Risk Disclosures
Purchase Price:
Sales: The purchase price Customer has been quoted and agreed to pay includes LCI's profit margin on the transaction. Within the Precious Metals industry, the difference between LCI's cost on the day of the purchase (for the Precious Metals Customer has agreed to buy) and the retail price quoted to Customer is known as the "Spread." Spreads vary significantly - by Precious Metal, by customer, and over time. For Customer to make a profit, Customer must be able to sell the Precious Metals in the future for a price high enough to cover Customer's initial investment, including this Spread. Spreads may be subject to negotiation, and any Spread charged to Customer in a specific transaction may be more or less than the Spread charged to others in similar transactions or charged to Customer in prior or future transactions.
Re-purchases: The law prohibits LCI from guaranteeing to re-purchase the Precious Metals LCI sells, and LCI does not guarantee that it will re-purchase any Precious Metals that Customer purchases. However, as of the date of the transmission of this Transaction Agreement, LCI has never refused the opportunity to re-purchase Precious Metals that a customer purchased from LCI. If you wish to sell your Precious Metals in the future, LCI encourages you to offer them to LCI first. Should LCI make an offer to re-purchase Precious Metals you previously purchased from LCI, it is LCI's current practice, which is subject to change at its sole discretion, to offer to re-purchase Precious Metals that it commonly sells at the highest current wholesale price (offered by LCI's suppliers) for such Precious Metals. LCI's re-purchase offer may be raised or lowered on a daily, even hourly or more basis, depending upon various market conditions, inventory needs, and the price and availability of comparable Precious Metals. LCI does not guarantee that any re-purchase offer will equal the price that LCI would pay to acquire the same denomination/type and grade of Precious Metal from a wholesaler, or that any offer made will be higher or equal to what someone else might offer for the same Precious Metals.
Classification as Bullion, Limited Minted, or Premium: Whether a Precious Metal is classified as Bullion, Limited Minted, or Premium may turn on a number of objective and subjective factors, including the age of the Precious Metal, its condition, the number of known copies, the likelihood of additional minting, the originating country, relevant historical events or owners (e.g., shipwreck; royalty), relevance to the formation of various Precious Metal collections, and an investor's personal attraction to the piece. LCI's classification of Precious Metals is only an opinion and may change over time (e.g., if additional quantities of the Precious Metal are discovered). In addition, given the subjective nature of the classification process, other dealers or investors may classify the same coin differently. LCI's prices and spreads are based on its classification determination.
Investment Objectives; Holding Period; Investment Risk; No Advice; Commissioned Sales Representatives:
- LCI is a seller and purchaser of Precious Metals. While LCI is always prepared to compare and contrast the different Precious Metals that are available for purchase or that LCI is willing to purchase, Customer acknowledges and agrees that (i) no fiduciary relationship exists between LCI and Customer, (ii) the decision to purchase or sell Precious Metals, and which Precious Metals to purchase or sell, are the Customer's decision alone, and (iii) purchases or sales are made subject to Customer's own prdence and judgment.
- In LCI's opinion, Precious Metals should be considered a long-term investment. Customer should be prepared to hold any Precious Metals purchased - whether from LCI or elsewhere - for at least a three to five year period, and preferably five to ten years, to maximize the potential for gains. In LCI's opinion, Customer should only invest capital that can be held for at least this period of time. However, Precious Metals, like all investments, carry capital risk. Precious Metals may appreciate, depreciate, or stay the same depending on a variety of factors. LCI cannot guarantee, and makes no representation, that the Precious Metals will appreciate at all or appreciate sufficiently to make Customer a profit at the expiration of this or any other period of time.
- In LCI's opinion, Customer should not invest more than twenty percent (20%) of Customer's available investment funds in Precious Metals. Moreover, Precious Metals do not yield income and thus are not an appropriate investment vehicle for investors seeking current or future income.
- The success of an investment in Precious Metals is dependent, in part, upon extrinsic economic forces including but not limited to supply, demand, international monetary conditions, and inflation or the expectation of inflation. The impact of these forces on the values of Precious Metals in general or any particular Precious Metal cannot be predicted. Customer acknowledges that the Precious Metals market can be volatile and that Precious Metal prices may rise or fall over time. Customer further acknowledges that past performance is no guarantee of future performance.
- LCI does not provide tax, investment, or legal advice or advisory services, and no one associated with LCI is authorized to provide any such advice or services. Any written or oral statements by LCI, its officers, agents, sales representatives, or other representatives relating to future events or the attributes of certain Precious Metals are opinions only. Such statements, if any, are not representations of fact.
- LCI's sales representatives are commissioned salespersons - i.e., their salary is based, at least in part, on the amount and profit margin of the Precious Metals they sell. In addition, from time to time, LCI's sales representatives may receive other compensation tied to sales activity - e.g., sales contests; bonuses tied to the sale of certain denominations/types or grades of Precious Metals. LCI's sales representatives are not licensed and their knowledge of Precious Metals and the Precious Metals marketplace varies markedly.
- LCI makes no representations regarding the tax consequences of holding Precious Metals as an investment in an IRA. Customer expressly acknowledges that Customer has been advised to seek independent tax advice, from a qualified professional, regarding the tax consequences of such an investment.
Grades:
- LCI is not a grading service. LCI purchases Precious Metals for re-sale to its customers. LCI is not a grading service. LCI does not independently assess the Precious Metals it purchases for re-sale, but relies upon the opinions and assessments of independent grading services such as Professional Coin Grading Service, Inc., Premium Guaranty Corporation of America, and ANACAS. Grading is a subjective process and it is not uncommon for grading services, or individual examiners within the same grading service, to reach different conclusions regarding the appropriate grade for a particular Precious Metal. Moreover, grading standards are constantly evolving. LCI does not guarantee that the Precious Metals it sells will achieve the same grades in the future. In selling graded Precious Metals, LCI warrants that the Precious Metal is genuine (i.e., not a counterfeit) and states that the grade is as opined by the grading service when graded by that service.
- Grading is subjective. Grading is a subjective determination. Grading is an art, not a science. While numerical grading may give the impression of precision, the numbers in fact represent a nuanced opinion that even experts cannot consistently and systematically agree upon. The grade reflects the opinion of the cataloger (or grader) as to the state of preservation, method of strike, and overall appearance of a particular Precious Metal or lot.
- Terminology. The term "proof" or "specimen" is used to describe a method of manufacture. Those terms do not connote a grade, condition or attribution.
- Cleaning/Toning. LCI does not represent that a Precious Metal has or has not been cleaned, that any toning is natural or artificial, that a Precious Metal has a particular provenance or pedigree, that a Precious Metal is struck or not struck, that a Precious Metal is produced or not produced in a particular manner or style, and/or that a different grading service (or even a different grader within the same grading service) would assign the same grade now or in the future to the same Precious Metal.
- Acknowledgment. Where LCI sells a Precious Metal that is encapsulated by a grading service and bears the grade or condition ascribed to it by the grading service, Customer acknowledges and agrees that other grading services or knowledgeable purchasers might reach a different conclusion as to the item's grade. Customer further acknowledges that LCI has provided the grader's description for the customer's information and makes no warranty as to its accuracy or the standards used to determine that grade.
The statements made on this Website are opinions only. Past results are no guarantee of future performance or returns. Precious metals, like all investments, carry risk. Precious metals and coins may appreciate, depreciate, or stay the same depending on a variety of factors. Lear Capital, Inc. cannot guarantee, and makes no representation, that any metals purchased will appreciate at all or appreciate sufficiently to make customers a profit. Lear is a retail seller of precious metals and its buyback (or bid) prices are lower than its sell (or ask) prices. Metals must appreciate enough to account for this difference in order for customer to make a profit when liquidating the metals. Lear does not provide financial advice or retirement planning services. The decision to purchase or sell precious metals, and which precious metals to purchase or sell, are the customer’s decision alone, and purchases and sales should be made subject to the customer’s own research, prudence and judgment.