I never write my opinions here at the MC (always enjoy reading other members reviews /opinions) so here is my experience dealing with Roy. I met Roy 2 times and he is a very nice person. I custom ordered 3 expanded shells from Oz coins and all three were horrible and not suitable for closup use. I do not know what is his method of expanding but most of the time Roy's shells are distorted and over expanded, very poor detail. I was not happy he offered refund on one of them but I was too busy at that time (moving to a different country) to deal with that. The other two were still not usable and his opinion was different from my. I have seen many of the sets in one of the conventions at Roy's dealers table. All of the work I have seen was very inconsistent and I still decided to place an order for the expanded shells - yes, my fault and I was hoping for the best. I provided all the coins and paid $60 for craftsmanship for each shell. Communication was ok and time from start to finish was within what we agreed on.
Bottom line (IMHO), Roy is a nice person but his work is not even close to be compared to Lassen (and it pains me to read here when some members do that). His prices are in most cases very close or the same as Lassen's. This is my opinion and is based on my personal experience with Roy. All took place 3.5 years ago.
Thanks.

I agree with the opinion of evikshin above that Todd Lassen is the person to go to for coin gaffs. I have a number of his clad gaffs along with a handful of his custom silver items, and they are by far the best I own. I have read members here complain about Todd not being easy to contact, yet each time I have called him he answered after two or three rings. Todd is pleasant to speak with, and answers all questions completely. I had occasion to call him twice recently for an issue with an order; he was very gracious, apologized for the issue, and promised to send out the item quickly - and then he did just that. I couldn't have asked for a better outcome or a more pleasant experience!

Give Todd a call when you're ready to place your next order for gaffed coins. You won't be sorry.

Jim

I'm glad these posts came out. I was going to order something from Roy because of the cheaper price, but I am going to pass. I will stick with Todd. I've ordered many gaffed coins from Todd over the years and all were excellent craftsmanship. I agree with J-Mac that if you call Todd by phone he will answer. Emailing him and expecting a return email is a different story.

I have a Kueppers 64 Kennedy Expanded Set and a soft Morgan flipper, and they are fine gaffs with no problems. I have also spoken on the phone with him, which indicates that he does answer his calls. If he takes back anything that isn't right, then at least he is not inconsiderate. If he is aware of this thread, then perhaps he will keep a closer eye on quality control.

Purchasing from Roy is hit-or-miss. It's a gamble. The first unexpanded shell set (Morgan's) I purchased from him was flawless. The coin dates all matched, the re-milling of the edges was great, all four coins nested securely in the shell with no wobbling and so little of a gap that you can show the nested coin shell side down and it's still virtually impossible to see it. The coverage of the coin by the shell is like 95% to 97%. It took three months to get, but it was great.
So...I ordered a second unexpanded set (Peace Dollars) almost a year later. The difference was like night and day. The second set - when it finally arrived after months of broken promises and outright lies about the set already having been shipped - the set was absolutely unusable. The re-milled edges had burrs on them, which caught on the coins when you tried to rub them together or slide them over one another during attempts at performance or display. The shell's coverage was not quite as good and there was, for lack of a better word, a "notch" cut out of the edge of the shell. It was VERY noticeable - and easily seen without being close up.
No way - NO WAY - that left his workshop and shipped out to me in that condition without him knowing it. I can only assume he was hoping I'd just be glad to finally get my coins and just accept them the way I got them.
Oh...and he was supposed to include a leather coin purse as a "gift" for my patience for, and the inconvenience caused by, the continued delays. I didn't get that at all.
Trying to return the poorly made set was an additional nightmare in and of itself, with more than $75 of additional costs to me. A refund wasn't going to happen. He finally sent a replacement after nearly a half a year of constant efforts on my part to get him to act ethically and just simply provide what was paid for, and claims by him, (when he'd answer me), that he has NEVER received any complaints in all the years he's done this and he's "as honest as the day is long".
The replacement was acceptable, but just barely and only because of the nonsense and frustration I'd endured already. Because I had complained about the burrs on the bad set, he went a little overboard on cleaning them up on this one. I didn't want (and don't use) a "soft" set, but he mechanically softened the replacement set. ...And if anyone looks too closely, you can see clear, circular marks on the coin where he did so. I decided not to fight him anymore, since I'd wasted a half a year doing so already; and I just kept the set. I've never used it professionally and have tried without success to sell that set at an extremely discounted price. I will never again purchase, use or own anything made by him.

I admit that SOME of his work is good. Really good. Occasionally comparable to other precision coin makers. But based on things I've read, heard in conversations and experienced firsthand, I think it's fair to say, "buyer beware". Like him or hate him, I believe that evidence supports saying that purchasing directly from him is a gamble. And when you have gigs to book and you're making that much of an investment, is it worth the long wait and the gamble? You decide. I promise I'll be sympathetic and I won't say, "I told you so"; because I do not wish what he put me through - and the bad products received - on anyone.

He makes a good product. I ahev irdered from him in the past

Welcome to the Café, Chris!

I'm with Bendy, here. Your mileage may vary. Buyer beware!

Doug

WOW!!! I don't think in my entire life that I ever spent $850 on coins, but to each his own.

Of all the Kueppers work I've seen, it's been pretty darn good, as with the others, Lassen and Schoolcraft. I'm sure one is better than the other and they all have their minions to testify on their behalf's. Good to at least hear Johnson's at least mentioned here, as they make pretty darn good gaff coins, which has always been good enough for me. I've tried them all and quality for the most part is good-better-best I guess once you start splitting' hairs on things. I couldn't use one any better than the other really and was happy with how well made they seemed and how comfortable they felt to use.

I have seen these type threads before, and honestly that's why they give out awards in most things, because the product can be rated by quality, accomplishment, precision, etc. That certainly should be able to be done as to these gaff master craftsman. Heck, Consumer Affairs does it for washing machines and screw drivers…It should be able to be done for coin gaffs as well, we certainly have enough supposed connoisseurs here to deliver and actually award a respectable/ honest enough grading. Didn't they give Tango an award/ Top recognition for his TUC at FISM? There will still be disagreements, but heck, "1st Place is 1st Place," no matter what you think of the horse or the rider even.

And of course, there are other very fine craftsman out there that don't get mention much if at all here…So, the best horse might not be who you think it is under deeper scrutiny or "The guy in first don't always win and the guy in last don't always lose." I kinda like it like that, think that's how God meant for things to work pretty much, even in gaffed coins.

Sounds good MB. But... You don't have any coin gaffs from Todd Lassen, do you?

Jim

Thanks for the review!

If anybody is interested, I am going to be selling the products I got from Roy. Like my initial review said, they are not all bad. Some are good, however I do want to buy as a set so they all match, and if I sell only some, then the set it now not a set. If anybody has any interest in buying some of these, I am willing to sell. If needed, I can make a video showing the coins up close so you can see the quality for yourself. Let me know. I do not know what I'd sell for, that can be discussed later.

Thanks

Dan

No, I do not, but I know folks that do and I have used several of his gaffs over the years many times. The quality you speak of here is certainly there and then some.

What you mention also basically about people having problems with him (personality and or otherwise), well you just have to wonder why this is at all? Folks may have a differing opinion as to him or let's say, Schoolcraft as to expert work, but you rarely if ever hear of anyone speaking of Jamie, as a vendor as impersonable, callous or surly even. Personality quirks seem more noticeably part of those that do something out of the ordinary very well, that aside, you just gotta wonder sometimes as to why any noise at all behind such supposed perfection? I'm sure there's an answer but noise is noise.

Other than that, happy you have had a great experience with Trump, errrrrrrr, I mean Todd.

Hi Dan, Welcome here.

As to that little issue you mention about the dates being different, that's rarely if ever a problem aka "much ado about nothing." But I do understand your magician's need for absolute perfection as to things, especially when you're paying.

Luckily, specs only need perfection in what you can do with the coins. Beyond the coins appearing "similar" enough, they see nothing but the magic you make with them. I'm just sayin'.

Again, welcome.

I've been very happy with Mark Masons coins. Not the Kennedys so much BUT the Walking Libertys and the Morgans are very nice.

I recently ordered from Roy. The scotch and soda is flawless. I believe the csb is better than the Johnson and Fisher I have. The pro gravity flipper had a weird red orange hue, like the inside of a coin. I emailed him about it, and he got right back on how to clean it. A strange but fixable situation. I have to say,I like his stuff.

I just received an unexpanded set from Roy, and have to say that the quality is great!! Especially considering that the guy's prices are way less than TL, Scraft etc.

Steve

I’ve recently purchased Roy’s Kennedy Pro Gracity Flipper, Kennedy expanded shell and an unexpanded English penny shell with 4 matching coins. All are of great quality at a decent price!!

His communication skills are, however, inconsistent.

This is my own opinion from my own experience with roy. The time I ordered I was very satisfied. With that being said...I was very on the fence from what ive heard. I ordered a morgan csb from him and it definitely came out how I liked and he was quick with it. Though, if I wasn't satisfied or it wasn't what I asked for...id be sending it back. As a complete silver gaff collector and *** lol, ive paid a lot of money for some sets...if they weren't up to par, I wouldn't take them. Only once did I get something (almost) from a custom coin guy and he gave me the heads up that things aren't working how he thought it was...he offered to continue to try and if he couldn't get it, he'd refund that portion of the bill. 850 is a decent buck...no matter who makes the set, you are entitled to feel nothing but satisfaction of quality as a consumer. There's a reason though most of my stuff is from the other couple guys with blogs/6-8 week waits.

Yes that probably is fair to say Payner