Anybody remember bid boards?

smallchange

Way back in the mid 70's as i recall, i would go to the local coin shop and they had certain coins on display. The idea was that you chose the ones you wanted to bid on and wrote down your bid on a blackboard. The high bidder at the end of the week got the coin. They usually were not very expensive coins but it was great fun. Ah the good old days. Anybody else remember these?

MrSpud

They still have one here in southern California at the Huntington Beach Coin Exchange. I've cherrypicked a few VAMS off of it. It's fun.

Constantine

I remember them for stamps in the late 80s. It was a lot of fun, I recall. I was a young teenager and had a blast writing 75 cent bids here and there and excited when I won!

illini420

There are at least four bid boards I know of in the L.A. area still, I hit up two of them pretty much every week as they are fun and sometimes I get some cool stuff really cheap.

llafoe

They still have them here too.

RB1026

You bet! Back in the day every shop here in town had one.

Roger

PerryHall

I remember seeing them at a weekly coin show back in the mid to late 1960's. I haven't seen them since.

Sonorandesertrat

Most shops in Tucson have one.

Jinx86

Sounds like a nice way to pass time. I'll have to suggest one to my local b&m.

mrpotatoheadd

ianrussell

Did they offer more expensive coins this way as well? Fascinating.

- Ian

Frankcoins

My old store..Causey's in Fort Worth, TX Around 15 years ago

LindeDad

Might be fun running some offerings on the BST forum that way.

DennisH

Oh wow... Coin-A-Rama City. Now that brings back memories.

In the mid and late-60s that's where I'd be each weekend with my dad when the bid board closed. It was HUGE, and I can remember it being so crowded you could hardly move... and so hazy from cigarette smoke that I couldn't wait to get out.

coindeuce

Jeff Wuller has one at his store (Arrowhead Coin & Jewelry) in Glendale, Arizona. Seems like a good draw, but if the lots include consignments, its a hellalotta work to keep the books for. Not to mention liability. Those were the good ole days...

thisnamztaken

Yep! I regularly bid at a couple of bid boards back in the late 1970's - early 1980's...Jo-Mar Coins in Van Nuys, Ca., and one in Granada Hills, Ca. on Chatsworth Street that I've forgotten the name of. Those were such fun, back in the day, and a great way to be able to talk coins with other numismatists.

fcloud

There is one at a shop in my area, so yes I remember them.

Constantine

I am sure just like on eBay there were snipers back then too! Someone camping out in their car until the final minutes and then runs into the store with a freshly sharpened pencil.......

ricko

They still had a bid board at a coin shop in Renton, WA when I left there in 2008. Cheers, RickO

rainbowroosie

Used to be a great one in downtown boston, believe it was Worthy Coin Store. Friendly, friendly place with some very interesting and knowledgable people working and buying. They offered some FABULOUS toned coins...really, some AMAZING stuff...and that comment comes from someone who knows a bit about rainbow toning!

JamesMurray

<< <i>Might be fun running some offerings on the BST forum that way.
>>



On several coin forums this is how they do the BST , of course theres an option to list with a fixed price but there is an auction board and members post what is the start bid and the finish day/time using the forum clock.Usually 7 days to give it time that most interested members could see whats on offer.
In fairness i can say every time i listed something for auction i got more than i would have asked for with a fixed price.

coinsarefun

<< <i> >>

Mesquite

Still have them here in West Texas.

robkool

<< <i> >>



Doyle's Coin Palace in BP ??? The only current bid board near that location is Michelle's Coin which I still go to.

DRUNNER

Still one here in SLC . . . it is THE place to see the overweight, 50+, socially inept crowd looking for 1962 Seattle SCD's for $2, and AU WarNicks for $3. But a fun place. I did a lot of looking there for years. Still going strong . . . but no Doilies are appearing.

Drunner
(Overweight, 50+, but NOT socially inept Doily Hunter)

BigE

They had a board at Ketts Koin Castle in Oxnard, Ca. Bought many there as a kid. Anyone remember Murray Kett?, used to have a derringer strapped to his belt at all times----------BigE

illini420

<< <i>They had a board at Ketts Koin Castle in Oxnard, Ca. Bought many there as a kid. Anyone remember Murray Kett?, used to have a derringer strapped to his belt at all times----------BigE >>



They still have a board at Kett's Koin Kastle in Oxnard, but it's not a "bid board" but is instead a "buy board." All fixed prices but still some good deals from time to time.



<< <i>Did they offer more expensive coins this way as well? Fascinating.

- Ian >>



Most of the bid boards here in SoCal have items under $100 for the most part and most of those under $20. But every now and then there are some key dates and/or some better slabbed stuff and even some gold coins from time to time. Around the Holidays each year the bid board at Coins Plus in Newhall, CA does a 3-week long bid board with lots of better stuff which is pretty neat. It has around 1000 different lots and all start with no minimum bid. This year I remember seeing a couple of 1909 SVDB cents and several gold pieces including a $3 gold piece.



<< <i>I am sure just like on eBay there were snipers back then too! Someone camping out in their car until the final minutes and then runs into the store with a freshly sharpened pencil.......
>>



Oh, there are definitely snipers. But it's more like a european soccer crowd all pushing each other towards the wall of coins as the seconds tick down to the end trying to write in their final bids before the competitors can fight their way through the crowd to outbid them.

Rollerman

I still have some of the coins I bought off the bid boards at two shops in my town- both are memories now. They closed at Noon on Saturday, so I'd always go there about 11:30 to see if my bids stood up or to raise my bid if it was something I really wanted. When one of the shop owners retired, the other shop started their bid board so I got to participate for 3 or 4 years. None of the the 3 shops in the area do that now. They just had a small sack with the coin in it stapled to an index card that hung on a peg board, not the preprinted fancier ones a few have posted here. They did have minimum bids.. The best deal I ever got? I have a 1904 O Morgan that's now in a PCGS MS65 holder that I got for $20 back in about 1979 or so. I also got two roll ender toned Morgans of the same date for approximately the same money. They all came from the same roll. I still have a MS63 1885 O "Belly Button" Morgan that came off the bid board, had to pay $16 to get that one. This was back in the day when you could buy circulated common date Morgans for $5.
Pete

BlindedByEgo

Fondly, for the most part.

iceman0xh

theres a nice one in longmont CO where i got my MS 66 1964 half for $12.50 monster toner

DAM

One in south Dayton OH. Was there yesterday. Been up for the 25+ years I've been going there. Can occasionally get some good buys.

Cost is 10% to the seller.

pontiacinf

<< <i>My old store..Causey's in Fort Worth, TX Around 15 years ago

>>



frank that rocks!

theres one in west haven CT on campbell ave-I think the store owner is a memeber here

SoCalBigMark

Coin depot in La Verne California has a very active bid board, they also have a case for the more expensive items, it would not be unusual for $10,000-$30,000 of coins just being in the high end case alone.

The foreign coins are well represented and the owner takes the time to look at all the coins and mark the ones he thinks are good deals. They are open Sundays, so when you feel like getting your coin fix amid the sweet smell of Jasmine and Pine on a weekend, you are not disappointed.

MrBreeze

I have never seen a bid board. I have certainly heard the term here and elsewhere. It looks and sounds like fun.

So, the general rules are...what?

Are they generally the shop owner's coins?
Can anyone put a coin up on the board?
The shop owner is responsible for the coins?
Does the shop owner do all the paperwork on the transactions?
Are bidders "registered" in some way?
Does the payment go to the shop owner and then the consignor?
Is there a general percentage that goes to the shop owner?

What are/were the main problems realized with a bid board?

messydesk

That was how I got back into the hobby after college. There was a shop in Palatine, IL, ca. 1990 that had a weekly bid board. Got some neat coins, and some that in retrospect I shouldn't have. Nothing super expensive. Wednesday night at 7:30 was when the auction closed, after which you could continue to bid on one lot as long as you wanted to. Once in a while they'd have to tack up an additional card to handle all the bidding. If I recall, the shop charged a flat 25c per coin you wanted to consign, whether or not it sold.

DAM

One in Dayton OH area. Bought and sold there. Nice place to occasionally cherry pick.

johnny9434

i remember seeing them in a few shops. its been a long time since as well.

FredWeinberg

Thanks for resurrecting this thread - I must have missed it the first time around.

Bid Boards - almost every decent sized coin shop I went to, here in Los Angeles, had one in the 60's and 70's

Coin-A-Rama's was very famous - lots of future numismatists hung out there.

I worked for Jonathon's Coins in Inglewood for one year in 1971, and his
Bid Board closed Tuesday nights - with well over 100 people there every
Tuesday, fighting to place their last-second bids on the long, large wall full
of coins on Bid cards......I believe it was the largest in the Western half of
the country, if not the entire country.

I can remember the collectors pushing/shoving at the 7:00 pm deadline drew close.
(could have been 7:30 - it was only almost 45 years ago!)

Great memories of that era........

bigjpst

Are they generally the shop owner's coins? Usually Some
Can anyone put a coin up on the board? Typically Yes after signing up for the board
The shop owner is responsible for the coins? I guess technically
Does the shop owner do all the paperwork on the transactions? Usually yes. Shop owner handles the sales and pays consignor after consignment fees are taken out
Are bidders "registered" in some way? Yes typically
Does the payment go to the shop owner and then the consignor? Yes
Is there a general percentage that goes to the shop owner? I have seen some shops as low as 5%, but I believe 10-15% is the norm

What are/were the main problems realized with a bid board

roadrunner

One of my local shops has had one for the past 40+ years. It's not a great place to sell anything decent as rarely are the prices very strong, regardless of what it is. I consigned some stuff along the way and was always surprised at how little they brought. The shop often puts up about 20-50% of their own coins....one way to get rid of dead inventory and promote some business. Can't recall ever getting a rip off the board. Slabbed common date MS64 and MS65 Commems, Walkers, Morgans, etc. always seemed to get a fair bid. Many collectors would put their problem coins up hoping to get rid of them. Often times those same coins were purchased from the same bid board.

TopographicOceans

Sure, though I think most have transitioned to become Buy Boards.
Users can staple a coin in a flip with a Buy Price in shops. My local shop has one.

coinkat

What a great thread...

Yes- There were some excellent bid boards back in the day- Doyle's Coin Palace was an amazing place- crowded. And there were others- Fullerton Coins, Westminster Coins and Huntington Beach Coin Exchange. There was also a good bid board in Long Beach- just trying to remember the name of the place- possibly Alpha's. Keep in mind we are going back many years.... The board at Fullerton was big in the early to mid 1970s- Dee Bishop was the owner back then. Good to see Huntington Beach is still going strong. Back in the day, if my memory is correct, their board closed on Saturdays back in the 1980s- lots of fun back then... On a final note, the Long Beach Show was really something- I remember going for the first time in the early 1970s

Rollerman

Yep! Back in the 70's and 80's two of the local coin stores used to have them and they closed at noon on Saturday. The best coin I ever got from the bid board was a 1904 "O" Morgan that now sits in a MS65 PCGS holder. Both shops no longer exist due to retirements.

Old World Coin in McHenry, Illinois still has a huge bid board by the way and no, I have no connection to that shop, just reporting what I know.
Pete

Sonorandesertrat

I recall seeing slabbed generic gold on bid boards, as well as lots of foreign gold coins in decent MS grades.

One time, I saw two determined, antagonistic bidders in Tucson get caught up in 'auction fever' and run up their bids on a common $200 coin to several thousand.

seanq

There was a little shop in West Haven, CT that ran a bid board every Wednesday, that is where I got my first taste of selling coins for a (very slight) profit. I believe the shop is still open, though the bid board is long since retired.


Sean Reynolds

TwoSides2aCoin

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