Where should one begin? Prior to the appearance of third-party graders, many B&M dealers would routinely buy a coin at one grade, and then turn around and sell the item at a higher grade. How about telling one buyer how great a certain coin is, then having another specimen in the same grade a couple of years later...and dumping on the initial coin in order to pump up what is for sale now? How about a well-known dealer offering me a coin at an inflated price and then dropping his price by 2/3, seconds after I laughed at him? John J. Ford, Jr. (based on what we now know). The U. S. Government's position concerning 1933 St. Gaudens double eagles (the Farouk coin was monetized and the Government got a cut of the sales price, but the Switt coins are illegal). I will stop here, since I don't want to get bammed.....
Member: EAC, NBS, C4, CWTS, ANA
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
Dealer offering less than face value for a large group of modern clad proof and mint sets.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
<< <i>many B&M dealers would routinely buy a coin at one grade, and then turn around and sell the item at a higher grade >>
I remember as a kid selling back some coins to the local shop and not only was there the Buy/Sell dollar value spread, but there was also a grade spread, where the XF coins he sold me were only F when I tried to sell them back.
Selling the first graded JFK gold coin for $100K. This is burying the buyer and putting a stake through his heart. But...can this really be chutzpah if the buyer was that idiotic???
Member: EAC, NBS, C4, CWTS, ANA
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
Chutzpah: Selling coins of variable quality to your customers, but on the flip side, nothing they have is ever nice enough for you to buy (including the coins they sold you...lol)
Claiming to be the nation's top $MILL dollar buyer of gem coins. Yet after looking through a double row box of $150K worth of choice/gem 19th century type coins during a summer ANA show (in a rising market).....picked out a single coin....a MS64 toner Pilgrim at $110, the cheapest coin in the box. And this was after getting first shot of the entire show! Fwiw half that box sold to the next 3 dealers visited.
Chutzpah: Claim that coins brought back to you for offers were never sold by you in the first place.......this is my all time favorite. Only one dealer has ever pulled this on me.
I had one dealer back in the 1970's claim that the coins they sold to me a year earlier were not theirs and they had no interest in them (VF 1799 bust dollar and a BU 1838 RE half). Years later they sort of apologized for that but it was way too late. I never bought another coin from them.
Chutzpah: Sell coins for all the money that you bought off the street for peanuts....and refuse to buy them back. Better yet, refuse to make an offer of any amount.
My first local dealer in the old days was loading me up in raw gem commems at CDN bid to ask levels. When I went back to them in early 1980 as prices were peaking they said they had no interest in commems and no clients to sell them to. Alrighty then.........Another, dealer I haven't even seen in 35 years. And they are still around in the same location.
Chutzpah: Sell coins out from under other customers who already committed to buying them....because the next guy will pay more.
One of my local dealers routinely did this. I don't think he even considered it to be unethical. Imagine my surprise when after committing on some neat circ type (like an XF 1853 A&R half or $70) it walks into the very next local coin show were a friend of mine shows me his latest "newps." Yup, the same coins. It got to the point where most of the people I know would not leave that B&M without coins in hand....because they knew they would be offered for more to the very next dealer that called inquiring about newps.
The gimmicks, two-faced business practices and shading of the truth (prevarication, "faulty memory"?) are endless in virtually any big money business. Running bright, bold and self-aggrandizing ads saying you pay the most, or that you buy it all, quoting prices and then when the coin are shipped do the critical analysis where even coins certified by PCGS are not the grade they are slabbed as, and lower price offers based on the critical analysis of "problems". Using the excuse when offered coins in buy backs that the market has softened considerably (why doesn't the market ever harden up?). Taking coin on consignment which stay in the inventory for years when they could have been sold at lower profit margins. I was told by a dealer who had my coin on consignment, a $5000 MS65 coin on GS that he had sold it as a common date by mistake. I could give a dozen such stories.
When a hillbilly son comes home from college studies in numismatics, finds his dad bought all his coins from HSN, and chutzpah. For his defense, he blames the television program and gets off for incompetency. It is pronounced " shoots Pa," right ?
<< <i>many B&M dealers would routinely buy a coin at one grade, and then turn around and sell the item at a higher grade >>
I remember as a kid selling back some coins to the local shop and not only was there the Buy/Sell dollar value spread, but there was also a grade spread, where the XF coins he sold me were only F when I tried to sell them back. >>
This practice was universal among coin dealers which is why the major third party coin grading services became so popular among coin collectors.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Chutzpah: "We have the largest inventory of PCGS Certified Rare Coins in the Southwest, especially high grade pieces we have cherry picked for quality. Just buy from us as you would be lost at a coin show and our eye for quality is superior. We have even selected really good dates for your portfolio of popular coins in Gem Unc MS65: The 1924 Saint Gaudens $20 Double Eagle, 1881-S Dollar, the 1938-D Buffalo Nickel, the 1941 Walking Liberty Half along with a 1941 Mercury Dime. Many people have never seen one of these, it will be a treasure for your to keep for a long time. We can give you the same portfolio with the CAC sticker for 25% more and highly recommend as peace of mind is worth it. Now I will turn you over to our onsite banker so EFT can be arranged. While we exercise a no question return privelege one of the best in Numismatics, remember there is a 20% restock fee on returns."
Comments
<< <i>Selling a coin for $10,000 and then charging shipping of $12.95. >>
....and dropping it unpadded in a cheap bubble envelope!
<< <i>Selling a coin for $10,000 and then charging shipping of $12.95. >>
I always found this funny when I saw it on dealers websites
How about telling one buyer how great a certain coin is, then having another specimen in the same grade a couple of years later...and dumping on the initial coin in order to pump up what is for sale now?
How about a well-known dealer offering me a coin at an inflated price and then dropping his price by 2/3, seconds after I laughed at him?
John J. Ford, Jr. (based on what we now know).
The U. S. Government's position concerning 1933 St. Gaudens double eagles (the Farouk coin was monetized and the Government got a cut of the sales price, but the Switt coins are illegal).
I will stop here, since I don't want to get bammed.....
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
<< <i>Dealer offering less than face value for a large group of modern clad proof and mint sets. >>
Stamp dealers have been doing similar things for years.
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
<< <i>many B&M dealers would routinely buy a coin at one grade, and then turn around and sell the item at a higher grade >>
I remember as a kid selling back some coins to the local shop and not only was there the Buy/Sell dollar value spread, but there was also a grade spread, where the XF coins he sold me were only F when I tried to sell them back.
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
Claiming to be the nation's top $MILL dollar buyer of gem coins. Yet after looking through a double row box of $150K worth of choice/gem 19th century type coins during a summer ANA show (in a rising market).....picked out a single coin....a MS64 toner Pilgrim at $110, the cheapest coin in the box. And this was after getting first shot of the entire show! Fwiw half that box sold to the next 3 dealers visited.
Chutzpah: Claim that coins brought back to you for offers were never sold by you in the first place.......this is my all time favorite. Only one dealer has ever pulled this on me.
I had one dealer back in the 1970's claim that the coins they sold to me a year earlier were not theirs and they had no interest in them (VF 1799 bust dollar and a BU 1838 RE half). Years later they sort of apologized for that but it was way too late. I never bought another coin from them.
Chutzpah: Sell coins for all the money that you bought off the street for peanuts....and refuse to buy them back. Better yet, refuse to make an offer of any amount.
My first local dealer in the old days was loading me up in raw gem commems at CDN bid to ask levels. When I went back to them in early 1980 as prices were peaking they said they had no interest in commems and no clients to sell them to. Alrighty then.........Another, dealer I haven't even seen in 35 years. And they are still around in the same location.
Chutzpah: Sell coins out from under other customers who already committed to buying them....because the next guy will pay more.
One of my local dealers routinely did this. I don't think he even considered it to be unethical. Imagine my surprise when after committing on some neat circ type (like an XF 1853 A&R half or $70) it walks into the very next local coin show were a friend of mine shows me his latest "newps." Yup, the same coins. It got to the point where most of the people I know would not leave that B&M without coins in hand....because they knew they would be offered for more to the very next dealer that called inquiring about newps.
It is pronounced " shoots Pa," right ?
<< <i>
<< <i>many B&M dealers would routinely buy a coin at one grade, and then turn around and sell the item at a higher grade >>
I remember as a kid selling back some coins to the local shop and not only was there the Buy/Sell dollar value spread, but there was also a grade spread, where the XF coins he sold me were only F when I tried to sell them back. >>
This practice was universal among coin dealers which is why the major third party coin grading services became so popular among coin collectors.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Many successful BST transactions with dozens of board members, references on request.
The Southwest? I'd call that [self-]damning with faint praise.
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
My Reason
On a $250 coin item which was ordered from my store on Sat Jan 3rd and I shipped on Tuesday Jan 6th (excuse me for being away at a show til Tues)
Due to Amazon "policies" I will receive my cut $177.01 ("we have very little fees and expenses" Amazon)
in the mail 90 days from today's date Thur Jan 22
Really paying me at the end of April ..... thats Chutzpay
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]