Houston Numismatic Exchange

glmueller

Hello, I'm from the Sports forums and would like to ask the coin folks a question..... Has anybody used Houston Numismatic Exchange??
I am planning to make a small road trip to the business(40 miles) to check out cards.
Were they friendly, over priced, low inventory??? Just wondering if anybody ever used them and how was the experience was?

Cheers,
Greg

mhammerman

You will meet Pat Johnson, owner. He is a coin dealer's coin dealer in that he does this as a business with passion and he has been doing it for a good while. He does a booming business and has a web page at www.hnex.com but he doesn't spend much time on the net. I have spent a more than a few ben's there, actually, I've released many, many ben's there. The one comment I will make is that he will charge you retail for nice coins, such that it almost seems too much but the one thing I can say about him is that he has put me in some very nice coins that have, with out exception, appreciated in value and held their worth to my collection.

He has a conventional brick and mortar shop with very courteous, very knowledgable, well trained employees. He has a full display of most coins you would expect from gold/plat to a 50 cent grab bag. You can tell if he likes you if he goes to the back to check...hee hee (that's where he keeps the good stuff)! I have nothing bad to say about him or his shop other than if you are trying to lowball or rip coins...you could find better candidates because these folks are as sharp as you would expect any experienced, profession, top tier coin shop to be. I like them a lot but they are not cheap. For me, going to Pat's is kinda like going to the toystore and candy store all wrapped up into one spot. They have a formidable local following. Sometimes the quality/quantity of coins and number of ben's that cross that glass counter make my eyes pop. Enjoy the shop, enjoy Pat and his crew, and enjoy his coins. Oh yes, he has baseball cards too.

Mike