Would you sell a coin to a coin doctor?

MrEureka · April 4, 2003 11:16AM

You want to sell a coin that you think is worth 5K. You go to a coin show and get offers from ten dealers. All offers are in the 4500-5500 range. Everyone grades it about the same. The coin has a scratch. Everyone agrees that it would be worth 10K without the scratch. A friend introduces you to an infamous coin doctor. He offers you 7K, telling you that he is offering a big price because he thinks he can remove the scratch. Would you sell him the coin? Before you answer, consider that the any of the other potential buyers might resell the coin to the coin doctor.

sinin1 · April 4, 2003 11:19AM

Would the person offering 7K tell you what he was going to do with it? I doubt it - are you buying?

jbsteven · April 4, 2003 11:19AM

highest bidder wins

Tonelover · April 4, 2003 11:23AM

I had a near exact experience last year. Was told that a little "curating" would make a particular coin much more valuable to him than it was to me. He did not get the coin.

Russ · April 4, 2003 11:25AM

I'd tell him that a $3000 profit was too much and I wanted $8500 for the coin.

Russ, NCNE

gsaguy · April 4, 2003 11:26AM

I had a crack-out/coin doctor comment that a high grade CC in a GSA holder could be 'fixed' and would bring twice what I had paid for the coin. I still own the coin.

GSAGUY

LucyBop · April 4, 2003 11:26AM

Ask him if he can make my 53s Frankie have Full Bell Lines?

FatMan · April 4, 2003 11:30AM

The doctor is a fool if he lets me know his intentions.

I would not sell him the coin.

However, being that this hypothetical is highly unlikely I pretty much hold to high bidder wins.

topstuf · April 4, 2003 11:33AM

30 years ago I sent a 1795 dollar and an 1870CC to Lowell Clark (?) in Chatsworth, CA.
I bot them at a pawn shop and both were holed and the CC had been chopped around the rim
about 100 times. Like a guy with a hunting knife just whacked on it to pass time.

For some reason, I made pencil rubbings of the coins. After only about 7 months, they came back.
I told him not to bother with the CC as it seemed there was NO way to get to it. The nicks were INTO
the denticles. I was gonna put it in a belt buckle reverse facing.

I could NOT find the repairs...........ANYWHERE! Only went to 20x mag but cud not find it AND he did
the rim so it was undetectable.

What's this got to do with the question? It's must be time for my meds. or bed.

Oh...huh? wha? oh yeh, sure I wud sell it to someone who wanted it. Unless I could work up
a discrimination suit by refusing for no reason. Or if it was a slow show and I could violently
DRIVE him from my table with a stick.

Zerbe · April 4, 2003 12:19PM

A friend introduces you to an infamous coin doctor. He offers you 7K, telling you that he is offering a big price because he thinks he can remove the scratch. Would you sell him the coin? Before you answer, consider that the any of the other potential buyers might resell the coin to the coin doctor.

You need to UPGRADE your friends first off.

relayer · April 4, 2003 3:26PM

After I heard him say he'd give me $7k, I probably wouldn't be listening to anything he said after that.

Just say thank you.

DCAMFranklin · April 4, 2003 4:20PM

<< <i>Ask him if he can make my 53s Frankie have Full Bell Lines? >>

You don't need that. You have all those big DCAM's. Right?

dorkkarl · April 4, 2003 7:45PM

if the coin had a humongous, disgusting nauseating gouge of a scratch on it, i wouldn't sell it to the doctor.

i'd get it "fixed" myself

of course, i wouldn't have bought the scratched coin in the 1st place if a problem-free was affordable

K S

UncleJoe · April 4, 2003 8:14PM

The answer is easy when it is hypothetical.

But easier when it is reality. SOLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Joe.

LucyBop · April 4, 2003 9:15PM

<< <i>You don't need that. You have all those big DCAM's. Right? >>

Tell us DCAMTroll Mike Treebeardsons Lewis, can you get high speed internet in your apartment. The address you use when you win Ebay auctions that you don't try to renig the prices?

After your big arguement with wondercoin you ditched the gembens tittle and re-incarnated as DCAMTroll.

I've said it before and I'll say it again....... The majority of this board has sent, will send, and will trust me with coins. Will anyone trust you with one?

Barry · April 4, 2003 9:24PM

Is fixing a scratch really any different than sending a coin to NCS for "conservation?" Both change the coin's appearance with the intent of increasing its eye appeal, therefore its value.

tgilliams · April 5, 2003 12:12AM

Knowing what will be done with your coin, you will possibly/probably get rather unfriendly feedback from buyer if he/she finds out it was your coin. Since you're aware of the scam this dealer is going to pull, add enough $$ to make it worthwhile for the possible black mark on your reputation. How much is that worth? You can start with the potential sales you'll lose in the future, then factor in how your fellow collectors will feel about you.

I would need at least an additional $25000+ for damage control. Not sure if I'd sell my good name for any price. Something like this could follow you for quite a while. Then put yourself in the place of the person that buys this doctored coin and how upset you'd be if the shoe was on the other foot. Then you have most of the facts to base your decision on.

BillJones · April 5, 2003 1:16AM

Most of us, who love coins and this hobby, would prefer to sell to those who are not going to mess around with the coins and potentially lower their value. Yet, we do have to make a living so those who pay higher prices usually get the coins.

As for what people do with coins after I sell them, I am not my brothers' keeper. Even if I did hang a sign on my bourse table that said, "No sales to crooks" the guy next to me would supply them any way. So... so long as their check is good, I'll sell to them.

MrEureka · April 5, 2003 1:26AM

Is fixing a scratch really any different than sending a coin to NCS for "conservation?"

Yes, of course it is. "Fixing" (repairing) a scratch is accomplished by moving and/or adding metal to the coin. "Conservation" is simply a matter of removing contaminants from the surface of a coin.

Barry · April 5, 2003 3:07AM

Andy,
I disagree. Unless you are talking about superficial PVC or dirt, which can be removed without affecting the surface, "conserving" a coin does alter the surface. Spots, uneven toning, etc. are part of the surface. Its removal, does change the coin, whether micro- or macroscopically. It's just a matter of degrees.

dorkkarl · April 5, 2003 3:23AM

conservation DOES NOT affect the coin itself. if what happens to the coin does affect it, it was NOT conservation

example of each:

using canned air to blow dust particle's off a coin's surface = conservation

dipping a coin in jeweluster = NOT conservation

K S

Barry · April 5, 2003 3:29AM

Karl,
If all NCS was doing was blowing canned air, there would be no NCS.

MrEureka · April 5, 2003 3:54AM

"conserving" a coin does alter the surface

I'll concede that that is true in SOME cases. For example, if an active corrosion spot is eating into the coin, conservation may require the removal of some metal. On the other hand, removing a layer of irregular toning is not "conservation" in my book.

MrEureka · April 5, 2003 4:01AM

Perhaps the best way to explain conservation is that it is intended to stop the deterioration of the coin.

Also, please don't make the mistake of thinking that anything that NCS does automatically qualifies as "conservation".

topstuf · April 5, 2003 5:15AM

What about blowing HOT air?

Wud that help?

dorkkarl · April 6, 2003 9:12PM

good point. on 2d thought, i agree w/ you, conservation can indeed change the coin. the purpose of conservation, as you said, is to prevent further deterioration of the coin, & may require cleaning of the coin.

K S

Would you sell a coin to a coin doctor?

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