800-528-1380 7:00 am to 5:00 pm MST
800-528-1380 7:00 am to 5:00 pm MST
800-528-1380 7:00 am to 5:00 pm MST
Call us at 800-528-1380
Because gold and silver prices change by the minute, all buy/sell orders for gold and silver must be placed by telephone so that prices can be locked in at the prevailing market. For buy orders, payment must be remitted the same day the order is placed. For sell orders, the gold or silver must be shipped the same day.
When payment is received, CMIGS mails a copy of the invoice and a letter showing the scheduled day of shipment. When the order is shipped, CMIGS notifies the buyer by either phone or email and gives the expected day of delivery.
If you are only interested in selling gold and silver you own, visit our page dedicated to selling gold and silver to CMIGS. CMI Gold & Silver Inc. is one of the nation's oldest gold buyers.
CMIGS brokers take orders Mondays through Fridays, 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. MST. Orders must be placed early enough in the day that payment can be remitted the same day.
Any time you get a recording when calling CMIGS, it means either our lines are overloaded or that you are calling when we are not open. In such cases, please leave your name and phone number and we will return your call. If you do not hear back from us as quickly as you would like, please call again.
The minimum orders for bullion purchases at CMIGS:
Although the minimum order for silver bullion is 500 ounces, the minimum order for junk silver coins is $500 face, which equates to 357.5 ounces of silver. A $500 face value bag of pre-1965 US 90% silver coins (dubbed a "half bag") is standard unit in the precious metals business.
Additionally, our Gold Specials Page often carries offers of gold bullion less than ten ounces, and our Silver Specials Page often has offers less than 500 ounces.
The minimum order for the gold The Perth Mint Lunar Series Coins is one ounce of gold. We have no Lunar Series silver coins.
All payments must be remitted same day that orders are placed. If payment is by bank wire (the preferred method and the best method for prompt shipments), the wire must go out the same day that the order is placed. This means when placing an order allowance must be made for time to get to bank to send the wire before the wire cut-off time, which is 5:30 pm ET, 4:30 CT, 3:30 MT and 2:30 PT at most banks. It should be further noted that some banks will not initiate wires with less than thirty minutes before the wire cut-off time.
During periods of high volatility, we may require that all orders, regardless of size, be paid by wire transfer.
A bank wire transfer is the preferred method of payment because a wire transfer enables us to provide the best service. We start the shipping process as soon as the wire is confirmed, which means that the order often is received by the buyer within a week of the order being placed, sometimes only a matter of days. However, during periods of high activity, shipment of orders can be delayed.
Wells Fargo Bank, NA
420 Montgomery Street
San Francisco CA 94104
ABA # 121000248
FBO (or credit) CMI Gold & Silver Inc.
Account # 8938017749
Some banks request our address, which is
CMI Gold & Silver Inc.
3800 N Central Avenue
11th Floor
Phoenix, AZ 85012
Payment by cashier's check is the next best method because it is easy to verify that a cashier's check has cleared. (We do not ship on receipt of a cashier's check. We must verify that it has cleared.) Verification that a cashier's check has cleared usually can be obtained on the third business day after the check has been deposited.
Yet, payment by cashier's check has its drawbacks: first, the time it takes the Post Office to get the check to us; second, the time it takes for the check to clear the banking system. A wire transfer provides for much faster delivery.
Besides, to obtain a cashier's check, a trip to the bank is required. So, why not send a wire while at the bank and speed up delivery of your order? Sending a wire normally involves signing a document that permits the bank to take the funds out of your checking or savings account.
However, many banks allow customers to send wires by phone or fax instead of personally going to the bank. Investors considering more than one precious metals investment may want to see if their banks provide convenient phone or fax bank wire services.
Large money orders are handled the same as cashier's checks. For small orders (less than $3,000), buyers may want to consider using Postal Money Orders, which can be purchased for up to $1,000 each at a cost of $1.25. We normally ship immediately on receipt of Postal Money Orders.
Finally, CMIGS accepts personal checks. However, verifying that personal checks have cleared has become a nightmare as more banks, citing "client privacy," refuse to verify that checks have cleared. And, the list of banks that will not verify check clearance continues to grow. If your bank will not verify that your check has cleared, we wait at least 14 days before shipping. Therefore, if you are eager for a "quick shipment," please be prepared to pay by wire transfer. (Some banks will not even verify that cashier's checks have cleared!)
CMIGS' 14-day policy on personal checks may frustrate some buyers because they often can learn online (or by calling their banks) that the checks they wrote cleared in only two or three days after CMIGS deposited. Those buyers ask why we simply do not ask our bank if the check has cleared. This does not work because it is a feature of the banking industry that the bank submitting the check (CMIGS' bank) does not know if a check clears.
The submitting bank only knows a check is bad when it comes back through a cumbersome system, nothing like today's near lightning-fast clearing system. Sometimes, though, we get phone calls informing us that checks are coming back, but we cannot rely on that happening.
The only time that "non-verifying" banks become cooperative is when we tell them that we suspect check fraud. Then, banks will even call their account holders to confirm that they wrote the checks.
When verifying checks, we not only verify that the check has cleared, but we confirm with the bank that the address imprinted on the check is the address on file with the bank. In cases where investors have checks without their addresses imprinted, we can ship only to the address the bank has on file. In such case, we go to extreme measures to verify that the check is validly issued.
If the check is large (or if we believe it necessary), we will have a bank employee verify with the customer that he or she actually wrote the check. Attempted check frauds have made these precautions necessary. As noted, when we tell the banks we are trying to avoid check fraud, they become more cooperative.
Although some precious metals dealers accept only wire transfers or cashier's checks, CMIGS recognizes that making a trip to the bank is a great inconvenience for many people. Therefore, as long as we can safely accept personal checks, we will do so. However, if your bank will not verify that your check has cleared, we wait at least 14 days before shipping.
Mail checks to:
CMI Gold & Silver Inc.
3800 N. Central Avenue
11th Floor
Phoenix, Arizona 85012
(For further privacy, checks may be made payable to CMIGS.)
CMIGS does not accept credit cards or debit cards.
CMIGS does not accept third party checks.
For the minimum orders, CMIGS pays shipping, handling, and insurance. In other words, for minimum orders CMIGS quotes delivered prices. Orders for less than the minimum incur a fee of $30.
Most orders are shipped by registered, insured US Mail. Occasionally, orders are shipped via UPS. UPS delivery is used for small orders or when clients request UPS delivery. Still, orders valued more than $11,000 cannot be shipped via UPS.
When orders are shipped, CMIGS notifies the buyers by either phone or email and gives the expected day of delivery. When notification is by email (the most frequently used method of notification), a tracking number is given, which enables the recipients to verify date and time that the packages entered the carrier’s system. The tracking numbers also enable CMIGS to verify when the packages were received by the buyers.
When shipping gold and silver to CMIGS, there is really only one way to go: registered U.S. Mail, using the Post Office's Flat Rate boxes. Registered mail is the safest way to ship, as the Post Office rarely loses a registered package. Still, we recommend you buy insurance because if your shipment is that rare one that gets lost, you will be covered by the insurance.
The Post Office's Flat Rate fee also provides the lowest shipping rates, much cheaper than either UPS or FedEx for silver, and usually for gold. But the big advantage of using Flat Rate boxes combined with registered mail is the high reliability of registered mail. The Flat Rate fee provides the lowest rates: $8.95 for up to 70 pounds shipped anywhere in the U.S.
Flat Rate boxes are free at your local Post Office. The boxes are sturdy enough to handle gold, but for silver the boxes need to be reinforced.
CMIGS has dealt with the same bank since 1973. Bank and other references are available on request.
CMIGS strives to ensure client confidentiality. We do not sell or share our customers' names, and we do not computerize transactions. Not putting transactions on a computer protects our clients from record theft. It also makes it difficult for someone to come in and demand to see who has bought precious metals from CMIGS.
Furthermore, CMIGS does not even put clients' names on invoices, thereby providing even more investment privacy. This became policy in the mid-1970s as CMIGS pioneered the bullion precious metals industry in Phoenix.
One day a detective from the Phoenix Police Department's Burglary Division visited our offices. The detective asked, "Do you know what a nightmare you're going to create for the Police Department - and your clients - if copies of your invoices fall into the wrong hands?" Because of that policeman's visit, CMIGS quit putting clients' names on invoices and started writing their names and addresses on 5" X 8" cards that are stapled to the invoices. After clients receive their gold or silver, the cards are detached and destroyed.
Please call with any questions about doing business with CMIGS. CMIGS accepts calls Mondays through Fridays, 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. MST.
Our toll free number is 1-800-528-1380