There used to be three of them not far from me, in Los Angeles. A guy name Frank had a coin shop and bid board on Santa Monica Boulevard, near Fairfax High School. He liked us kids, and would let me take a coin from the bid board, have him look at it and give me his opinion of its grade, whether he liked it, and what it was worth.
There was another (larger) one on Fairfax Avenue, near what is now Samy's Camera. The owner was a guy named Jerry. He had rolls of 38 D Buffs in Unc. Bought a golden toned one for $2 that would probably grade MS 66 or MS 67 today.
The biggest one was Miracle Mile Coin, on Wilshire Boulevard. That was a bit more high end than the other two.
But back in the day, out here, everything from junk to very expensive coins were sold at the George Bennett coin auctions at the Masonic Hall in Van Nuys.
"Vou invadir o Nordeste, "Seu cabra da peste, "Sou Mangueira......."
There was a second bid wall that operated in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts, yes, the home of the Patriots, from the 1980s until the owner’s death in the mid 2000s. He attended the Baltimore shows and often bought a lot of lower priced, interesting coins and also took some pieces on consignment.
I bought some coins for my business from him when I was active and found a couple of pieces for my collection. Here is the best piece I ever bought from him for my collection, 1852 $5 gold piece. This coin really is Mint State, which is a tough grade for a No Motto $5 Liberty gold piece, and now resides in an NGC MS-61 holder. Since there were no other collectors who had an interest in this piece, I bought it at a bargain price off the bid wall.
Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
There is still a pretty decent bid board in my town -- coins, stamps, and sports cards. Out of the 4-5 local B&Ms, it is the only bid board still active. I've won a few items there over the years. It doesn't always have great material, but it remains an effective way for a dealer to move lower-priced inventory and get collectors into the shop where they might decide to buy higher-priced items.
I'm addicted to exonumia ... it is numismatic crack!
ANA LM
USAF Retired — 34 years of active military service! 🇺🇸
Comments
There used to be three of them not far from me, in Los Angeles. A guy name Frank had a coin shop and bid board on Santa Monica Boulevard, near Fairfax High School. He liked us kids, and would let me take a coin from the bid board, have him look at it and give me his opinion of its grade, whether he liked it, and what it was worth.
There was another (larger) one on Fairfax Avenue, near what is now Samy's Camera. The owner was a guy named Jerry. He had rolls of 38 D Buffs in Unc. Bought a golden toned one for $2 that would probably grade MS 66 or MS 67 today.
The biggest one was Miracle Mile Coin, on Wilshire Boulevard. That was a bit more high end than the other two.
But back in the day, out here, everything from junk to very expensive coins were sold at the George Bennett coin auctions at the Masonic Hall in Van Nuys.
"Seu cabra da peste,
"Sou Mangueira......."
There was a second bid wall that operated in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts, yes, the home of the Patriots, from the 1980s until the owner’s death in the mid 2000s. He attended the Baltimore shows and often bought a lot of lower priced, interesting coins and also took some pieces on consignment.
I bought some coins for my business from him when I was active and found a couple of pieces for my collection. Here is the best piece I ever bought from him for my collection, 1852 $5 gold piece. This coin really is Mint State, which is a tough grade for a No Motto $5 Liberty gold piece, and now resides in an NGC MS-61 holder. Since there were no other collectors who had an interest in this piece, I bought it at a bargain price off the bid wall.
There is still a pretty decent bid board in my town -- coins, stamps, and sports cards. Out of the 4-5 local B&Ms, it is the only bid board still active. I've won a few items there over the years. It doesn't always have great material, but it remains an effective way for a dealer to move lower-priced inventory and get collectors into the shop where they might decide to buy higher-priced items.
ANA LM
USAF Retired — 34 years of active military service! 🇺🇸