There has to be a better way....

gyocomgd

I figure there are a million people out there who have inherited coin collections and, not being collectors themselves, might be eager to dissolve them. So, I put an ad in the newspaper (circulation maybe 100,000) telling people with old Buffalo nickels and Mercury dimes to give me a buzz.

Wrong move! The phone has rang 20 times over the last few days, and none of the calls have been fruitful. All of the people sounded disappointed when I told them what their coins--all of them worn, no key dates, not even dimes or nickels, etc.--were worth. They dogged me as to were they could sell them, what "grading" meant, what a "mint mark" was. Two people got angry when I told them their coins weren't valuable; one, a lady with a seated liberty dime that was so worn she couldn't tell me the date, told me I was trying to rip her off--and I didn't even offer to buy the coin! Another guy said his father left him three rolls of Buffalo nickels, none with dates. When he asked what I would pay for them, and told him I was more interested in specific dates and wasn't interested in the rolls, he accused me of wasting his time and hung up on me. Two other people got mad because my phone number was long distance for them although it was within the same area code.

My wife thinks it's funny and has been rolling her eyes. All I know is, I don't endorse this method of enhancing your collection.

Guy

dan383

Sounds kind of like what a dealer goes thru , when someone walks in the shop
and pulls a pile of beat up coins out of their pocket , lays it on the counter
thinking that they are going to be rich.................

Then the dealer has to tell them to go back to work !!





Dan

tmot99

I thought it was standard practice that if you place an ad in the paper, you as the seller, are responsible for providing a local phone number to anyone who might read that paper.

291fifth

I once did the same thing nearly 40 years ago...with the same results as you. Collectors seem to think that the general public should have some basic coin knowledge, but they don't. Very few people have any real knowledge of coins.

VTCoins

Another guy said his father left him three rolls of Buffalo nickels, none with dates. When he asked what I would pay for them, and told him I was more interested in specific dates and wasn't interested in the rolls, he accused me of wasting his time and hung up on me.

If you place an ad offering to buy Buffalo Nickels, you should at least offer a price. Sounds like you were wasting his time!

edited for spelling

flashbang

I think there are many different factors involved. I too, recently 'inhereted' a family collection. My father never cared, nor knew how to take care of anything, so its always sat in an old european chocolates wooden box (that was what my great grandfather had available at that time way back when). Having grown up seeing these coins my entire life I can kinda relate to some peoples reactions. The one factor that might not seem logical or obvious is they dont want to think someone they knew, loved, and respected kept junk. Until I decided to acquire my own knowledge of coins (still minimal), I thought there were coins in this collection that I could retire on. After all, they are old, I've seen 'antiques' before, even have a few from family members too. Boy was I wrong. The reply that they have no knowledge whatsoever of what goes into coins is absolutely true, then add the feeling of insult they perceive when they are told this person that passed it to them had no better sense than them and saved junk, I can see where they might react as they did. If they only knew how easy it would be to find information themselves to figure it out the world would be a better place, but that would destroy their dream. We cant have that, can we?

It takes all kinds to make this world go round, I'm just glad I found out my pops was coinologically impared before betting the house on it.


Edited to change emotion =/

ksteelheader

<< <i>There has to be a better way.... >>



Robbing a coin shop comes to mind!!!...

Barberman55

I also thought about doing the exact same thing........thanks for sharing your experience, I don't think I'm going to waste my time. I always wondered, if this was such a great way to acquire coins, why weren't more people doing it.

Tassa

You mean you haven't gotten any calls from people with "rare" coins like silver colored cents and Peace dollars with the word "Trust" misspelled yet?

mercurynut

I agree with your wife!

bhartman35

<< <i>If you place an ad offering to buy Buffalo Nickels, you should at least offer a price. Sounds like you were wasting his time! >>





If you place an ad offering to buy old dimes and nickels, when they call, you should offer to buy them. If the coins are crap dates or worn, you offer to buy them for what they're worth. Also, just because you think they're crap, don't assume that someone down the line won't buy them from you for something. I was collecting when I was 10 years old, and at that level, pretty much all you can afford (from your allowance) is worn-out crap coins. Back then, I was perfectly happy to shell out $15 for a F-12 Morgan that I wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole today. In other words, everything has a market.

Personally, if I was to do this, I wouldn't do the assessment over the phone. The best thing to do is to tell them that you'll need to see the coins to make a judgement. I'd tell them in advance where you were getting the values from, so that no one thinks they're getting screwed when you tell them that Uncle Harry's prized collection of Mercury dimes are worth a grand total of $50, not the $5000 they might have been thinking. At that point, you might still have taken up some of their time, but at least you've equipped them with the knowledge so that they know they didn't get taken.

tjkillian

But what would you do it someone have a few cool coins? Say that they had $2000 worth of coins, one coin or many, that you were interested in buying? Would you drive to their house? Have them come to your house? I would be worried about being robbed, or worse.

Just curious.

Tom

roadrunner

I did this a few times back in the 70's and 80's. Each time I had the same results as you. Each time I went to someone's house to view
the "great collection" there wasn't one coin I could buy. If there were circ Morgans the owner had paid $20 for them in 1979-80 and wasn't going to let me "cheat" him out of them for $10 (bid was $10). In no instance did I ever buy a coin I could make money on in such coin hunts. But on the flip side, I saw people bringing coins to my buddies and other dealer shops only to be offered cents on the dollars......and they took it willingly. Just something that I can never quite understand. I also had the same annoying phone calls about the rare Peace dollars with the "V" in "Trust" mispelled, or the copper 1943 cents. It gold old quick. Haven't placed an ad since the late 1980's and have no intention of doing it again.

roadrunner

gyocomgd

<< <i>

<< <i>If you place an ad offering to buy Buffalo Nickels, you should at least offer a price. Sounds like you were wasting his time! >>





If you place an ad offering to buy old dimes and nickels, when they call, you should offer to buy them. >>



I strongly disagree with this. Theoretically, that means I could wind up buying the wares of every single person who calls. That is nuts. I did not include those hothouse phrases, "No coins refused!" or "I buy everything." I placed the ad as a solicitation, an opportunity to talk turkey. Which I did--and kindly declined to buy what they were selling.

gyocomgd

<< <i>But what would you do it someone have a few cool coins? Say that they had $2000 worth of coins, one coin or many, that you were interested in buying? Would you drive to their house? Have them come to your house? I would be worried about being robbed, or worse.

Just curious.

Tom >>



Tom, ironically the very first caller only lived a few blocks away and I invited him over. Actually his brother called for him, as the fellow was stone deaf. I actually enjoyed the visit, jotting out notes for him, mouthing words and so on. His coins were awful and I could see he was crestfallen that I wasn't interested. So damned if I didn't buy some old beat up Morgans from him for $8 apiece. Not fruitful, I regretted it after he left.
And my wife--this was before enough calls came in that she started rolling her eyes--told me very sternly not to invite one more stranger into our house. She reminded of that the next day. And the next day she told me again.

carl

Several others have already said they tried that in the past. Luckily in the past. Just think with the freedom of infomation stuff on the internet, with your name and phone number any slightly dishonest individual can track down your address. They would assume that because of that add you received thousands of calls and have accumulated a fortune in coins. Now I wonder how many of them are watching your house for you to leave. If there are several of them, you may have helped them for a club.
A much better way is to go to garage/yard sales, estated sales (not estate auctions) and ask for any old coins. You have to ask. They normally do not put them out. They are afraid they'll vanish. You have to ask if there are any old coins to get rid of. Occationally I've run accross people that had jars, cans or boxes of them that were distined to go to a bank. I vounteered to count them out in front of them and give them a little more than face value. That has worked for me many times.

bhartman35

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>If you place an ad offering to buy Buffalo Nickels, you should at least offer a price. Sounds like you were wasting his time! >>





If you place an ad offering to buy old dimes and nickels, when they call, you should offer to buy them. >>



I strongly disagree with this. Theoretically, that means I could wind up buying the wares of every single person who calls. That is nuts. I did not include those hothouse phrases, "No coins refused!" or "I buy everything." I placed the ad as a solicitation, an opportunity to talk turkey. Which I did--and kindly declined to buy what they were selling. >>



If you say you buy old dimes and nickels, people will expect you to buy theirs, regardless of whether or not you say "No coins refused!". When you place that kind of ad, you're targeting a market of people who don't know what's valuable and what's not, so you're setting them up to feel screwed if they take the time to gather up their collection and schlep over to your place, just to be told that there's nothing there interesting enough for you to buy. If you want to place that kind of solicitation, I'd suggest you list what you want, so that people don't waste their time unnecessarily. Example: "I am looking for the following dates:...." You could also list the grades you'll accept. This weeds out right away those that don't know what they're doing, or aren't at least willing to learn, and lets people know up front that you won't accept just anything that walks through the door, which it does sound like if all you say is, "I'm looking for Buffalo nickeles and Mercury dimes." Look at it this way: If you ran a personal ad, and all you said was, "I'm looking to meet a woman", don't you think you might be wasting many peoples' time? If you've got specific requirements, you should state them upfront. Otherwise, it does sound like you'll buy anything that comes in the door, and people will be upset when that expectation is dashed.

If what you really want is key dates in decent condition, you should post in the B/S/T forum. The most efficient way to get what you want is to ask people who actually understand when you tell them.

Russ

Guy,

Your experience is pretty typical. My favorite was when a guy called me and sad he had a "bag" of "silver" dollars. Like an idiot I didn't ask any questions. I was excited as a school kid waiting for him to show up. Turns out the bag was a plastic baggie, and silver dollars were circulated clad Ikes.

Russ, NCNE

Sphinx357

par for the course

VTCoins

I strongly disagree with this. Theoretically, that means I could wind up buying the wares of every single person who calls. That is nuts. I did not include those hothouse phrases, "No coins refused!" or "I buy everything." I placed the ad as a solicitation, an opportunity to talk turkey. Which I did--and kindly declined to buy what they were selling.

If you advertise that you buy old coins, but you expect to only cherrypick the good ones, you deserve the harassing calls.

VTCoins

Theoretically, that means I could wind up buying the wares of every single person who calls.

Sounds like a good problem to have!

gyocomgd

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>If you place an ad offering to buy Buffalo Nickels, you should at least offer a price. Sounds like you were wasting his time! >>





If you place an ad offering to buy old dimes and nickels, when they call, you should offer to buy them. >>



I strongly disagree with this. Theoretically, that means I could wind up buying the wares of every single person who calls. That is nuts. I did not include those hothouse phrases, "No coins refused!" or "I buy everything." I placed the ad as a solicitation, an opportunity to talk turkey. Which I did--and kindly declined to buy what they were selling. >>



I'd suggest you list what you want, so that people don't waste their time unnecessarily. Example: "I am looking for the following dates:...." You could also list the grades you'll accept. This weeds out right away those that don't know what they're doing, or aren't at least willing to learn, and lets people know up front that you won't accept just anything that walks through the door, which it does sound like if all you say is, "I'm looking for Buffalo nickeles and Mercury dimes." Look at it this way: If you ran a personal ad, and all you said was, "I'm looking to meet a woman", don't you think you might be wasting many peoples' time? If you've got specific requirements, you should state them upfront. Otherwise, it does sound like you'll buy anything that comes in the door, and people will be upset when that expectation is dashed.
>>



The problem with that is the size of ad. The difference in price between the paragraph you just typed, and the paragraph you're reading now, is roughly $75. I was surprised by that, and as it was the ad cost $27.50. Classified ads in a good-sized paper are pretty pricey.

gyocomgd

<< <i>Guy,

Your experience is pretty typical. My favorite was when a guy called me and sad he had a "bag" of "silver" dollars. Like an idiot I didn't ask any questions. I was excited as a school kid waiting for him to show up. Turns out the bag was a plastic baggie, and silver dollars were circulated clad Ikes.

Russ, NCNE >>



I hope you bought them. Otherwise, you misled that person and wasted their time.

MadMarty

I did the same thing a few years back. Yes, most of it is junk silver. At the time dealers were paying 2.65 X face and I would pay the people 2.5 X face. I did end up with $500 face of rolled washingtons and mercs. Bought them, took them home and found a 42/41 merc and a 1934 light motto out of one of the rolls that graded MS65! Many people are just happy to get rid of the stuff. So if you are going to run an ad there is no cherrypicking. You buy it all. Plain and simple! Also, if you are going to pick up stuff, bring cash and have another person wait in the car with it. Can't be too careful!!

mozeppa

what his madness said........

"there is no cherrypicking. You buy it all. Plain and simple!"