What is the primary difference between a pawn shop and a coin shop?
abcde12345
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Is it the inventory? The class of owner? The knowledge of the employees? The prices?
I've read here where members walk into a pawn shop and walk out with a total rip and also stories
where members walk into a coin shop and out again in disgust. I've also read it the other way around too.
Your opinions?
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The simple answer is that pawn shops have to have liscenced pawn brokers and can offer collateralized loans. They can have different holding laws than coin shops for purchases. Coin stores tend to have much more inventory of coins and coin related accessories. The latter is not always true but mostly
Also coin shops are usually glad to see collectors; pawn shops treat them as the enemy ... at least that has been my experience.
^^ that. It's about the business model. Either one can be helpful or useless to a collector, depending on the particulars, but the biggest difference is that they make their money different ways.
The pawn shop will buy my chain saw - the coin shop won't.
Probably because a business owner does not like customers who know more about his or her inventory than he or she does.
Coin Shops have specific knowledge with a limited scope.
Pawn Shops have general knowledge on a wide range of items.
A Coin Shop buys and sells.
The idea of a Pawn Shop is a leveraged, short term, collateralized loan.
When the economy is slow, Coin Shops tend to suffer.
When the economy is slow, Pawn Shops tend to benefit.
There are other contrasts between the two but they also share things in common. Both Pawn Shops and Coin Shops can be interesting places to browse and both tend to attract an "interesting" clientele. If you walk into either one with an open mind you might surprise yourself.
Before the internet you could get some smokin' deals at pawn shops because the owners couldn't possibly know the value of everything in their inventory. Now, the first thing they do is pull up comparables on the computer. Took all the fun out of hitting the pawn shops on a weekend.
Probably best for another thread, yet I'd love to read stories of hits collectors have made with purchasing coins at their local pawn shop.
The primary difference is that a coin shop deals in coins. A pawn shop deals with anything and everything.
Actually a lot of difference between the two, as @Keets pointed out.... I have never found good deals in the few pawn shops around here...never any coins. I stopped browsing them a couple of years ago. The antique shops are far more interesting. Cheers, RickO
All of the above and more, as others have stated
Successful transactions with : MICHAELDIXON, Manorcourtman, Bochiman, bolivarshagnasty, AUandAG, onlyroosies, chumley, Weiss, jdimmick, BAJJERFAN, gene1978, TJM965, Smittys, GRANDAM, JTHawaii, mainejoe, softparade, derryb, Ricko
Bad transactions with : nobody to date
Then you didn't come to my shop.
I was both.
I pawned some VERY nice collections. One I really really hoped would default. But it didn't. Early type in BU. (raw but nice)
A pawnbroker who KNOWS what he is doing will loan HIGH on coins because they are liquid at a moment's notice.
I tried and tried to convince the other pawnbrokers in my assn. to attend the ANA seminars at the PAWN conventions.
No dice. I loved those guys. Their turning down or trying to rip coins just gave ME a huge advantage.
Smart coin dealers should get a pawn license. Even if only to have another avenue to attract coins to the shop.
I should add that ....collections.... came in REPEATEDLY! Really teased me.
That's another reason to loan high on good stuff. It comes back again and again.
My approach is I like to help dealers in hopes that it could be a mutually beneficial relationship. I have had coin dealers emailing me about on advice for tokens, medals and political items. The pawn shop guys treated me like a pariah. I could not break through that barrier.
You go to a pawn shop to get "rooked."
You go to a coin shop to get "hooked."
When I was in high school, my local shop also had a pawn license. That's probably how he was able to stay in buiness.
You have obviously never been in a pawn shop or a coin shop.
I really think it depends on who owns what, they are all just coin dealers in the end....right?
I still hate most of them, but not all of them.
B&M shops sell coins and coin related items. Pawn shops sells some coins and anything and everything else !!!
Average number of teeth belonging to the clientele.
Check out my current listings: https://ebay.com/sch/khunt/m.html?_ipg=200&_sop=12&_rdc=1
If Rich from Pawn Stars showed up then it would be a pawn shop. 👍
Who is Rich?
Hmmmm....So when you graduated from high school the local shop lost its pawn license?
Maybe a better question may be: What is the difference in a coin shop and a bucket shop?
A real coin shop has an inventory, supplies, a library and the willingness to help develop long term collectors.
A bucket shop, disguised as a coin shop, has little inventory and is only looking to buy items cheaply to flip to real coin dealers. Their library consists of a Redbook and a greysheet. You couldn’t find any supplies other than a few 2X2’s and a package of flips. Their knowledge of the real market is limited and they do not attend any major shows.
A: The year they spend more on their library than their coin collection.
A numismatist is judged more on the content of their library than the content of their cabinet.
instead of criticizing a Pawn Shop and essentially the entire Pawn Industry, why not question people/collectors who actually take coins to a Pawn Shop???
this thread is similar to every discussion which impugns a Dealer who rips/buys something from a collector but praises the collector with an atta-boy who does the same thing?? when someone takes something into a Pawn Shop they typically make an offer that can be accepted or rejected, yet the Pawn Shop is always the bad guy.
people need to accept a little responsibility for their actions.
This is Rick ( the guy in the middle)
I've never seen a nail gun or air compressor for sale at the coin shop
Steve
My ex brother in law says he was " born Rich, he'll die Rich and is going to be 'filthy rich' in between."
Poor guy.
There are 3 major pawn shops in my area, all say the other guys are fences, but they are fine upstanding citizens. The most highly reputable of the three paid melt for an early gold proof set that an ex-employee of mine had stolen from her grandmother. The pawn guy was careful, knew the person was a crook but also knew the grandmother would never press charges. The crook asked me after the transaction, what the set was worth. I think the proceeds kept her high for a week or so.