The Bad Coin Store

deefree49

Share your experiences!



The biggest store where I live has disappointed me with regularity.



Probably the worst (and last) experience was when I was looking at their circulated Lincolns they kept in a case on the main floor. If you could get a salesman to open it, you could look at the coins through your loupe and make informed decisions on what to buy that day.



So, I'm looking at this 1914-S and the date looks shaky. I look under Lincoln's shoulder and sure enough, there's the VDB that was put on coins from 1918 on. This was the old test that was well known for spotting a 1944-D altered to trick you into thinking it was the highly desired 1914-D. This could also be done for the S and here was a textbook example.



I called the salesman over and showed him what I'd found figuring they would be glad to know. After all they wouldn't want to be known for ripping off customers with altered coins, right?



Wrong! The following week I returned to the store to look for more coins and sadly, this altered coin was right back in the case for sale as a 1914-S. I guess they just didn't care.



Has anyone here had an experience at a local coin store that made you decide to stop going?

illini420

About 10 years ago, maybe more, I called a shop asking what they were paying for junk Barbers. I had $50 face I wanted to get rid of, a good mix of dimes, quarters and halves. The market for them was a little higher than regular junk silver, even in normal worn condition that junk Barbers are typically found. I agreed to the price over the phone and showed up about an hour later with the coins.

They ran all of my coins through their coin counter and after doing so, told me they'd have to pay me quite a bit less than agreed because the coins were so worn and they contained less silver than new coins. Whatever, I told them thanks for wasting my time and to give me my coins back. They knew what I was bringing in when I called and I didn't like the game they were trying to play. Well by that time when I asked for the coins back, they were already in the shop's counting machine and mixed in with other coins. I didn't care and insisted on getting my coins back if they would not pay the agreed upon price.

So, for the next 45 minutes or so I watched them go through their machine to get my Barbers back. They ended up shorting me a quarter and two dimes that they couldn't find in the mix and refused to even pay me their lower price for those missing coins. Never went back.

TwoSides2aCoin

The clerk refused to give me an extra Taco Bell napkin, so I tried Taco John's.

BryceM

I've visited a couple dozen. Didn't like some of the prices. Didn't like some of the material. Don't remember thinking any of them were bad.

WaterSport

Just what many have experienced...go to the store and one is more interested in bullion dealing, and the other in Foreign coin exchange...No time for either now, or ever.

WS

oih82w8

We used to have a Coin Shop in SW OKC that I frequented regularly prior to joining the Air Force back in the 80's and spent many Saturday afternoons looking to my hearts content. Fast forward to the 2011, I retired from Active Duty and was back in OKC visiting family and friends and stopped by the old coin store. The building itself was still standing with the old sign still posted outside, but the inside was totally different. The old owner sold out and retired a few years earlier and the new owner made it into a gold and silver exchange instead of a coin store. There was a case of coins, but nowhere like there used to be. I was looking at what they had and the man behind the counter asked what I was looking for and I told him that I was looking for a nice Type I Standing Liberty. Without looking up from his pile of circulated silver he was sorting through, he said that he does not have many Buffalo Nickels and what he has is what is in the case. At first I thought that I asked for a Buffalo and then my when I asked again, one with a full head, he huffed at me and said that what he has is in the case. I figured that this guy does not know what he is doing other than precious metals and left.



I miss Delmer, the previous owner, as he passed away a few years ago.

PerryHall

The title of this thread should be "Why coin collectors drink." LOL

MrHalfDime

More years ago than I care to remember, I walked into a local coin shop (one of the very few in the area at the time) and spoke to an elderly man who asked if he could help me. I told him that I was looking to complete a Jefferson Nickel collection, and needed just one last date - a 1938-S. He looked at me with a stunned expression, thought for a bit, and replied in a nasty tone "They're all done making those, you know. What do you think I should do? Call the Mint and tell them to make just one more so that you can complete your collection?" It didn't take me long to realize that this was not the coin shop where I cared to do business, so I turned toward the door, and replied "I'm sorry. I thought this was a coin shop" as I walked out. Ironically, many years later I ventured back into his coin shop, and we became best of friends. He ran a B&M coin shop for 53 years, and for the life of me, with that approach to the public I honestly don't know how he survived.

mustangmanbob

Circa 1968, in New York, I was STRIVING to complete my Lincoln Penny set. The Bronx Coin Store ran BIG ads in the newspaper, set up at the Westchester County Coin Show, etc. I had bought a few coins from them. I was Naïve. I REALLY wanted the GEM BU 1909-S Lincoln. It took every dime of my paper route money. My dad, who was into stamps not coins, cautioned me, but I was blinded by the shimmering gorgeous fields of this coin.

I still have it, was a reminder of what went wrong. It probably has EVERY issue known to mankind, whizzed, cleaned, tooled, etc. It is a really weird orange color now.

I probably realized relatively soon I had been taken, and it really soured me on collecting. We moved, I got into cars and girls, Uncle Sam reminded me of my low draft number and made me an offer I could not refuse, and I basically stopped collecting until about 10 years ago, when my youngest needed to earn the Coin Collecting Merit Badge for Boy Scouts.

TopographicOceans

I can't really remember any good coin store.

But growing up in the Valley (Fer sure, totally) I do remember the coin shop in Reseda (at the corner of Sherman Way and Lindley, next to the House of Humor) I first learned of not only the difference between the bid and the ask, but also the grade spread.

When I bought Lincoln Cents from them as XF and later went back to sell them, they only graded F or VF.

PerryHall

Many of the experiences cited here help explain why third party grading services became so popular. That said, I've bought and sold coins at many coin shops where I was treated fairly and with respect.

DollarAfterDollar

Then again, some of the stories here remind us of why some coin shops no longer exist.

TwoSides2aCoin

I went to a coin shop up the street from mine, one day ( 2 years before I bought a coin shop in '09 ).
Was looking for a $5 Gold Indian to fill my gold page in the type set. The dealer there (he's earned his stripes) , talked to me through an intercom and wouldn't even let me in. (I can understand that sentimentality). Though, I thought to myself : "How strange". Then, he said , " I sell my gold on ebay for stupid money ". So, I went to ebay and got stupid.

keets

I'm certainly not trying to defend any of the less than poor transactions described, but.....................I can fully understand that after so many really ridiculous questions, rude customers, begging dealers and customers, theft, etc. that at some point a dealer may snap.

Coin Finder

I ran into the barber dime thing once at a shop. The dealer was kind enough to show me a roll of XF common barber dimes compared to a AG roll....Before he made me an offer. The AG roll was 3/4 of inch or so shorter than the XF roll. So he paid me less than I wanted but was logical and honest about it. I had mostly ag coins and learned a lot from the experience...

asheland

Good thread.

Sonorandesertrat

Originally posted by: PerryHall
Many of the experiences cited here help explain why third party grading services became so popular. That said, I've bought and sold coins at many coin shops where I was treated fairly and with respect.

I agree. That said, I have watched dozens of dealers, who treated me well, treat others with varying levels of dishonesty.

There is a dealer, across town from where I live, who doesn't even have a proper lamp for customer use. He has one in a back room for his use, but his customers must make do with somewhat dim store lighting. There is a reason for that, and for several years I told myself that periodically going into that shop was a useful exercise---regularly seeing all kinds of coins in hand (including total crap) is important if one wants to maintain grading skills. I gave up after being repeatedly lied to. I have instead built up a library of images, mostly taken from Ebay, online auction catalogs , and dealer websites, of 'problem' coins.

JeffMTampa

I've been collecting coins for 50 years (many of them seriously) yet I've never been to a brick and mortar coin store. When I was a kid I remember Woolworth's sold coins, but I don't thhink that counts. I've attended hundreds of coin shows, but never went to a shop. I guess I have no stories to tell.

ricko

There are good and bad coin shops and dealers.... that being said, most I have found, are

good. There is a shop in Seattle (used to be in the Civic Center), that was interesting. Had a

lot of inventory, quite diverse. The interesting thing there was his pricing. Really high in most cases... however, there were some great coins that were seriously under priced. Not sure if they

just did not know what they had (although in some cases, they were slabbed) or just did not

know the current (at the time) market. Got some good deals there. Cheers, RickO

coindeuce

I visited another dealer (B & M) in my immediate area exactly twice in my lifetime in coins. His M.O. was to price EVERY coin in his inventory at least one grade point higher than they deserved, regardless of the spread. I bought exactly one coin from him. EVER. On the 2nd and last visit he was feeling kinda squirrely, as he proceeded to spontaneously whip out his short barreled shotgun to try to impress me with what he had for "self defense". Every coin that has ever been presented to me by a customer of his has been told nicely that they should hold it for the afterlife, as they are already buried in it.

oih82w8

Originally posted by: JeffMTampa

...When I was a kid I remember Woolworth's sold coins, but I don't think that counts...

That is where I bought my first "serious" coin; a 1925 Standing Liberty Quarter. Like a dummy (10 years old) I wanted it to be clean, so I did the baking soda scrub thing. I still have it...the present day "tone" is terrible, if it could be called tone.

Unknown

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CaptHenway

There used to be an old time dealer in downtown Detroit named Earl Shill. You can see his name as a contributor to the Redbook. I was going to Wayne State University from 1968-1972, and sometimes I would go downtown after classes and catch the express bus home from there after visiting the coin shops.



Mr. Shill was a true gentleman. He knew that as a college student I had no money, but if there were no real customers in the shop he would show me things like bust dollars and the first turban head $10 I ever touched. If a customer came in I would just step aside and go look at the bookcase while he conducted business. I tried to be like him when I worked for Harlan Berk.



I bought the 1909-SVDB cent I needed to complete my album when I made a killing on some 1969 Proof sets bought from the Mint. Got $13.50 in trade for them at his shop.



TD

roadrunner

Way too many choices in my early years as 80-90% of the dealers were shysters. I could write a book on the stories and anecdotes. Out of above a dozen dealers within a 25 mile radius of me, I can't really say more than 1-3 were "good" dealers, and then only if you knew what you were doing in the first place.



Around 1975 I bought a BU 1838 RE half for $475 from a local shop, the only one in the area that would carry a coin like that. After showing it around looking for compliments, I got more negative inputs than I could stand. I brought the coin back to the dealer and inquired about them making an offer to buy it back. Not only did they not make an offer, they told me they had never sold it to me, never saw the coin before, and just what kind of scam was I pulling here? Needless to say, that was a tsunami type of event. I never did business with that dealer again. I frequently walked by her display case at local shows over the next 20 years, never inquiring about any coins. Occasionally there would be a nod between us or brief "hello" to acknowledge what might have been.



Another state dealer had a bad reputation for telling you that you bought a coin, but not giving it to you right away. There was always a reason, such as they had to verify with the consignor, complete the inventory, etc. that things were all square. I learned this lesson the hard way after committing on a beautiful VF35/near XF 1853 half for $75. The shop owner told me the deal from the seller wasn't completed so he couldn't pass the coin on yet. We agreed that he would bring it to the next local show in a few weeks. I did walk out with a nice BU roll of Peace dollars so I got something for my efforts.



At the next regional coin show only 2 weeks later, a friend of mine tells me he just picked up a real neat seated half. I was intrigued. It was the same coin I thought I had "bought." In discussing the issue with some other people it turns out that this was the business model of the store. If you don't walk out with it, you don't own it, including dealers. My friend paid $5 or $10 more than I was quoted for the coin. It was commonplace for other dealers to swoop in and offer 3-10% more on big deals (ie rips) that were already committed. No offers were final. They were just the starting point for other people to offer more and walk away with the goodies. Highest offer wins until you are crafty enough to walk out with the item. And the fact that the owner wasn't a very good grader, especially on MS coins, made it all the more of a wild west shoot out. One nice story with this shop was when a run of matte proof $2-1/2 Indians came into the shop....the owner offered BU money. To him, that's all they were worth.

AMRC

Good thread.

GRANDAM

One local coin shop,,,,,, not a pawn shop pays 30% of melt on gold bullion.

rhedden

Several of these stories sound like they came from a certain coin shop in Maryland that I'm not too fond of. I think it would be hilarious if five people were talking about the same shop without knowing it.

Jackthecat1

I have been in a lot of coin shops and do not recall ever being treated disrespectfully. My local B&M is run by some of the nicest and most honest guys you will ever meet.

ambro51

.....as the Gargamel looking clerk/owner of the local shop was looking at the PCGS MS66RD OGH 1909 SVDB of mine to look at, he refused to bring more than one worn Liberty Nickel at a time from his case. These were $4 coins

TwoSides2aCoin

Like this 1864 IHC with L in the ribbon. What the L ?

TommyType

I think one of my more enjoyable coin related experiences took place in a “bad coin shop”.



I was in Washington DC on business, fairly early in my coin collecting life. (I was in my late 30’s....but new to the hobby). With a day off, and nothing to do, I busied myself with the area yellow pages and a Metro map, trying to find any coin shop I could get to within easy walk of any Metro station.



I found one...but unbeknownst to me, it wasn’t the best neighborhood in town. In fact, once I got there, I might have categorized the area as a bit scary. But I was there, so I walked to the address I had written down. It was really just a store placed in the front room of an aging home. But a sign did say, “COINS”, and I was there....so I went in.



It was stocked with common Lincoln cents, well worn liberty nickels, marked up Franklins. I think I would have had my choice of 1964 nickels, in grades ranging from VG to EF! In short, dreck, (even by my low standards at the time). No REAL collector would spend more than a minute there before walking out empty handed.



But the guy behind the desk was friendly in the extreme, and probably not used to strangers coming to his “shop”. As I looked through his cases of entirely forgettable pocket change, we talked about why I was there, where I was from, how long he had been in the business, the neighborhood, etc. He was completely engaging, entertaining, and interesting. Basically, the shop served as a modest boost to his retirement, and a way for him to kill time. So, I took my time. After all, I had nothing important to do, except walk back to the Metro station.



As we talked, and I worked my way around the counters, I finally spotted something that interested me. A no-stars 1837 Seated Dime. It was raw, (obviously), and probably grades VG, approaching F. In any OTHER shop, it was probably a “back of the book” item. In THIS shop, it was the absolute best item in the store, bar none. And working on a raw Dansco 7070 at the time, and with little money to go beyond Fine anyway, it was perfect for me! It was original, unmolested, and rather attractive.



He was completely tickled that he had the chance to sell his own personal “1804 dollar”. He gave me the back-story on it, which I unfortunately have now forgotten. But it had something to do with a local neighborhood character, and a lucky find behind a wall. I had to buy it, to at least commemorate this trip, and this shop. In reality, I probably paid too much by about 25%. I might break even if I sold it today....but I still have it, and smile at it.



Probably the only time in my life I’ll ever be the big money guy who waltzed in and bought the Best Coin in the shop!

deefree49

Thanks to everyone for sharing their stories!



Just about every post reminds me of another thing that happened to me...

It is a little like RHedden wondering if some people are talking about the same shop.



I've had good experiences too and it wouldn't be fair not to mention that. One very nice man who owns a smaller shop in town here actually ended up giving me a job there. He was always fair, let me trade up and always gave my side the benefit of the doubt. Unusual! The good news is that I met him 20 years ago and he's still in business in the same little shop. I think he'll be there forever because he is so fair.



There were other bad times too. One shop that was walking distance from my house could have had all my business but every time I tried to make a trade, the XF I bought from him was now only VG or F. Terrible! That shop was where I saw my first 1909-S VDB in person! It was "Gem B.U." and in those days, only $120! Hard to believe. The sad thing was that for a 9 year old kid who cut lawns for extra $$, that $120 price might as well have been $3,000 - today's price. No way I could get that kind of money together in those days.



I took a 1922 plain into him for appraisal that I'd traded for and he said to me, in front of all the other customers, "You removed the D, didn't you." He couldn't believe a kid could have an actual semi-rare coin. It just didn't fit into his world view. That was the last time I went in that store. I remember having to hold back tears.

steelielee

Originally posted by: coindeuce
I visited another dealer (B & M) in my immediate area exactly twice in my lifetime in coins. His M.O. was to price EVERY coin in his inventory at least one grade point higher than they deserved, regardless of the spread. I bought exactly one coin from him. EVER. On the 2nd and last visit he was feeling kinda squirrely, as he proceeded to spontaneously whip out his short barreled shotgun to try to impress me with what he had for "self defense". Every coin that has ever been presented to me by a customer of his has been told nicely that they should hold it for the afterlife, as they are already buried in it.

E. Henrietta road by chance Dan????

roadrunner

A 9 year kid removes the "D's" from 1922-D Lincolns decades ago? Now that I have to see. Was that owner that paranoid that he couldn't tell if a "D" wasn't hacked off with "shop" tools available at home?

deefree49

Originally posted by: roadrunner

A 9 year kid removes the "D's" from 1922-D Lincolns decades ago? Now that I have to see. Was that owner that paranoid that he couldn't tell if a "D" wasn't hacked off with "shop" tools available at home?

The extra stupid thing about it is that there are other characteristics to genuine 1922 "plain" Lincolns besides just the D missing. Certain letters on the obverse are mushy, there is a part of Lincoln's jacket that is very worn or incomplete, and the word Liberty has certain weak letters. Bottom line there is a specific look to a genuine coin and if that shop owner knew his stuff, he would have seen that it was not an altered coin.



As a 9 year old, I wouldn't even know where to start with removing a mint mark, let alone doing it in a manner that didn't leave a complete mess behind!



I really think that guy just didn't like kids coming in his shop, figuring they never had any "significant" money and possibly were looking to shoplift from him. I can understand the fear of shoplifting but he was making a major mistake. All kids with collections are potential business and eventually WILL have real money to spend. If someone comes in with a more "serious" coin he should immediate realize this could be a future "serious" collector.



I also think a 9 year old having a coin like that just didn't fit into his worldview. If he treated all the kids like that, his business would have no future. A strategic mistake for sure.

PerryHall

Originally posted by: roadrunner

A 9 year kid removes the "D's" from 1922-D Lincolns decades ago? Now that I have to see. Was that owner that paranoid that he couldn't tell if a "D" wasn't hacked off with "shop" tools available at home?

I think he was hoping the kid would sell it to him cheap since he claimed it was altered. I a similar experience when I tried to sell a dealer a nice Saint Gaudens double eagle. He told me it was fake but that he'd give me a few dollars for it due to its novelty value. I knew it was real so I left with my coin and never went back to that coin shop again.

mirabela

I feel kinda left out. I generally had really good b&m shop experiences as a kid, and now and then still do. I haven't encountered anybody too ridiculous running a shop, just ordinary people trying to pay the bills. Honestly, I have a hard time fathoming how some of them keep the lights on in this economically depressed hinterland.

deefree49

Wow PerryHall...



I must be naïve because it never occurred to me he was trying to convince me the coin wasn't worth anything and buy it off me for near nothing. I think you are right though...especially after hearing about your Saint Gaudens experience. I'm glad that in the end, he didn't get the coin from me.



That store did close not long after and I have no idea if he opened up another one.

WildIdea

I have had pretty darn good luck at most coin shops I've been in the polite dept. I start with that then go for there. Maybe I'm just born with a hair trigger BS detector. You can usually tell how it's gonna go for you by listening to how others are treated in the shop first. Also, I think being involved with antique and collectible dealers all around the country in general helped a lot too.

The big thing for me now that I can say is a common issue where ever I go, being a coin shop or antique store, rock shop, etc. is items that would be nice to buy are display only of the owner and not for sale. They're usually the best things in the store. One place I was in in Vegas had a display of neat old pour silver ingots. Not for sale. Well I suppose everything has a price if someone wanted to really push it, but why come off desperate. Some smug remark about how they all came in and bought around melt. Yada yada, These are museums I guess and not my kind of place. Maybe it's bait to show folks what they buy but I never saw the point. Not like I'm not ready to pay.

One shop in town just stopped showing me anything decent once it started to be known that I was a serious collector and had been to Ana grading classes and hit national shows. Again stuff not for sale. That's fine. I'm not hurting in the collection department. It goes with the territory I guess.

Oh yeah, I remember one year when I was in my buds B and M a man came in wanting to sell/info on a box of this and that low value sterling and turquoise necklaces and other assorted mismatched broken stuff. My buddy says it's really only worth about 40-50 bucks for the whole box. "Tell ya what, the shop down the street has such a prob with me being close they will pay anything to beat my bid." He writes down a note with a bid for 600 some dollars and his shop name and says the guys down the street will prob pay 605.00 if they sees the note. A half hour later the guys comes back I saying "thanks, you were right!". So we were sitting there musing about how those guys don't know much about what they're buying up there and then we realize they'll prob mark it up and sell it to someone who trusts them!

Shamika

Originally posted by: deefree49
Wow PerryHall...

I must be naïve because it never occurred to me he was trying to convince me the coin wasn't worth anything and buy it off me for near nothing. I think you are right though...especially after hearing about your Saint Gaudens experience. I'm glad that in the end, he didn't get the coin from me.

That store did close not long after and I have no idea if he opened up another one.

So was the coin real? Where is it now?

drwstr123

Originally posted by: roadrunner
A 9 year kid removes the "D's" from 1922-D Lincolns decades ago? Now that I have to see. Was that owner that paranoid that he couldn't tell if a "D" wasn't hacked off with "shop" tools available at home?

Maybe not 9, but about 12 years old I removed Ds from several '22s.
My uncle was a jeweler and I used his bench to 'D'ectomize a few.
I put them right back into circulation for the fun of it.

BillJones

I've had a few negative experiences.

One of the oddest was a store that was known to be active buyer of "junk silver." I had about $350 face that I was selling for client. The jerky clerk behind the counter treated me like I was a nasty dog that had walked in off the street.

"Stand over there! I'll get to you when I feel like it," he barked.

Normally I don't put up with guff like that, the store had the reputation as the best payer in the area for junk silver, so I put up with it. Eventually they did buy the coins from me, but it left me with attitude that I didn't want to do business with them again.

Since there I've talked to some other dealers in the area. They told me the same thing. They were treated rudely, and they wondered how this shop stayed in business.

BillJones

Another incident occurred when I lived in the Boston area. At the time I was looking for a 1911-D quarter eagle for a set I was building. I went the this shop that had a very posh sales floor, and asked them if they had any available.

"What grade would you like?" the guy behind the counter asked.

"EF or AU," I replied.

"We don't sell bullion coins here "the numismatist," responded.

Since this guy had no idea that the 1911-D was the key date in the Indian Quarter Eagle set, I decided to educate him. I told him that the piece I was seeking had retail value of $1,200 to $1,500 (This was something over 30 years ago.)

To that he said, "Give me your name and address. We run into so lower grade material now and then."

I passed on that offer and left.

A few months later the Federal Trade Commission shut the store down for bilking investors with grossly overpriced coins touted as "investments."

RebelRon

Originally posted by: TopographicOceans
I can't really remember any good coin store.

But growing up in the Valley (Fer sure, totally) I do remember the coin shop in Reseda (at the corner of Sherman Way and Lindley, next to the House of Humor) I first learned of not only the difference between the bid and the ask, but also the grade spread.

When I bought Lincoln Cents from them as XF and later went back to sell them, they only graded F or VF.

RebelRon

I did pretty much the same thing once to.By mail from Kansas.

I took it hard but,I'm still a collector,by golly!

deefree49

Originally posted by: Shamika

Originally posted by: deefree49

Wow PerryHall...



I must be naïve because it never occurred to me he was trying to convince me the coin wasn't worth anything and buy it off me for near nothing. I think you are right though...especially after hearing about your Saint Gaudens experience. I'm glad that in the end, he didn't get the coin from me.



That store did close not long after and I have no idea if he opened up another one.

So was the coin real? Where is it now?

Good Question! Yes the coin was real, I found another dealer that appraised it. This was before TPG services so it was never in a slab when I owned it. The terrible thing was I sold it to another collector for far too little. I had a long distance relationship going with this girl and I sold the coin so that I could travel to see her. Of course we broke up eventually and I ended up with no girlfriend and no 1922 plain. I did get to own it for a few years. Funny thing is I actually got it cheaply. I traded another kid 6 common Indian Head cents for it. "You see, these are MUCH older" I told him. So I had some bad karma built up with the coin.

jmski52

The following week I returned to the store to look for more coins and sadly, this altered coin was right back in the case for sale as a 1914-S.

Let it go. He probably wants too much for the special "vdb on Lincoln's shoulder 1914-S variety" anyhow.

BillJones

Did you give him your name and address?

No, "I passed on that offer."

Another part of the story was that he told me that had a 1927 and a 1928 quarter eagle in stock that was priced at something like $2,700. In those pre-slab days a Gen Uncirculated piece common date Indian $2.50 was selling for $1,200 or $1,300 so I could see where he was coming from before the FTC did.

No, very few dealers got my name and address in those days.

asheland

TigersFan2

This is probably trivial compared to other people's stories... Back in the late 1990s I went in a coin shop in downtown Scottsdale and was looking through their 2x2s of heavily-circulated Barber Dimes. I owned only a couple of Barber Dimes and was looking to fill out more dates. As I was looking through the tub of their cheap coins, an older woman who's probably 75-80 comes in with 5 or 6 Mercury dimes and begins showing them to the guy behind the counter, only a few feet from me. She says she found them at home and figures they might be worth something because they're older. The guy tells her they're each worth a dime and he'll be happy to trade them in for her. Now this probably wasn't my place, but I spoke up and told her that the Mercury Dimes were 90% silver and the going price was 4x face value. The store owner immediately told me to leave his store and never come back. And to this day, as I drive through downtown Scottsdale, I see the coin store is still there and I've had absolutely no problem in abiding by his wishes and never returning.

It completely irked me that the store owner had to be dishonest with a customer on such a trivial handful of coins. And he'll be dishonest on a small handful of common coins, I don't trust his honesty on anything larger and more valuable. He should have told her they're 90% silver and offered her a reasonable buy rate, like 3x face.

ebaybuyer

one of the very first books i bought when i began collecting was a photograde. this $5 book would have undoubtedly helped the guys who bought their lincolns as XF's and were told later they were only VG's