A Newbie carries the day....
gyocomgd
Posts: 2,582 ✭✭✭
Best local show I've been to! Darned well attended, lots of tables, plenty of happy dealers.
Highlight for me: I exchanged a raw $2.5 Indian, mid-to-high AU, for another raw Indian, priced at $265 which looked to me like a liner 62-63.
You may enjoy the interesting bit of negotiating that transpired with the fellow selling the coin. He looks at his sweet Indian very carefully, declared it MS62 and thus worth considerably more. I screwed up my face and he says, "But I've no choice but to stick with the price."
I ask if he'll take a check and the whole vibe changes. He asks, "Have you paid anyone else with a check here before?" Nope, I tell him, I've made several transactions here but have given everyone else cash. He says, "I'm very sorry" and hands the coin to his partner, giving him a look that says, "We're going to talk about the way you priced this coin later."
Now we make a bit of small talk. I ask if he plays golf and he says he's nuts about it. I tell him I write for Golf Digest and he recognizes my name. I say, "Are you sure you won't take my check?" and now he brightens. And I'm thinking I'll get $100 for my coin, which he views as being AU58 (retail is about $240) and thus give him $165 in cash for the MS62/63 which is, after all, marked at $265.
Not so fast! He looks at his Greysheet, taps on his calculator and spins it around so I can see the readout: He wants $230 and says this is the best he can do because his coin is "Better than was priced, as you and I--and HIM [he nods pointedly at his partner] know."
I'm screwed and know it instantly. Had I had the cash, whipped it out and paid the $265 outright, the deal would have been done. But the combination of my paying by check, plus trading in the damned AU, gave him some necessary elbow room.
I breathe a heavy sigh, give him a baleful look, and I write a check for $230. Which means I got $35 for my "AU58."
Summary: I love the coin I got and it compares very favorably in every respect with a lot of PCGS-slabbed 63s I've seen (odd that I see more graded by NGC than PCGS). I also was surprised he viewed my coin as AU58. I'd looked at it hard and with quite noticeable wear on the eagle's shoulder, faint headband, hairlines galore and so-so eye appeal, thought that high AU was a bit of a stretch. I feel I not only survived, but prospered.
I almost felt like one of you guys!
Highlight for me: I exchanged a raw $2.5 Indian, mid-to-high AU, for another raw Indian, priced at $265 which looked to me like a liner 62-63.
You may enjoy the interesting bit of negotiating that transpired with the fellow selling the coin. He looks at his sweet Indian very carefully, declared it MS62 and thus worth considerably more. I screwed up my face and he says, "But I've no choice but to stick with the price."
I ask if he'll take a check and the whole vibe changes. He asks, "Have you paid anyone else with a check here before?" Nope, I tell him, I've made several transactions here but have given everyone else cash. He says, "I'm very sorry" and hands the coin to his partner, giving him a look that says, "We're going to talk about the way you priced this coin later."
Now we make a bit of small talk. I ask if he plays golf and he says he's nuts about it. I tell him I write for Golf Digest and he recognizes my name. I say, "Are you sure you won't take my check?" and now he brightens. And I'm thinking I'll get $100 for my coin, which he views as being AU58 (retail is about $240) and thus give him $165 in cash for the MS62/63 which is, after all, marked at $265.
Not so fast! He looks at his Greysheet, taps on his calculator and spins it around so I can see the readout: He wants $230 and says this is the best he can do because his coin is "Better than was priced, as you and I--and HIM [he nods pointedly at his partner] know."
I'm screwed and know it instantly. Had I had the cash, whipped it out and paid the $265 outright, the deal would have been done. But the combination of my paying by check, plus trading in the damned AU, gave him some necessary elbow room.
I breathe a heavy sigh, give him a baleful look, and I write a check for $230. Which means I got $35 for my "AU58."
Summary: I love the coin I got and it compares very favorably in every respect with a lot of PCGS-slabbed 63s I've seen (odd that I see more graded by NGC than PCGS). I also was surprised he viewed my coin as AU58. I'd looked at it hard and with quite noticeable wear on the eagle's shoulder, faint headband, hairlines galore and so-so eye appeal, thought that high AU was a bit of a stretch. I feel I not only survived, but prospered.
I almost felt like one of you guys!
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