APMEX

Scott Thomas, Oklahoma native and founder and president of APMEX, inherited his grandparent's coin collection[6] he helped develop growing up. Upon their passing, Thomas started going through this collection and discovered that they were valued at around $100,000 and sold them on eBay. This pastime turned into a business of buying and selling old coins and transitioned into a booth at an Edmond, OK strip mall and eventually a brick-and-mortar coin store.

Thomas's coin shop's online presence grew to where he decided to launch an e-commerce website in 2004. The company was previously called American Precious Metals Exchange but shortened to APMEX in 2000 before the website launched. The 2008 recession increased demand for Precious Metals so much that APMEX saw $1 billion in sales in 2009.[7] In addition to an expansion in international shipping to over 60 countries,[3] this gave them the nudge to upsize operations and moved into the old Federal Reserve building in downtown Oklahoma City in 2010.

In 2011, APMEX leased 10,000 square feet on the 50th floor of the 40 Wall Street tower—paying for their security deposit in three-kilo bars of Gold.[8] The move was to make a statement regarding the weakness of the U.S. dollar. This was the first time Donald Trump accepted physical gold for payment and APMEX's CEO at the time, Michael Haynes, was quoted as saying that "Trump is a smart guy, he'll realize that taking gold is a better idea than taking cash."[8]

APMEX's headquarters allows them to hold all of APMEX's products and 200+ employees within its over 80,000 square feet.

APMEX's headquarters in the old Federal Reserve Building in downtown Oklahoma City.

Photo of APMEX employees in front of their Oklahoma City headquarters.

• 2000 - Edmond Coins founded in Edmond, Oklahoma, and American Precious Metals Exchange is formed.[8]
• 2004 - APMEX.com is created.
• 2007 - The 1 oz Silver APMEX Bar is introduced as the first product in the line of APMEX-branded products.
• 2009 - APMEX opens international shipping with orders to Canada.
• 2010 - APMEX relocates to the former Federal Reserve Bank of Oklahoma City.
• 2011 - APMEX launches the MintDirect® program.[9]
• 2012 - APMEX launches Citadel Global Depository Services, Inc.,[10] a wholly owned subsidiary that provides maximum-security storage managed by Brink's.
• 2013 - APMEX launches exclusive partnership with eBay.[11]
• 2014 - APMEX becomes an Authorized Purchaser[12] for U.S. Mint Gold and Platinum bullion coins, adding to the previously acquired Silver bullion.
• 2018 - APMEX launches new line of Silver bullion - 9Fine Mint.
• 2020 - APMEX launches exclusive partnership with PCGS.[13]
• 2020 - APMEX launches new line of Silver bars - Pioneer Metals.
• 2021 - Launches fully shoppable mobile app for Google and Apple ecosystems[4]

Scott Thomas – Founder and President

Ken Lewis – Chief Executive Officer

Doug Sterk – Chief Financial Officer

Phil Barrett – Chief Marketing Officer

APMEX offers services like custom spot price alerts, a loyalty program for repeat customers and quick shipping due to relationships with UPS and FedEx. Additionally, APMEX releases products in partnership with companies through their APMEXclusive product program and their own mint, 9Fine Mint. APMEX also offers alerts and tools for customers to learn more about the Precious Metals market to become more educated investors and stay up to date with the company's latest releases and restocks.

APMEX released the industry's first fully shoppable app in 2021 that allows customers to buy Precious Metals products on the go and with ease.[1][2] Users can shop, manage their portfolios, check live spot prices and catch up on the most recent market news.[1][14]

The company does not predict what the Precious Metals market will be, nor does it act as a financial investment counsel, but it does give customers the information they need to make these decisions for themselves.

Logistics

APMEX houses all its product at its OKC headquarters. They have employees working to inspect returned or APMEX purchased products, pull products from inventory, package them, and ship them.

UPS and FedEx pick up parcels from the location and a secured team drops off remaining parcels to USPS.

APMEX employees pulling products.