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Great Lakes Coin is a precious metals dealer and coin shop based at 8920 Mentor Ave in Mentor, Ohio, operating both a physical storefront and an online shop at greatlakescoin.net.
The business is owned and operated by Michael Ponsart, who has been buying and selling coins for close to thirty years.
Whether a buyer is picking up their first silver round or hunting for a PCGS-graded pre-1933 gold piece, Great Lakes Coin covers a wide range of product categories: gold, silver, platinum, palladium, rare numismatic coins, paper currency, estate jewelry, and raw coin rolls.
This review looks at how the dealer operates, what it actually stocks, and how it measures up for buyers in the northeastern Ohio market and beyond.
Key Takeaways
- Great Lakes Coin is a PCGS Authorized Dealer located in Mentor, Ohio, with nearly three decades of hands-on numismatic experience under owner Michael Ponsart.
- The dealer offers free shipping on orders of $189 or more and ships same-day on weekday orders placed before 2:00 PM Eastern.
- The product range covers bullion, rare coins graded by PCGS, NGC, and ANACS, paper currency, estate jewelry, and secondary market bullion at reduced premiums.
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Who Is Great Lakes Coin?
The shop operates out of Mentor, Ohio, a suburb on the eastern edge of the Cleveland metro area. Mentor sits in Lake County, which has a strong manufacturing and small-business economy.
The local demand for precious metals in this region tends to track closely with economic uncertainty: when the broader Ohio economy softens or inflation rises, dealers in the area typically see increased foot traffic from buyers looking to move money into hard assets.
Michael Ponsart has operated the business long enough to have weathered multiple commodity price cycles.
That kind of hands-on market experience matters more than it sounds in this industry, where knowing which coins are overpriced, which grades are worth holding, and when to pass on a lot requires years of repetition.
The business is licensed as a precious metals dealer and holds PCGS Authorized Dealer status, which means it can submit coins directly to PCGS for grading and authentication.
The store maintains two customer service windows: phone support at 440-266-8900, available Monday through Friday from 10 AM to 6 PM EST, and live chat on the website from 10 AM to 10 PM EST.
That extended chat availability is a practical advantage for buyers who shop in the evenings.
Bullion: What's Actually on the Shelf
The bullion inventory spans the major metals and several weight options within each. Here's a breakdown of what Great Lakes Coin carries:
| Metal | Product Types | Notable Options |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Coins, bars, shot | American Gold Eagles, Canadian Maples, British Sovereigns, Pre-33 U.S. Gold, Gram to Kilo bars |
| Silver | Coins, rounds, bars, shot, junk silver | American Silver Eagles, Australian Kangaroos, Canadian Maples, 90% and 40% junk silver |
| Platinum | Coins, bars, shot | Standard investment-grade platinum products |
| Palladium | Coins, bars | Available alongside platinum in a combined category |
Gold weight options run from 1/2 gram all the way to 1 oz coins, with bar options extending into kilo territory.
That granularity on the small-weight end matters for buyers who want to accumulate incrementally rather than committing to a full troy ounce at once.
At gold's current price levels in 2026, even a 1/10 oz coin represents a meaningful outlay, so having 1-gram and 2.5-gram options gives entry-level buyers real flexibility.
The silver category includes a secondary market section, which is worth paying attention to. Secondary market bullion consists of previously owned coins and bars sold at lower premiums than mint-direct products.
For buyers focused on acquiring silver at the tightest possible spread to spot price, secondary market product is often the smarter buy. Great Lakes Coin explicitly calls this out as a category, which signals that the dealer understands the premium-sensitive buyer rather than pushing only new-issue product.
The business is a direct mint distributor for several brands: Scottsdale Mint, Germania Mint, Valcambi, Mason Mint, New Zealand Mint, and GoldBack.
Direct distributor relationships generally allow a dealer to receive product at more competitive wholesale prices, which can translate to tighter premiums for buyers compared to dealers who source everything through the secondary wholesale market.
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Rare Coins and Numismatics
This is where Great Lakes Coin gets more specialized. The numismatic inventory covers a wide sweep of U.S. coinage history: colonial coins, large cents, half dimes, seated liberty pieces, Barber-era coinage, Morgan and Peace dollars, pre-1933 gold in multiple denominations, and double eagles in both Liberty Head and Saint-Gaudens designs.
Active new arrivals range from $9 for a circulated 1963 $5 Legal Tender Note to $115 for an 1896 Mexican 8 Reales graded AU Details, with raw coins like an 1853 Seated Liberty Half Dime at $35 and an 1871 Three Cent Nickel at $17.
Grading-service coverage is thorough. The rare coin inventory includes coins certified by:
- PCGS (Professional Coin Grading Service)
- NGC (Numismatic Guaranty Company)
- ANACS (American Numismatic Association Certification Service)
Beyond standard graded coins, the shop also carries CAC-stickered coins and NGC Gold Shield pieces. CAC (Certified Acceptance Corporation) stickers indicate that an independent reviewer has determined the coin is solid for its assigned grade, often commanding a premium on the secondary market.
For collectors who care about eye appeal and grade quality rather than just the slab label, CAC availability matters.
The grade range in inventory runs from G04 at the low end all the way through MS67 and PR67 at the top. That spread is wider than most small regional dealers offer.
A lot of local coin shops focus on mid-grade circulated material because high-grade certified coins require more capital and specialized knowledge. Carrying coins into the MS67 and PR67 range indicates a comfort level with the high-end segment of the market.
The Ohio and Regional Coin Market
Ohio has a well-established coin collecting culture, and Lake County, where Great Lakes Coin operates, draws buyers from a wide corridor along the southern shore of Lake Erie, between Cleveland and Ashtabula.
For buyers weighing online-only dealers against a local option, the physical storefront provides something the internet can't: the ability to inspect a coin before purchasing, or to sell without shipping.
For estate liquidations and inherited collections, a licensed dealer with a physical address is frequently the practical choice.
Gold hit record price levels in late 2024 and into 2025, which compressed profit margins for bullion buyers in a way that made premium minimization more important than it had been in years.
In that kind of environment, secondary market silver at lower premiums and direct mint distribution relationships become real competitive advantages.
Shipping and Logistics
The shipping policy is straightforward. Orders of $189 or more ship free. Orders placed before 2:00 PM Eastern on weekdays are dispatched the same day.
The site describes shipping as "fast and discrete," which is the standard expectation for precious metals orders where buyers prefer packaging that doesn't advertise the contents.
For buyers outside northeastern Ohio, the e-commerce operation functions like any national online bullion dealer. The product catalog is browsable by metal type, mint, weight, and grade.
The Shopify-based storefront includes an order tracking tool. Payment options are listed on a dedicated page, and the site carries PayPal Verified status, visible on the homepage.
Estate Jewelry
The jewelry inventory is a secondary but real part of the business. Active listings include gold and diamond rings, tanzanite pieces, estate bracelets, necklaces, and sterling silver jewelry.
Prices on the estate jewelry side range from under $30 for silver rings to $1,249 for a 10k White Gold Princessa ring. This inventory rotates as pieces sell and new estate purchases come in, so availability changes.
Adding jewelry to a coin and bullion operation makes sense for a dealer who buys estates. When someone brings in a deceased relative's collection, it often contains coins, silver, and jewelry all together.
A dealer set up to handle all three categories can offer sellers a single-stop transaction rather than forcing them to find separate buyers for each category. That's a practical advantage in the estate liquidation market.
Industry Affiliations and Verification
Great Lakes Coin holds the following verified affiliations and listings:
Greysheet and CDN are the primary wholesale pricing benchmarks used across the numismatic trade.
Being listed as a dealer on those platforms means that other dealers and serious collectors can look up and verify the business's standing.
PCGS Authorized Dealer status requires meeting specific criteria around coin handling and submission volume.
Taken together, these affiliations provide a reasonable framework for vetting the dealer's legitimacy without relying solely on the dealer's own claims.
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What the Inventory Signals About the Business
A few observations from the product structure that are worth noting for serious buyers.
The hand-poured silver bar category is a custom product line. Great Lakes Coin produces its own hand-poured bars, sold under the Great Lakes Coin brand.
Hand-poured bars carry higher premiums than machine-struck bars but appeal to collectors and buyers who value the aesthetic and uniqueness of each piece. Producing a proprietary product line signals investment in the brand beyond standard resale operations.
The paper currency section covers U.S. notes, including silver certificates, legal tender notes, and older currency. The active listings include items like a 1953-A $5 Silver Certificate priced at $10 and a 1963 $5 Legal Tender Note at $9.
These are modest prices for collectible currency, accessible to someone just getting into the paper money hobby. It's a relatively niche area that many bullion-focused dealers skip entirely.
Raw coins and rolls are also stocked. This category covers ungraded, uncertified coins sold without slabs.
For experienced collectors who can grade coins themselves, buying raw is often the most cost-effective approach since you're not paying for the certification fee embedded in a graded coin's price.
Offering raw material in addition to certified coins means the dealer serves both the hands-on collector and the buyer who wants third-party authentication.
Conclusion
Great Lakes Coin operates as a full-service dealer out of Mentor, Ohio, with a product range that covers bullion, certified and raw numismatics, paper currency, and estate jewelry across both a physical store and an online platform.
The combination of PCGS Authorized Dealer status, direct mint distribution relationships, nearly thirty years of ownership experience, and a secondary market bullion category makes it a practical option for buyers anywhere from first-time silver stackers to experienced numismatists looking for specific graded material.