<< <i>I was referring to the story in the OP, Mike, and merely used your comment as a model for my followup sentence immediately thereafter. The post wasn't directed at you in the slightest; I was speaking generally... you stated you couldn't believe people made assumptions about the items being stolen, and I similarly stated I couldn't believe people made assumptions that the story was even true in the first place...I hear these things all the time, and if they were all true then all dealers must be crooks who rip off kids, widows, orphans, cripples, and eat puppies for lunch. >>
Thank you for the clarification, I appreciate it. Your perspective is a fair one, and I agree -- it is rather presumptuous to say the dealer was ripping of the teenagers. Although I must admit that the way the story was presented it seems much more likely than not (at least based on my experience in B&Ms). Respectfully...Mike
Collector of Large Cents, US Type, and modern pocket change.
Something snafu'd as I was posting so I'll try again:
PS...my assumption that the coins were likely stolen is an educated one that comes from 26 years of experience as a fulltime B&M dealer. Too often we see kids who have no clue what they have, come in clumps of 3-4, one is the "talker" who tells me the story that grandpa was a collector who left these to him, (yet grandpa threw everything loose into a Walmart sack, including the proof coins?) ...and his buddies are just as engaged (and presumably invested in the outcome) as the talker. Thanks but no thanks, we pass, though we've also cooperated in nailing a few of them. It really doesn't take a lot of analysis to determine the probability of something being stolen, and if the OP story is true, I'd bet money on it. Teenage kids with 15-20 folders of coins that include higher grade examples of rare date coins.....ummmm....no. I'm not thinking that they just got it from Gramps, unless Gramps doesn't know it's gone.
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<< <i>I was referring to the story in the OP, Mike, and merely used your comment as a model for my followup sentence immediately thereafter. The post wasn't directed at you in the slightest; I was speaking generally... you stated you couldn't believe people made assumptions about the items being stolen, and I similarly stated I couldn't believe people made assumptions that the story was even true in the first place...I hear these things all the time, and if they were all true then all dealers must be crooks who rip off kids, widows, orphans, cripples, and eat puppies for lunch. >>
Thank you for the clarification, I appreciate it. Your perspective is a fair one, and I agree -- it is rather presumptuous to say the dealer was ripping of the teenagers. Although I must admit that the way the story was presented it seems much more likely than not (at least based on my experience in B&Ms). Respectfully...Mike
PS...my assumption that the coins were likely stolen is an educated one that comes from 26 years of experience as a fulltime B&M dealer. Too often we see kids who have no clue what they have, come in clumps of 3-4, one is the "talker" who tells me the story that grandpa was a collector who left these to him, (yet grandpa threw everything loose into a Walmart sack, including the proof coins?) ...and his buddies are just as engaged (and presumably invested in the outcome) as the talker. Thanks but no thanks, we pass, though we've also cooperated in nailing a few of them. It really doesn't take a lot of analysis to determine the probability of something being stolen, and if the OP story is true, I'd bet money on it. Teenage kids with 15-20 folders of coins that include higher grade examples of rare date coins.....ummmm....no. I'm not thinking that they just got it from Gramps, unless Gramps doesn't know it's gone.
RIP Mom- 1932-2012