Monarch Precious Metals Review

Remember the 2008 global financial crisis? Well, one of its effects is that it led to a steep demand for precious metals. This, in turn, led to a rush whereby everyone wanted to make a killing in this industry.

One of the precious metal companies born during that melee goes by the name Monarch Precious Metals. It’s an American-based refiner, dealer and today we’d like to walk you through its features, pros, cons, and most importantly what different customers have to say about them.

A Brief Overview of Monarch Precious Metals

As we mentioned at the start, the company came into being in 2008 at the height of the global financial crisis. At that time, there was a high demand for precious metals as most investors considered them safer than other investment vehicles.

Monarch Precious Metals was, therefore, born to fill this gap. It went ahead to set itself apart by exclusively providing bars and coins minted with an antique polish.

Sure, they have been around for more than a decade but in the era of digital media you might wonder how they’re faring online.

Well, they have a well-done but slightly dated website. They’re also active on social media. However, their Better Business Bureau (BBB) is somehow not accredited. A red-flag? Maybe, maybe not.

Product Offerings

Before we get to the products, we want to emphasize that Monarch Company makes its own products. For instance, the silver goes straight from the mines before being minted in their refinery. So, no third-party dealings here.

Now, let’s look at the products:

1. Silver  

Undoubtedly, silver is the company's main specialty, and we can attribute this to their refinery which is known for doing a good job on this front.

Further, they give you a wide array of products to choose from, including bars, rounds, novelty, and specialty products.

You will surely be impressed with how the silver bars are minted into spooky skulls, building blocks, and other eye-catching images.

And that’s not all, their rounds feature unique design variants such as zodiac, fractional and oversize among others. 

2. Gold

The company's other product is gold, which is available in rounds and bars. Their rounds come with the company logo engraved on them. They are so well minted that they don’t seem likely to get damaged during shipping due to the high-quality sealing they are subjected to.

The bars are somewhat tiny though – though this analysis is purely subjective.

3. Copper

Not every day do you find copper being referred to as a precious metal, even though it is mined together with the above two we discussed. That being said, you'll find copper ore far more affordable.

Another thing about copper is that it does not come in a wide variety of forms and is only available as a round, dice, or dominoes. The good thing is that the Monarch Precious Metal rounds feature various zodiac symbols to choose from.

4. US Coins

If you are a coin collector, this offering will definitely capture your attention. Here, you’ll find a wide range of US coins to choose from. For instance, a bag with 5,000 pennies of different dates is available. The dates range from 1909 all the way to 1958.

Keep in mind that you can get bags with wheat cents only as well as those with a mix of rolls, bags, and wheat cents.

Next, there are also pre-1940 pennies to choose from. Since the information on the value or precise dates of the coins is scanty, you may have to do a bit of research to know everything about what you are holding.

Other types of coins available include copper pennies and Buffalo nickels.

5. Gifts

The next category of products by the company includes several gift ideas you can get for your loved ones. So, if there is a special occasion for your family, partner, or friends, there are pure copper and fine silver gifts that you can get them.

The silver gifts tend to be more in variety and come in the form of spinning top toys, Bigfoot coins, 3D minted baseballs, and custom engraved poker chips.

On the other hand, copper gifts are not that diverse and come as zodiac rounds. You may be impressed with these rounds if you have an interest in astrology since each round has one of the zodiac signs printed on it.

6. Supplies (for coin collectors)

Last but not least, the company also caters to the unique needs of coin collectors with coin folders, albums, tubes, guidebooks, airtight capsules, and leather storage bags. And for gamers with copper dominoes, you are sure to like the gaming mats made from premium leather.

With this build, you can expect the mats to serve you for a decent duration of time.

Is It Legit?

After checking out the major products that this company has to offer, the question that must be ringing in your head is whether or not Monarch is a scam. Well, from our point of view, this is a company you can trust.

For instance, we can trace its headquarters to Oregon, which tells you that this is a company that actually exists. Further, there are numerous online reviews, as we shall see later, from customers who transacted with the company.

However, several issues with the firm scream a red flag. For instance, it is not very clear who owns the company. We had to do a lot of digging on their BBB profile to find out who was in charge.

We were also concerned about numerous concerns of poor customer service or lack thereof. They clearly have some work to do on this frontier.

Reviews and 3rd Party Ratings

Let’s now look at what the customers have to say about Monarch. We were a bit disappointed that most of the reviews we met were negative, and the list had more complaints than praises.

The first thing that stood out is that the company does not have a profile on popular review websites such as Trustlink, nor is it accredited by Better Business Bureau (BBB). 

If you choose to overlook this factor, you need to take your time to read what the negative reviews are all about. One customer complained that after an order failed to go through due to a credit card issue, he fixed the problem only for the company to fail to send them the product.

He wondered how hard it was for the company to admit that the item wasn’t in stock.

Another client claimed that it was two weeks before he got an order confirmation. Even more annoying was that no one bothered to call him back until after a week. This type of feedback is pretty worrying.

How about the customer who received the first order and got a response three weeks later upon making a bigger one? And the feedback was not good as the company claimed that his check got lost in the mail. This is the kind of attitude that puts off many potential clients from transacting with the company.

Other common complaints that we came across include:

• Cases of wrong shipments being made
• Products arriving in deplorable conditions
• Sales personnel who only seem interested in boosting their sales and being evasive when faced with queries

In general, the company seems to focus on quantity rather than quality. Even so, you are never sure whether what you ordered will arrive.

As you can see, the company has a lot of issues that it needs to deal with. Even though we have seen that it is legit, it may not be the best place to put your money. 

The Benefits & Downsides of Monarch Precious Metals

At this point, we shall summarize the positives and negatives of this company.

The Products

It is without a doubt that most of the products that Monarch sells are not easy to find with other sellers. A simple look at their selection would tell you that it targets a specific customer group.

A user-friendly website

Next, the website has a simple design such that anyone would have an easy time navigating it. This way, you can get all the information that you need without much hustle.

An Oregon-based refinery

Many customers are comfortable dealing with a company based in the US rather than one that will be shipping its products from abroad. 

Too many negative online reviews (Downside)

A major issue with Monarch is that the negative reviews are too many. Further, the company seems to be doing too little to address the issues raised. When you read that previous customers were not pleased with the service they received, you are likely to have many questions.