Today was a good day at a local B&M Shop, a few good stories, some "fresh" 1947-49 Min
SanctionII
Posts: 12,626 ✭✭✭✭✭
So on may way back to the office from court today I took a detour to a local B&M on a whim. Spent about 40 minutes there and here is the scoop.
I looked at proof and SMS sets. I bought a 1956 Proof set in OGP that has a Cameo Nickel [rara avis] and a Cameo Quarter. Paid $40.00 for the set
The nickel had very mild haze which I removed and now it looks much, much better. Next I bought two 1967 SMS sets containing hazed over nickels that had potential to be DCAMs. Looking under the haze I saw strong mirrors and very heavy frost. Paid $9.50 per set. Removed the haze from the two nickels and blazing DCAMs (at least to my untrained eye) appeared. SaWeet
Now for the good stuff.
The shop owner asked if I collected Mint Sets. I said I like the 1947-58 sets. He said he bought some 1947-1949 sets a few days ago that were part of an old time collection. He pulled them out and let me see them. 2 1947 sets, 1 1948 set and 2 1949 sets. Wowsers.
Very attractive, unmessed with sets. Funny thing though is that the silver coins in all five sets had only a hint of toning around the rims [they were mostly white], while the some of the nickels and cents had toned a variety of colors. I have not seen many of these early sets and do not know if this is common. The tissue paper the coins were sandwiched between was the brab green color, not the light green or pink of some of the late 50's sets. One of the 1949 sets had an absolutely to die for Philly cent, with no carbon spots, minimal marks and a lovely purple, burgandy color. It just shimmers. I am tempted to go back and possibly buy the set. The sets won't last long. If anyone is interested in them, let me know and I can see if I can do something for you.
The best part was talking to the owner. He and I have known each other for years and we chat. He told me that he is on a list of probate buyers [he buys coins, precious metals and jewelry]. He gets calls rom probate attorneys around the country and he bids on probate assets being sold. He said he has a bid outstanding on coins being sold out of a probate estate in the mid west. The coins include a complete MS Peace Dollar collection, an MS set of Morgans containing one coin of each year the coins were made and a set of MS Lincolns in a Dansco Album complete from 1909 through 1994. I asked him about the Lincolns. He said the coins range in grade from AU 58 [1914D] to MS67 in his opinion. He said that the coins from 1909 through the teens are all MS [except the 14D] and are all blazing red. Many from the 20's and early 30's are blazing red. Many of the late 30's through the 40's are Red Brown. If he wins the collection, he is going to have the Lincolns slabbed and sell them slowly into the market. Wish I could see the album and wish I could get my grubby hands on the Lincolns.
He also told me that years ago when gold was at $250.00 per ounce, he bid on a gold coin collection being sold out of a probate estate. The coins included US gold from the early 1800's through the early 1900's and a wide variety of non US gold coins going back to the 1700's. His bid was the high bid and was accepted. However, the heirs got into a legal spat and it took five years for the legal dispute between the heirs to be resolved. The probate attorney who had possession of the coins asked the dealer if he would take possession of the gold coins and keep them in his safe until the dispute was over and that he would pay the dealer monthly rent to store the coins. The dealer said ok, so he collected rent income and had possession of the gold coins for 5 years before he paid for them. When the dispute was over, the probate lawyers told the dealer that the sale of the coins could finally be completed and they asked for the purchaser price [agreed upon when gold was at $250.00 per ounce]. At the time the dispute was over, the price of gold had increased to $750.00 per ounce. The dealer told the probate attorney that the market had changed and that the collection was worth more and that he would pay more. The probate attorney said no, the court will not allow any changes, so the collection has to be sold at the originally negotiated price. So the dealer paid the price originally agreed to and reaped a big return when he resold the collection.
Pretty fun way for me to spend about 40 minutes, don't you think?
I looked at proof and SMS sets. I bought a 1956 Proof set in OGP that has a Cameo Nickel [rara avis] and a Cameo Quarter. Paid $40.00 for the set
The nickel had very mild haze which I removed and now it looks much, much better. Next I bought two 1967 SMS sets containing hazed over nickels that had potential to be DCAMs. Looking under the haze I saw strong mirrors and very heavy frost. Paid $9.50 per set. Removed the haze from the two nickels and blazing DCAMs (at least to my untrained eye) appeared. SaWeetNow for the good stuff.
The shop owner asked if I collected Mint Sets. I said I like the 1947-58 sets. He said he bought some 1947-1949 sets a few days ago that were part of an old time collection. He pulled them out and let me see them. 2 1947 sets, 1 1948 set and 2 1949 sets. Wowsers.
Very attractive, unmessed with sets. Funny thing though is that the silver coins in all five sets had only a hint of toning around the rims [they were mostly white], while the some of the nickels and cents had toned a variety of colors. I have not seen many of these early sets and do not know if this is common. The tissue paper the coins were sandwiched between was the brab green color, not the light green or pink of some of the late 50's sets. One of the 1949 sets had an absolutely to die for Philly cent, with no carbon spots, minimal marks and a lovely purple, burgandy color. It just shimmers. I am tempted to go back and possibly buy the set. The sets won't last long. If anyone is interested in them, let me know and I can see if I can do something for you.
The best part was talking to the owner. He and I have known each other for years and we chat. He told me that he is on a list of probate buyers [he buys coins, precious metals and jewelry]. He gets calls rom probate attorneys around the country and he bids on probate assets being sold. He said he has a bid outstanding on coins being sold out of a probate estate in the mid west. The coins include a complete MS Peace Dollar collection, an MS set of Morgans containing one coin of each year the coins were made and a set of MS Lincolns in a Dansco Album complete from 1909 through 1994. I asked him about the Lincolns. He said the coins range in grade from AU 58 [1914D] to MS67 in his opinion. He said that the coins from 1909 through the teens are all MS [except the 14D] and are all blazing red. Many from the 20's and early 30's are blazing red. Many of the late 30's through the 40's are Red Brown. If he wins the collection, he is going to have the Lincolns slabbed and sell them slowly into the market. Wish I could see the album and wish I could get my grubby hands on the Lincolns.
He also told me that years ago when gold was at $250.00 per ounce, he bid on a gold coin collection being sold out of a probate estate. The coins included US gold from the early 1800's through the early 1900's and a wide variety of non US gold coins going back to the 1700's. His bid was the high bid and was accepted. However, the heirs got into a legal spat and it took five years for the legal dispute between the heirs to be resolved. The probate attorney who had possession of the coins asked the dealer if he would take possession of the gold coins and keep them in his safe until the dispute was over and that he would pay the dealer monthly rent to store the coins. The dealer said ok, so he collected rent income and had possession of the gold coins for 5 years before he paid for them. When the dispute was over, the probate lawyers told the dealer that the sale of the coins could finally be completed and they asked for the purchaser price [agreed upon when gold was at $250.00 per ounce]. At the time the dispute was over, the price of gold had increased to $750.00 per ounce. The dealer told the probate attorney that the market had changed and that the collection was worth more and that he would pay more. The probate attorney said no, the court will not allow any changes, so the collection has to be sold at the originally negotiated price. So the dealer paid the price originally agreed to and reaped a big return when he resold the collection.
Pretty fun way for me to spend about 40 minutes, don't you think?
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Comments
Why are all my trips to B&Ms more like the "waddya want! buy or get out!" dealings? And yes, I typically always make a purchase (never less than $100.00) when I go to the B&Ms.
S
Dave
Link to 1950 - 1964 Proof Registry Set
1938 - 1964 Proof Jeffersons w/ Varieties
``https://ebay.us/m/KxolR5
Would the dealer let you look at the reverse of the 1949 phily nickels? Full step 49-Ps are hard to find. Just a thought.
As time goes by and I patronize local shops, I eventually get to know the owners. Some of them warm up to me when I am a repeat buyer and when they realize that I am a long time collector who knows a few things about coins. The ones who warm up to me are dealers who are also collectors at heart. They enjoy "talking coins" with other collectors.
So for those shops where I know and have a good relationship with the owner, I get told stories about coins and coin deals. I like hearing these good stories almost as much as I like coins.
For some other shops I go to I never have any luck striking up much conversation with the people behind the counter. Some of these shops are combo jewelry shop/coin shop/pawn shop and the people working at same do not specialize in coins. Some others are coin shops where the owner is unsure of himself and views walk in customers, who are not rip candidates, to be people to avoid. These owners fear that the walk in customer with knowldege is going to rip him.
As far as the Mint Set Nickels went, I looked at them, including checking out the steps. Did not see any full steps. When I look at these sets I have to change my frame of reference. Looking at proof sets for Cameos one gets used to the high quality of proofs [struck well, no marks, with your focus being whether there are hairlines and environmental damage]. This frame of reference simply does not apply to circulation strike coins placed in mint sets. The mint set coins have lots of marks and dings, can be weakly or strongly struck and can be made from fresh dies or from dies that have been used far too long. On top of that, the 1947-1958 sets have the possibility of having toning, either ugly or gorgeous. Determining what is a high end mint set coin vs. a low end mint set coin requires a completely different frame of reference than for proofs. What may at first look appear to be a low quality coin may in reality be a high end coin given the series, the date and the mint it was made at.
No doubt it was fun to look through 5 "fresh" [not seen on the market in a long, long time, if ever] mint sets from the 1940's was a treat.
I only wish I could see the Lincoln Dansco album. Hopefully the dealer will be the high bidder and end up with the set in his shop the next time I stop by. If so, he will let me take a long look at it.
“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Thomas Jefferson
My digital cameo album 1950-64 Cameos - take a look!
Thanks for taking the time to tell us the story. It was an exciting and interesting read indeed. Keep us posted.
i think as Kevin has indicated, the secret is to get to know the dealers who's shops you frequent, don't just go in, look around, buy and leave. some of the best and most educational time i spend is "hanging out" at the local shop.