Samlerhuset
Encyclopedia
The Samlerhuset Group is a Norwegian-owned, international mail order company headquartered in Almere. The company sells mainly traditional collectibles such as coins
, medals, stamps, banknotes and coin-letters. The Samlerhuset Group has subsidiaries in 16 countries. The company had 400 employees in 2010 and a turnover of 160 million euro. Samlerhuset is a part owner of the Berlin coin fair and of the Norwegian Mint, the producer of the Nobel peace prize and of legal tender coinage for Norway and other countries.
1995: First case reported to the Norwegian Consumer Ombudsman
1997: Samlerhuset enters Sweden
2000: Samlerhuset creates Joint Venture Company with Mint of Finland, Nordic Moneta
2001: Samlerhuset merges with the MDM Group
2003: Samlerhuset acquires 50% of Royal Norwegian Mint (Norwegian Mint AS) and enters Estonia
2004: Samlerhuset Group enters Denmark
2005: The Norwegian economic magazine "Dine Penger" encouraged their readers not to buy some of the Samlerhuset medals. Samlerhuset complains to the Norwegian Press Complaints Commission, but the PCC came to the conclusion that the paper had not breached the press ethical guidelines by publishing the article. [3]
2006: Samlerhuset Group enters UK and Poland
2008: Samlerhuset demerges from the MDM Group. Samlerhuset continues with operations in the Netherlands, UK, Poland, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway and Estonia. Samlerhuset also enters China and Latvia
2009: Samlerhuset enters the Czech and Lithuanian markets.
2010: Startup in Slovakia and Belgium. Samlerhuset buys out Mint of Finland from Joint Venture and takes full control of Finnish, Swedish, Danish and Baltic operations.
2011: Samlerhuset enters Ireland and Hungary
They have raised concerns over the use of misleading advertisements, and customers receiving goods they have not ordered. Samlerhuset have prices 2-3 times that of others. In April 2011 the Norwegian TV channel TV2 aired the program TV2 hjelper deg (English translation: TV2 helps you) about Samlerhuset. It showed an elderly man who had bought coins and medals for NOK 450,000 (about US$80,000, £52,000), with the coins' value being 80-90.000NOK (US$15-16,000, £9-10,000).
Coin collecting
Coin collecting is the collecting or trading of coins or other forms of minted legal tender.Coins of interest to collectors often include those that circulated for only a brief time, coins with mint errors and especially beautiful or historically significant pieces. Coin collecting can be...
, medals, stamps, banknotes and coin-letters. The Samlerhuset Group has subsidiaries in 16 countries. The company had 400 employees in 2010 and a turnover of 160 million euro. Samlerhuset is a part owner of the Berlin coin fair and of the Norwegian Mint, the producer of the Nobel peace prize and of legal tender coinage for Norway and other countries.
History
Samlerhuset Norway was founded in 1994 and the Samlerhuset Group was established a few years later, when in 2001, Samlerhuset merged with the MDM Group. MDM was active in Germany, The Netherlands, Austria and The United Kingdom. In 2008 Samlerhuset demerged from the MDM Group, and continued to operate in The Netherlands, UK, Poland, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway and Estonia. In 2010 Samlerhuset bought out the Mint of Finland from the joint Venture, which was created ten years earlier. After the buy-out, Samlerhuset took full control of the Finnish, Swedish, Danish and Baltic operations. In 2005, The Norwegian economic magazine "Dine Penger" encouraged their readers not to buy some of the Samlerhuset medals. Samlerhuset complains to the Norwegian Press Complaints Commission, but the PCC came to the conclusion that the paper had not breached the press ethical guidelines by publishing the article. In 2011, the Norwegian TV channel TV2 warns their viewers about Samlerhuset.Samlerhuset Timeline
1994: Samlerhuset established in Norway. [2]1995: First case reported to the Norwegian Consumer Ombudsman
1997: Samlerhuset enters Sweden
2000: Samlerhuset creates Joint Venture Company with Mint of Finland, Nordic Moneta
2001: Samlerhuset merges with the MDM Group
2003: Samlerhuset acquires 50% of Royal Norwegian Mint (Norwegian Mint AS) and enters Estonia
2004: Samlerhuset Group enters Denmark
2005: The Norwegian economic magazine "Dine Penger" encouraged their readers not to buy some of the Samlerhuset medals. Samlerhuset complains to the Norwegian Press Complaints Commission, but the PCC came to the conclusion that the paper had not breached the press ethical guidelines by publishing the article. [3]
2006: Samlerhuset Group enters UK and Poland
2008: Samlerhuset demerges from the MDM Group. Samlerhuset continues with operations in the Netherlands, UK, Poland, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway and Estonia. Samlerhuset also enters China and Latvia
2009: Samlerhuset enters the Czech and Lithuanian markets.
2010: Startup in Slovakia and Belgium. Samlerhuset buys out Mint of Finland from Joint Venture and takes full control of Finnish, Swedish, Danish and Baltic operations.
2011: Samlerhuset enters Ireland and Hungary
Controversy
The company advertising campaigns and sales methods have been criticized by some collectors, magazines and consumer protection authorities in the past. Norwegian Consumer OmbudsmanNorwegian Consumer Ombudsman
The Norwegian Consumer Ombudsman is a government-appointed ombudsman in Norway for consumer affairs.The office was established in 1973 with Inger Louise Valle as the first holder. The office of the consumer ombudsman sees to it that the marketing of goods and services is done in accordance with...
They have raised concerns over the use of misleading advertisements, and customers receiving goods they have not ordered. Samlerhuset have prices 2-3 times that of others. In April 2011 the Norwegian TV channel TV2 aired the program TV2 hjelper deg (English translation: TV2 helps you) about Samlerhuset. It showed an elderly man who had bought coins and medals for NOK 450,000 (about US$80,000, £52,000), with the coins' value being 80-90.000NOK (US$15-16,000, £9-10,000).