well.
Minting Gold
Although silver is their main claim to fame, they process gold as well to a lesser degree. They have their company name emblazoned on fine gold rounds as well as other attractive designs. They sell them in a capsule before shipping them directly to your door.
They even sell a 1/10-ounce gold bar, which also comes to you in a sealed package. But that’s about it for their gold bars in weight and design. They have a very limited selection of gold products, since refining silver is their main area of expertise.
Minting Copper
Some people do not consider copper a precious metal. Regardless, Monarch Precious Metals sells copper products nonetheless. This section is incredibly limited and only contains a 1-ounce copper zodiac design, copper dice, and copper dominoes and that’s about it.
Their selection is far from the best if you want a wide array of copper products and investments to choose from.
Precious Metals Gifts
On their website, Monarch has a section in which they share potential gift ideas. These gifts are ideal for family, friends, loved ones, spouses, and others. The categories include:
- Gifts made of fine silver
- Gifts made of pure copper
- Custom engraved gifts
- And more
Some of their best gift choices include the following:
- Poker chips with engraving
- 3D silver minted baseballs
- Sugar skull Día De Los Muertos silver rounds
- Coins with Bigfoot imprinted on them (gift bag included)
- Silver spinning tops
- And other wonderful options
They even sell common copper gifts that are usually a really big hit. They are made of copper and they are shaped in the form of zodiac rounds. Each design is one of the 12 zodiac signs. So, if you have somebody in your life that loves astrology and is really interested in their star sign, this would definitely make a great gift.
The wide majority of the gifts come in a beautiful bag or gift box. But you also have the option to choose your own gift box or bag, because they have a selection to pick from on their website. You can buy gift packaging for copper, silver, or anything else even if you choose to forgo buying precious metals because the gift packaging is sold separately.
Additionally, some of the packaging includes drawstring leather bags, leather pouches, plastic airtight capsules to protect coins, and more.
United States Coins
This refinery also sells a number of different packages containing US coins. Depending on your coin collecting proclivities, there might be something perfectly suited to fit in with your wants and needs.
As an example, you may want to purchase a roll of pennies that were minted prior to 1940. You can get this even though you will not see the exact information about the coins and they do not share their potential value on the website. But if you like a little bit of mystery in your coin purchases, then this kind of exciting package will be right up your alley.
Another potential choice is to buy a bag of mixed dated pennies, all of them being wheat cents, and the package will contain 5000 of them. These pennies were minted between 1909-1958.
Do you want a roll of pennies made only of copper? They sell these as well with varying date ranges and a number of different mint markings too.
If Buffalo nickels are your thing, you’re in luck because they sell rolls of 40 nickels, and the quality and dates on these coins will come in a range.
Coin Collector Supplies
Another exciting thing about this refinery is that they have a plentiful amount of supplies available for coin collectors. As you look through their website, you’ll see they sell coin albums, coin folders, coin tubes, and much more. And each of these products is specifically optimized for the purpose needed by the coin collector.
They also have miscellaneous supplies for coin collecting on their website. Similar to other categories, these are mostly considered novelty items and not serious pieces for dedicated coin collectors.
They sell books that act as a guide to teach you about refineries that minted certain coins during specific time periods. You’ll also discover leather storage bags, capsules that are airtight, and boxes for gifts in the gift section on the site.
Monarch even has supplies for games on hand for those who own copper dominoes or dice. You can get a gaming mat made of leather in brown or black. And these mats are made with full grain leather and crafted with premium quality.
Unfortunately, the company doesn’t sell anything made of palladium or platinum, and as mentioned earlier, gold and precious metals IRA’s are not offered as well.
Will I Get Scammed If I Buy Anything from Monarch Precious Metals?
For all intents and purposes, it doesn’t appear on the surface that Monarch Precious Metals is actually trying to pull a scam on anyone. But there are also a few red flags that come up as well. Maybe the company isn’t managed properly or their service policies are off kilter. Or maybe they are an illegitimate company pulling the wool over people’s eyes.
First of all, they aren’t accredited with the BBB, better known as the Better Business Bureau. But there are 2 reviews about the company on the BBB website and they aren’t very flattering. Each of the reviewers only gave this company a 1 out of 5 stars.
Also, on other third-party websites, they’ve received really poor reviews. This is especially true when you compare them to other gold dealers. People claim that they have had problems with the company. They received wrong orders, they were pressured into buying things that they didn’t really want, the customer service people never called them back about problems with their order and much more.
They seem like a real company and they are definitely legitimately operating in this space. But the evidence says that they aren’t doing a very good job as far as selling products and keeping their customers happy is concerned. There are so many other precious metals dealer’s out there in the world, so you should do yourself a favor and find one with a much better reputation. Here are a few you should check out: Our Acre Gold Review, Emgoldex gold, and of course, our full published list of the gold ira reviews if you are interested in starting a precious metals IRA for retirement.
Monarch Precious Metals Advantages
- They are an Oregon-based precious metals refinery
- They opened their doors during the financial crisis in 2008
Monarch Precious Metals Disadvantages
- They aren’t accredited with the BBB
- They have too many negative reviews online
- They have repeated customer service issues and problems with their orders
Bottom Line
At the end of the day, it seems like Monarch Precious Metals is a great company when you first hear about them, but then the rug gets pulled out from under you. There are so many red flags surrounding this precious metals dealer that it’s not even funny. They have customer order issues, aggressive salespeople, and terrible customer service.
Monarch isn’t special and they do not offer special products that you can’t find at other precious metals dealers. There are many other fish in the sea, so to speak, so you’ll be much better off purchasing precious metals from another company with a great reputation.
About Tim Schmidt
Tim Schmidt is an Entrepreneur who has covered retirement investing since 2012. He started IRA Investing to share his expertise in using his Self-Directed IRA for alternative investments. His views on retirement investing have been highlighted in USA Today, Business Insider, Tech Times, and more. He invested with Goldco.