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Business isn't always just "business as usual"
coindeuce
Posts: 13,496 ✭✭✭✭✭
I made the acquaintance of a casual collector several years ago while in this business thru a prior position. That friendship allowed me to acquire his '73-CC w/Arrows quarter on some very liberal terms from him. Things went so well on that level, that he has invited me to help him liquidate the collection of another acquaintance. I was shaking with excitement last weekend as I looked through the Dansco album complete date set of Half Dimes (1794-1873), and I have yet to see the complete set of Large Cents (1793-1857) and complete set of Indian and Lincoln Cents.
I'm hearing Louie Armstrong in "What a Wonderful World" right now.
I'm hearing Louie Armstrong in "What a Wonderful World" right now.
"Everything is on its way to somewhere. Everything." - George Malley, Phenomenon
http://www.american-legacy-coins.com
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whoooooo hooooooooo!!!!!!
My YouTube Channel
Hoard the keys.
I made the acquaintance of a casual collector several years ago while in this business thru a prior position. That friendship allowed me to acquire his '73-CC w/Arrows quarter on some very liberal terms from him. Things went so well on that level, that he has invited me to help him liquidate the collection of another acquaintance. I was shaking with excitement last weekend as I looked through the Dansco album complete date set of Half Dimes (1794-1873), and I have yet to see the complete set of Large Cents (1793-1857) and complete set of Indian and Lincoln Cents.
I'm hearing Louie Armstrong in "What a Wonderful World" right now.
How will you help him "liquidate" ?
I give away money. I collect money.
I don’t love money . I do love the Lord God.
I made the acquaintance of a casual collector several years ago while in this business thru a prior position. That friendship allowed me to acquire his '73-CC w/Arrows quarter on some very liberal terms from him. Things went so well on that level, that he has invited me to help him liquidate the collection of another acquaintance. I was shaking with excitement last weekend as I looked through the Dansco album complete date set of Half Dimes (1794-1873), and I have yet to see the complete set of Large Cents (1793-1857) and complete set of Indian and Lincoln Cents.
I'm hearing Louie Armstrong in "What a Wonderful World" right now.
How will you help him "liquidate" ?
The collection is being sold for the benefit of the daughters of the late collector. There are some coins that are important enough and valuable enough to merit professional authentication and grading for auction venues and or private sales. Only a small portion of the collection would be sold as bulk lots, given what I've observed so far.
"Everything is on its way to somewhere. Everything." - George Malley, Phenomenon
http://www.american-legacy-coins.com
Nice things happen to nice people.
^^^^^^^^
This
M
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
I showed up with my friend and a Redbook, figuring I would be out of there in half an hour or less. The elderly gentleman slowly set up a folding card table and some chairs, then went upstairs to get the coins. He came back with an old shoe box full of old envelopes. He sat down and picked through the envelopes, selecting one, and said of the ad "I see that they are paying $3 each for silver dollars" and rolls a coin out of the envelope and hands me a 1799 in VF!!!!
Our attention gotten, after a quick look in the box my friend went back to his place to get a box of 2x2 paper envelopes and a double row coin box. We spend the entire evening oohing and aahing and cataloging the collection for him, writing down dates, mint marks, grades and Redbook prices, warning him that those were retail prices. There were things like a 1922 No D cent in very high grade, perhaps uncirculated, an 1864 half dime, and a partial original roll (think it was 17 pieces) of BU 1927 quarters. It was glorious.
After everything was cataloged and the table was cleared and his wife was serving us tea and cake, the gentleman decided he could trust us and asked: "Would you like to see the good stuff in the bank?"
(to be continued)
Back in the mid-70's, when I was working for Coin World, our foreign specialist asked me if I would look at a few coins his next door neighbor had. The neighbor (TN) had seen a full-page ad in the Dayton paper from one of the traveling buyers. At the time the ad was offering $3 each for silver dollars, a bit low but not unreasonable for the time. TN asked if those were good prices. My colleague said that he could probably do a little better at a regular coin shop, but if TN liked he would ask a friend of his (me) to look at the coins and see if there was anything good there. I said of course and we made arrangements to go over to their place one evening.
I showed up with my friend and a Redbook, figuring I would be out of there in half an hour or less. The elderly gentleman slowly set up a folding card table and some chairs, then went upstairs to get the coins. He came back with an old shoe box full of old envelopes. He sat down and picked through the envelopes, selecting one, and said of the ad "I see that they are paying $3 each for silver dollars" and rolls a coin out of the envelope and hands me a 1799 in VF!!!!
Our attention gotten, after a quick look in the box my friend went back to his place to get a box of 2x2 paper envelopes and a double row coin box. We spend the entire evening oohing and aahing and cataloging the collection for him, writing down dates, mint marks, grades and Redbook prices, warning him that those were retail prices. There were things like a 1922 No D cent in very high grade, perhaps uncirculated, an 1864 half dime, and a partial original roll (think it was 17 pieces) of BU 1927 quarters. It was glorious.
After everything was cataloged and the table was cleared and his wife was serving us tea and cake, the gentleman decided he could trust us and asked: "Would you like to see the good stuff in the bank?"
(to be continued)
Oh c'mon your killing me!!
mark
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
So anyways, we asked him what was in the bank, and he said, so help me:
"There's a $20 gold piece, but I don't know the date because it's in Roman Numerals."
After we picked up our jaws we made arrangements to come over again a couple of days later. The High Relief was gorgeous. We borrowed it to photograph for the cover of the first two editions of the Coin World Almanac. Take a look at it there. TN said that his father, the collector in the family, had gotten it from a bank when they came out.
After 15 minutes of oohing and aahing over the HR and explaining the significance of it, I said what else do you have? He looked in another envelope and then started to fold it back up. I asked what's that and he said "Ah, it's no good. It scratched." I said let me see it and he said it's no good. We went back and forth like this several times and he finally reluctantly handed me the envelope. It was an AU Turban Head $10, a common date, with some adjustment marks he thought were scratches. This produced a lecture in early minting techniques.
Next was a 1795 Draped Bust dollar in EF or AU. Then it fell off a bit, to an envelope of small gold with only one $3. Nothing really special. We finished cataloging "the good stuff" and told him what to add to the bank lot from among the first lot.
As we were finishing up he asked what he owed us and we said nothing. He was a good neighbor who kept an eye on my colleague's place when he was traveling. He insisted that we take something, so we each took a BU SLQ out of the roll, worth about $100 at the time. Since I figured we saved him many tens of thousands of dollars I did not feel guilty about it.
The neighbor eventually passed away, and my colleague gave his daughter an appreciation of what was in the collection. Last time he heard from her over ten years ago it was still in the family as a legacy for her children.
I can't tell you how many times I've volunteered to assess people's collections who've told me that have "a bunch of old coins (my aunt, etc.) left...." I've always told them I'd assess their coins for pleasure, and have never thought to charge anything. I've usually found just common-date gold, a bunch of silver from the early 60s before the clad business started, a bunch of circulated indian head cents, etc.
This is every collector's dream!
Here's a warning parable for coin collectors...
Gonna get me a $50 Octagonal someday. Some. Day.
Back in the mid-70's, when I was working for Coin World, our foreign specialist asked me if I would look at a few coins his next door neighbor had. The neighbor (TN) had seen a full-page ad in the Dayton paper from one of the traveling buyers. At the time the ad was offering $3 each for silver dollars, a bit low but not unreasonable for the time. TN asked if those were good prices. My colleague said that he could probably do a little better at a regular coin shop, but if TN liked he would ask a friend of his (me) to look at the coins and see if there was anything good there. I said of course and we made arrangements to go over to their place one evening.
I showed up with my friend and a Redbook, figuring I would be out of there in half an hour or less. The elderly gentleman slowly set up a folding card table and some chairs, then went upstairs to get the coins. He came back with an old shoe box full of old envelopes. He sat down and picked through the envelopes, selecting one, and said of the ad "I see that they are paying $3 each for silver dollars" and rolls a coin out of the envelope and hands me a 1799 in VF!!!!
Our attention gotten, after a quick look in the box my friend went back to his place to get a box of 2x2 paper envelopes and a double row coin box. We spend the entire evening oohing and aahing and cataloging the collection for him, writing down dates, mint marks, grades and Redbook prices, warning him that those were retail prices. There were things like a 1922 No D cent in very high grade, perhaps uncirculated, an 1864 half dime, and a partial original roll (think it was 17 pieces) of BU 1927 quarters. It was glorious.
After everything was cataloged and the table was cleared and his wife was serving us tea and cake, the gentleman decided he could trust us and asked: "Would you like to see the good stuff in the bank?"
(to be continued)
I love these kinds of stories!
Awesome story Cap! What's your #1 favorite show?
Stephen Colbert.
You never know where a good relationship with somebody will take you.
There was at that time a member of the Shelby County Coin Club who was a deplorable pirate, who was a house painter by trade. His family had lived in the area for generations, so that made him trustworthy to locals.
As he painted he would schmooze the little old ladies about this and that, and as he was near finishing he would happen to mention that he collected old coins, and did she happen to have any? One time he came to the coin club with a handful of common Seated Liberty dimes, quarters and halves, and BRAGGED about the fact that he had told the lady that we didn't use these any more, and he could only give her 60 cents on the dollar. I despised him.
After the above incident I ran into him at a coin show in the region. I used to judge exhibits at many of the shows, and knew that this guy loved High Relief $20's. He had an exhibit that used pictures of High Reliefs rather than coins, because he was a cheap (illegitimate person) who had never been able to rip one off at his price.
I told him the above story, adding some details I did not feel like typing here and leaving out the details about pricing everything for the guy, very carefully lying about where the coins were so that he did not pursue them. When I got to the part about the High Relief he looked like his liver had just burst, crying at the lost opportunity to steal this coin for himself. When I finished he sighed and said "So how much did you give him for it?"
Expecting this reaction, I put on my best innocent face and said "Why, we didn't buy any of it! We told him what it was worth, and told him to put it in the bank!!!"
The guy looked like I had just smacked him upside the head with a 2x4. He couldn't believe that anybody would do the honorable thing and not rob the person blind. The pained look on his face was such a joy to behold!
TD