Amazing Al.....Two things... One, you are retiring young - not a bad thing though. Two....I had a gal named Terri flash me at work about 37 years ago.... That was in Phoenix.... Welcome to the ON club (or OF).... Cheers, RickO
kaz --- all Exonumia is hard to price buy/sell but we don't get a lot. for coins, my boss has been in business since the late 70's so I often defer to his experience when buying. we rely heavily on the GreySheet and refer almost exclusively to the "bid" side, but we use the internet whenever needed, mainly for better/higher graded coins, foreign coins and esoteric things that the GreySheet doesn't list.
between the two of us we can ID and estimate a price on most everything that comes in, but exceptions show up. about two years ago we bought a 1527 Gold Crown of the Rose. heck, I never even knew they existed!!!
logger --- I don't carry, but I have easy access to a shotgun and there are a few pistols close by. also, we have a new guy who is an officer with a local PD, he has a CC.
buy backs --- we'll buy back at 10-20% of what the sale was. taking a coin out of our holder makes it tough, especially if it isn't a regular customer.
competitors --- I won't get into any specifics about other dealers and how they operate except to say that the dealer community talks to each other.
online reviews --- aren't very helpful. when people think they are wronged or treated poorly there is really no way to validate that with a "review" like yelp. people will share a bad experience but rarely share the good ones.
JJS --- I think that's something each dealer/shop needs to arrive at independently. a lot has to do with overhead, competitors, business model and accessibility to coins.
Rosco, you misunderstood me. I was flashed at a manufacturing job about 35 years ago. as for coins, I have changed what I am chasing lately and focus mainly on SC$'s and other Exonumia.
On a serious note. I was set up at a coin show years ago. I used to have some cheap junk boxes back then. A couple sat down and were going through a 3 for a dollar box of world coins. They dropped some coins on the floor. I bend over to pick them up and the girl wearing a dress immediately opens her legs going commando!
@Justacommeman said:
Has anyone tried to distract you like this?
buy backs --- we'll buy back at 10-20% of what the sale was. taking a coin out of our holder makes it tough, especially if it isn't a regular customer. >
I hope you mean that you buy back at 10-20% BACK of what the sale was.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
Do you have guidelines you follow in your shop about whether to purchase or pass on seller offerings of variety coins?
For example,do you always pass on buying a variety that takes an electron microscope,or similar,to see?
Do you get interested in purchasing a thinly-traded but expensive variety coin,if and only if, you think you have a customer who will readily buy the coin from you but with the caveat that you might not know at what money level the potential customer would be at thereby making your purchase risky because of fear that you might easily pay the one offering the variety coin to you too much?
Obviously,any number of questions can be asked about purchasing variety coins for the purpose of resale at a profit,however,I would be keenly interested in answers to the above two questions from your perspective as a dealer.
Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.-Albert Einstein
Dear O.N. Mrs. Hydrant's mother will be arriving next Saturday for a one week visit. I thought that would be a good time for me to go to the cabin up at the lake and work on my Presidential Dollar set. That way Mrs. Hydrant and her mother could enjoy some quality time together without any interference from yours truly, etc. Mrs. Hydrant says that if I go she will never speak to me again or scratch my back. I could probably live without the no speaking to me part, but my back itches every night at bedtime. I do love her but my question is; Should I stay or should I go?.........TOUGH ENOUGH????
Which do people bring more of in to sell - Raw or Slabbed coins?
When you buy a raw coin with a grade in mind and submit it to PCGS, how often do you make money? What is the most you have made buying raw and slabbing it?
@keets said: bullion coins - more profit on raw flips as bullion, 69 slabbed, or 70 slabbed? (PCGS slabs of course).
the internet allows me to price for stuff like Kookaburas, Pandas, all the Canadian stuff and slabbed ASE's. I do that when we buy and double check when we sell. ASE's are pretty easy because it's a straight price except four the 1986-94-95-96 which we get a little more for. 69's and 70's I almost always use Apmex.
What will you do to fill your days?
I would go loopy if I had nothing to do....I mean, it's pretty easy to do nothing and that will be a bad habit to get into if it ever happens to me.
Do you have wholesalers you sell certain items to, such as ASEs, AGEs, APEs, etc? What margin do you try to make (beyond as high as possible) on that stuff? Can you tell us who they are?
@itsnotjustme said:
Do you have wholesalers you sell certain items to, such as ASEs, AGEs, APEs, etc? What margin do you try to make (beyond as high as possible) on that stuff? Can you tell us who they are?
I just sold some of my stuff, is it to late for me keets?
If you're offered a coin that looks really nice, and if genuine, is worth 4 figures, at least. But you have just the inkling that it might be a really well-done counterfeit or alteration...what do you do?
Walker Proof Digital Album 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......
Good Morning, Coin Forum!!!
Happy Mother's Day to all you Mothers, please wish your wives/girlfriends/sisters/daughters and, most importantly, your Mothers the same. I'll be having a late lunch at Olive Garden with my family, Mom is 92 and moves a little slower with a walker but she's still sharp witted!!
mr1874 --- we don't do much with Varieties unless they are generally well known, that seems like a very small market overall. ones that are known/published and easily seen with reliable pricing we will buy/sell, obscure Varieties that need to be seen with a 20x loupe and aren't discernible by the average collector we avoid.
Walkerfan --- it's hard to ignore the fact that there seems little interest in coins among anyone younger than 20., there are simply too many other diversions for that age. SERIOUS entry from what I see is in the mid/late 20's. that tends to be where collectors are more than just "curious" about coins and actually collect, also where the first new dealers seem to appear. the bulk of Hobby participants still ranges from 35-up judging on who our customers are.
my own "back in the day" recollections are based on collecting as a pre-teen and being involved during high school. then I faded away until my mid-30's, left again and came back at 45 to stay. I think a lot of who collects is based on available money and personal circumstances.
Hydrant --- happy wife, happy life.
TopographicOceans --- we see/buy way more raw coins and we don't really submit much to PCGS, maybe once or twice each year. the best "buy-n-slab" we had was about two years ago when we purchased a large group of French and English medals from the 18th-19th Centuries. they all went to NGC and then to a Heritage auction.
SanctionII --- as I said above, we rarely buy to slab. we will mainly "dip" BU junk Silver because the market likes that stuff bright, then we resell in $10/$50/$100 bags, but we do sometimes dip other coins if their surface condition warrants it. more often than not we use acetone to remove dirt and haze.
MANOFCOINS --- yes, I have......................we had a customer named Dennis who came in regularly and bought coins. he was a nice guy but on a few occasions I was pretty sure he had taken something; we started to watch him. I finally was able to know without a doubt that he had "pocketed" a coin and challenged him. he played dumb and even though I gave him the chance to come clean he insisted he was innocent. I finally told him the coin he had taken, a VF 1938-D Walker, and his face went blank. I told him to leave and to not darken our door ever again. that was over two years ago and we put the word out on him with every dealer we know. I haven't seen him since, he must have to drive to Columbus to buy coins.
Raybo --- I'm taking a month off and then I'll work three days a week. I have spent the past several years trying to acquire what I'll need to stay busy, I hunt/fish/trap, or at least I used to do those things!!! my family needs assistance and I have enough friends that I will no doubt fill the days with. also, don't forget the Honey-Do list!!!
itsnotjustme --- my boss told me many years ago that if he could do only wholesale he would, it is much easier, and in the long run profitable, than retail with the public. with that said, yes, we do quite a bit of wholesale. he takes care of that and his margins vary. I think it is best if I don't go further than that.
LRCTom --- we would either pass or make arrangements with the owner and take the coin on memo. then we would check with a few other select dealers or experts we know to verify authenticity. taking "flyers" are dangerous.
mark --- not in the way you're probably thinking. we have set buy/sell prices that we adjust and a few suppliers that we buy from. we do enough bulk so that we aren't beat by the price swings of this current market. what goes up eventually goes down, and vice-a-versa, so things balance out in the long run. we help it balance out in our favor whenever we can.
How often do you have counterfeit coins coming in to your shop? Has this increased quite a bit since you started? What sorta counterfeits are brought in? Morgans, Trade Dollars, Large Cents? How about counterfeit bullion bars? Has that increased?
I'm sure some of the stories that go along with the counterfeits are pretty amusing- how they got the coin, etc., and their resulting look when you call them out.
How often do you have counterfeit coins coming in to your shop?
counterfeits don't come in very often and it isn't like they're out there by the millions, but bad coins do show up. my boss has a double row box full of loose counterfeits that we add to during the course of time. some stuff is heavily counterfeited, though. I don't even look at 1889-CC Morgans if they are raw or in an off-brand holder. there are just too many of THAT date which are fakes.
we had a guy try to sell us an 1893-s in a PCGS holder that was fake. I spent about five minutes with him, during which I looked it up online and found the cert that was copied. he realized he was caught and actiually sprinted out the door, across the parking lot and burned rubber so fast we couldn't even get a license number!!
I have seen fake SHQ's, fake Kennedy Clads and fake Trade Dollars among others. I think the coins we have the most of are Seated Dollars.
Gary, I have only been working with my boss since around 2000-2001 when I used to "hang around" at his shop so much that it seemed like I was working. I started to help him at shows(for free and breakfast!!) and when he was looking for help he asked if I wanted a job. I finally started to work for pay in 2008, left and returned in 2013 for good.
with that in mind, I don't have much perspective past 10 years ago when I was really involved in pricing and cash flow. at that time the coin market had been heading up for 7-8 year and still had another five years left where coins really sold themselves. it is slow now, a buyers market. bullion pricing has changed with what seem like smaller margins today.
if I could have envisioned actually being able to "make a living wage" some 30 years ago in this endeavor I would have done it, probably working for someone else and free-lancing when I could.
wow, Don, you're asking me to think...............................
about 14 years ago I was looking for a dealer I could have represent me at auctions, someone who knew about the type of Exonumia I was chasing. I chose a forum member who knew about EVERYTHING and we had a good thing going till my circumstances at home changed. he helped me purchase an HK-1(the plate coin on the cover of SC$'s 2nd Edition) that I held until I was strapped. my net was about 800% of the initial purchase.
another good deal was a group of medals that my boss purchased prior to hiring me the first time. he offered it to me but I hedged, so he let me take it home to research and sell. then all he wanted was his "up front" money before we'd split what was left. over the course of about two years we each netted about $2k and nicknamed it The Gift That Keeps Giving. we still laugh when we talk about it.
Do you think most dealers are honest when it comes to "doing the right thing"?
my experience has been that too many dealers are influenced by money and that fact sometimes causes them to do the wrong thing. greed is everywhere in Society. most dealers want to do the right thing and will almost all the time. some cannot be trusted, sort of like people in general.
" Ma'am, can you hold the coin closer to the phone"
that's funny, I have heard my boss say that EXACT thing to a customer over the phone. we are located in Eastlake, Ohio.
When are you going to cut you hair?
in a few weeks, May 31st at around 6:30PM on my way home from work. if you'd like to come and watch I can give you the address of the Great Clips so you can google it.
What is the best way to create a valuable collection with a limited budget? Can truly valuable sets still be put together from circulation, and if not, why should a beginning collector bother collecting from circulation?
Don, I really think that the only reasonable way to pull value from circulation is with Varieties, coins are just produced in such numbers that there doesn't seem to be any value in an average coin. if you're talking about searching BU rolls, Mint/Proof Sets, etc. I think an average collector can make a profit. the problem is that the searching will be very time consuming.
What is the best way to create a valuable collection with a limited budget?
JMHO, but by studying, keeping a narrow focus, attending as many shows as possible and building relationships with other like-minded collectors and dealers. look at as many PCGS/NGC coins as possible to learn how to adequately grade and then buy carefully without looking for the big score.
How about returns, I was talking to one of the grading service founders recently who said you should always ask about seller's return policy and walk if they don't take them or take too large a return percentage. Curious what terms you think are reasonable and if those conditions of sale are similar to other similar businesses?
In my view, return policies are for mail order.... When buying in hand, the sale should be final. There might be some exception if new information is obtained that the coin is not genuine.
The shop might buy it back at their usual buying percentage if they want it for stock.
From keets' post above:
buy backs --- we'll buy back at 10-20% of what the sale was. taking a coin out of our holder makes it tough, especially if it isn't a regular customer.
@yosclimber said:
In my view, return policies are for mail order.... When buying in hand, the sale should be final. There might be some exception if new information is obtained that the coin is not genuine.
The shop might buy it back at their usual buying percentage if they want it for stock.
From keets' post above:
buy backs --- we'll buy back at 10-20% of what the sale was. taking a coin out of our holder makes it tough, especially if it isn't a regular customer.
That's assuming that buyer and seller are on an even keel in terms of knowledge of the deal; if the seller misrepresents what they are selling and writes a numerical grade on their 2x2 in my book they are liable for objective grading standards. How they price it, how they grade it is all wrapped together in the contract and if it turns out to be a sour lemon, the seller should be responsible.
Keets, I have a tough potentially controversial question.
Do you know of or have you heard of any (respected) coin dealers that will cook or AT a coin (or work on a coin in some way) in order to raise the value and make money? In tough times of falling prices and falling sales, I wonder if the lure of money might overwhelm morals or scruples.
I have long suspected several dealers of cooking coins ... and some really high level and well respected dealers too (I might add). I have come to identify certain toning "signatures" that always seems to magically flow through (at a seemingly too high a rate to be by chance) by certain high level dealers. Just curious if well respected ON's like yourself have the same suspicion of other dealers?
I will not post or mention to others who I suspect because: 1.) it's only a suspicion and I have no hard evidence and 2.) I would not want to ever make a specific false accusation as this is people's livelihoods. But gosh I have some damning circumstantial evidence. That being said I want to be conservative and careful about jumping to conclusion which I am not absolutely positive about (which I am definitely not).
I don't personally know anyone who does anything other than what we typically accept, stuff like acetone, E-Z-Est, Coin Care, Blue Ribbon, etc.
there are dealers on the local circuit who sometimes have coins that "look" the same but I have no way of knowing if they are making them or buying them.
Who is/was Charles French?
What was Col Green's railroad car named/after who?
What book is he mentioned in ? Mostly his mother.
Who supports the commemorative market?
When the YN takes that coin and holds it in his hand what does he/she learn and where does it take them?
What's on the reverse of the Antietam Commem? J W garretts home name? Augustus Saint Gauden's home is where ? John Brown met his fate where? Gettysburg is a Civil War town? Do the coins take these YNs to all these places and more?
I can go on and on......from memory. My point to the YN was what the coin's worth is pales in comparison to what they are really valued for. Self esteem in completion, learning, travel the USA, who what why?
Then, of course we could stick with $$ and explain to them that the only true wholesale market is the one they supply...........when they go to sell. Better off seeing a Baltimore game in Camden yards and visiting Charles street to Evergreen or go to the turn about behind the ball park and learn all about the B&O and John W Garrett. Beautiful place, then of course so is LIght horse Harry Lee's place "Stafford" down the street from Madison's offices in.......Gettysburg. General Lee said good bye to the angels on the fireplace, as a child, when Harry lost the place. Get a Passport book get the stamps at the US National Parks, like in Philadelphia and see the mint oh yeah,
I''m sorry. I am on a brain flow..........aka "fun rant" All the best ......Sol
Comments
Other than being "Flashed" at your shop !!...what item(s) do you hope to see or acquire someday ?
R.I.P Son 1986>2020
Amazing Al.....Two things... One, you are retiring young - not a bad thing though. Two....I had a gal named Terri flash me at work about 37 years ago.... That was in Phoenix.... Welcome to the ON club (or OF).... Cheers, RickO
kaz --- all Exonumia is hard to price buy/sell but we don't get a lot. for coins, my boss has been in business since the late 70's so I often defer to his experience when buying. we rely heavily on the GreySheet and refer almost exclusively to the "bid" side, but we use the internet whenever needed, mainly for better/higher graded coins, foreign coins and esoteric things that the GreySheet doesn't list.
between the two of us we can ID and estimate a price on most everything that comes in, but exceptions show up. about two years ago we bought a 1527 Gold Crown of the Rose. heck, I never even knew they existed!!!
logger --- I don't carry, but I have easy access to a shotgun and there are a few pistols close by. also, we have a new guy who is an officer with a local PD, he has a CC.
buy backs --- we'll buy back at 10-20% of what the sale was. taking a coin out of our holder makes it tough, especially if it isn't a regular customer.
competitors --- I won't get into any specifics about other dealers and how they operate except to say that the dealer community talks to each other.
online reviews --- aren't very helpful. when people think they are wronged or treated poorly there is really no way to validate that with a "review" like yelp. people will share a bad experience but rarely share the good ones.
JJS --- I think that's something each dealer/shop needs to arrive at independently. a lot has to do with overhead, competitors, business model and accessibility to coins.
Rosco, you misunderstood me. I was flashed at a manufacturing job about 35 years ago. as for coins, I have changed what I am chasing lately and focus mainly on SC$'s and other Exonumia.
Thanks for the response,Keets. I agree, online resources are becoming a lot more available and easier to use. have agreat weekend.
On a serious note. I was set up at a coin show years ago. I used to have some cheap junk boxes back then. A couple sat down and were going through a 3 for a dollar box of world coins. They dropped some coins on the floor. I bend over to pick them up and the girl wearing a dress immediately opens her legs going commando!
I hope you mean that you buy back at 10-20% BACK of what the sale was.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
yes, Perry, that's it. funny, it sounded right when I wrote it but not so good when I read it.
Do you have guidelines you follow in your shop about whether to purchase or pass on seller offerings of variety coins?
For example,do you always pass on buying a variety that takes an electron microscope,or similar,to see?
Do you get interested in purchasing a thinly-traded but expensive variety coin,if and only if, you think you have a customer who will readily buy the coin from you but with the caveat that you might not know at what money level the potential customer would be at thereby making your purchase risky because of fear that you might easily pay the one offering the variety coin to you too much?
Obviously,any number of questions can be asked about purchasing variety coins for the purpose of resale at a profit,however,I would be keenly interested in answers to the above two questions from your perspective as a dealer.
Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.-Albert Einstein
Do you believe in the 'sky is falling' premise, suggested by some, or has it just always been an older demographic?
What conclusions can you draw based on today versus 'back in the day'?
Do you think the younger generation cares?
I know what I think but it's always interesting hearing from a veteran.
“I may not believe in myself but I believe in what I’m doing” ~Jimmy Page~
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
Dear O.N. Mrs. Hydrant's mother will be arriving next Saturday for a one week visit. I thought that would be a good time for me to go to the cabin up at the lake and work on my Presidential Dollar set. That way Mrs. Hydrant and her mother could enjoy some quality time together without any interference from yours truly, etc. Mrs. Hydrant says that if I go she will never speak to me again or scratch my back. I could probably live without the no speaking to me part, but my back itches every night at bedtime. I do love her but my question is; Should I stay or should I go?.........TOUGH ENOUGH????
Which do people bring more of in to sell - Raw or Slabbed coins?
When you buy a raw coin with a grade in mind and submit it to PCGS, how often do you make money? What is the most you have made buying raw and slabbing it?
good questions but we are too busy for replies, I will do that either tonight or in the morning.
Does the shop you work at:
2.Dip coins it buys before reselling them?
very informative, thanks
Successful transactions with-Boosibri,lkeigwin,TomB,Broadstruck,coinsarefun,Type2,jom,ProfLiz, UltraHighRelief,Barndog,EXOJUNKIE,ldhair,fivecents,paesan,Crusty...
What will you do to fill your days?
I would go loopy if I had nothing to do....I mean, it's pretty easy to do nothing and that will be a bad habit to get into if it ever happens to me.
I have thoroughly enjoyed this thread.
Do you have wholesalers you sell certain items to, such as ASEs, AGEs, APEs, etc? What margin do you try to make (beyond as high as possible) on that stuff? Can you tell us who they are?
I just sold some of my stuff, is it to late for me keets?
If you're offered a coin that looks really nice, and if genuine, is worth 4 figures, at least. But you have just the inkling that it might be a really well-done counterfeit or alteration...what do you do?
LRC Numismatics eBay listings:
http://stores.ebay.com/lrcnumismatics
Do you guys hedge your bullion?
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......
Good Morning, Coin Forum!!!
Happy Mother's Day to all you Mothers, please wish your wives/girlfriends/sisters/daughters and, most importantly, your Mothers the same. I'll be having a late lunch at Olive Garden with my family, Mom is 92 and moves a little slower with a walker but she's still sharp witted!!
mr1874 --- we don't do much with Varieties unless they are generally well known, that seems like a very small market overall. ones that are known/published and easily seen with reliable pricing we will buy/sell, obscure Varieties that need to be seen with a 20x loupe and aren't discernible by the average collector we avoid.
Walkerfan --- it's hard to ignore the fact that there seems little interest in coins among anyone younger than 20., there are simply too many other diversions for that age. SERIOUS entry from what I see is in the mid/late 20's. that tends to be where collectors are more than just "curious" about coins and actually collect, also where the first new dealers seem to appear. the bulk of Hobby participants still ranges from 35-up judging on who our customers are.
my own "back in the day" recollections are based on collecting as a pre-teen and being involved during high school. then I faded away until my mid-30's, left again and came back at 45 to stay. I think a lot of who collects is based on available money and personal circumstances.
Hydrant --- happy wife, happy life.
TopographicOceans --- we see/buy way more raw coins and we don't really submit much to PCGS, maybe once or twice each year. the best "buy-n-slab" we had was about two years ago when we purchased a large group of French and English medals from the 18th-19th Centuries. they all went to NGC and then to a Heritage auction.
SanctionII --- as I said above, we rarely buy to slab. we will mainly "dip" BU junk Silver because the market likes that stuff bright, then we resell in $10/$50/$100 bags, but we do sometimes dip other coins if their surface condition warrants it. more often than not we use acetone to remove dirt and haze.
MANOFCOINS --- yes, I have......................we had a customer named Dennis who came in regularly and bought coins. he was a nice guy but on a few occasions I was pretty sure he had taken something; we started to watch him. I finally was able to know without a doubt that he had "pocketed" a coin and challenged him. he played dumb and even though I gave him the chance to come clean he insisted he was innocent. I finally told him the coin he had taken, a VF 1938-D Walker, and his face went blank. I told him to leave and to not darken our door ever again. that was over two years ago and we put the word out on him with every dealer we know. I haven't seen him since, he must have to drive to Columbus to buy coins.
Raybo --- I'm taking a month off and then I'll work three days a week. I have spent the past several years trying to acquire what I'll need to stay busy, I hunt/fish/trap, or at least I used to do those things!!! my family needs assistance and I have enough friends that I will no doubt fill the days with. also, don't forget the Honey-Do list!!!
itsnotjustme --- my boss told me many years ago that if he could do only wholesale he would, it is much easier, and in the long run profitable, than retail with the public. with that said, yes, we do quite a bit of wholesale. he takes care of that and his margins vary. I think it is best if I don't go further than that.
LRCTom --- we would either pass or make arrangements with the owner and take the coin on memo. then we would check with a few other select dealers or experts we know to verify authenticity. taking "flyers" are dangerous.
mark --- not in the way you're probably thinking. we have set buy/sell prices that we adjust and a few suppliers that we buy from. we do enough bulk so that we aren't beat by the price swings of this current market. what goes up eventually goes down, and vice-a-versa, so things balance out in the long run. we help it balance out in our favor whenever we can.
How often do you have counterfeit coins coming in to your shop? Has this increased quite a bit since you started? What sorta counterfeits are brought in? Morgans, Trade Dollars, Large Cents? How about counterfeit bullion bars? Has that increased?
I'm sure some of the stories that go along with the counterfeits are pretty amusing- how they got the coin, etc., and their resulting look when you call them out.
Thanks,
Rich
Have you ever stapled your finger?
How often do you have counterfeit coins coming in to your shop?
counterfeits don't come in very often and it isn't like they're out there by the millions, but bad coins do show up. my boss has a double row box full of loose counterfeits that we add to during the course of time. some stuff is heavily counterfeited, though. I don't even look at 1889-CC Morgans if they are raw or in an off-brand holder. there are just too many of THAT date which are fakes.
we had a guy try to sell us an 1893-s in a PCGS holder that was fake. I spent about five minutes with him, during which I looked it up online and found the cert that was copied. he realized he was caught and actiually sprinted out the door, across the parking lot and burned rubber so fast we couldn't even get a license number!!
I have seen fake SHQ's, fake Kennedy Clads and fake Trade Dollars among others. I think the coins we have the most of are Seated Dollars.
Have you ever stapled your finger?
no.
what is the differences now compared to 5, 10, 20 years ago in regards to business, cycles, buying habits etc. Is business easier now or earlier.
if you could do it again, would you work there or start your own shop
I always look for your posts as they are all interesting and informative
What has personally been your biggest "score" in your time as a collector?
Gary, I have only been working with my boss since around 2000-2001 when I used to "hang around" at his shop so much that it seemed like I was working. I started to help him at shows(for free and breakfast!!) and when he was looking for help he asked if I wanted a job. I finally started to work for pay in 2008, left and returned in 2013 for good.
with that in mind, I don't have much perspective past 10 years ago when I was really involved in pricing and cash flow. at that time the coin market had been heading up for 7-8 year and still had another five years left where coins really sold themselves. it is slow now, a buyers market. bullion pricing has changed with what seem like smaller margins today.
if I could have envisioned actually being able to "make a living wage" some 30 years ago in this endeavor I would have done it, probably working for someone else and free-lancing when I could.
wow, Don, you're asking me to think...............................
about 14 years ago I was looking for a dealer I could have represent me at auctions, someone who knew about the type of Exonumia I was chasing. I chose a forum member who knew about EVERYTHING and we had a good thing going till my circumstances at home changed. he helped me purchase an HK-1(the plate coin on the cover of SC$'s 2nd Edition) that I held until I was strapped. my net was about 800% of the initial purchase.
another good deal was a group of medals that my boss purchased prior to hiring me the first time. he offered it to me but I hedged, so he let me take it home to research and sell. then all he wanted was his "up front" money before we'd split what was left. over the course of about two years we each netted about $2k and nicknamed it The Gift That Keeps Giving. we still laugh when we talk about it.
Do you think most dealers are honest when it comes to "doing the right thing"?
I have a coin with a lady on the front and a bird on the back. It's in really nice condition! What's it worth?
LOL....When I worked at a coin shop, the old timer used to respond to the above question with: " Ma'am, can you hold the coin closer to the phone"..
Were is your shop?
When are you going to cut you hair?
Do you think most dealers are honest when it comes to "doing the right thing"?
my experience has been that too many dealers are influenced by money and that fact sometimes causes them to do the wrong thing. greed is everywhere in Society. most dealers want to do the right thing and will almost all the time. some cannot be trusted, sort of like people in general.
" Ma'am, can you hold the coin closer to the phone"
that's funny, I have heard my boss say that EXACT thing to a customer over the phone. we are located in Eastlake, Ohio.
When are you going to cut you hair?
in a few weeks, May 31st at around 6:30PM on my way home from work. if you'd like to come and watch I can give you the address of the Great Clips so you can google it.
What is the best way to create a valuable collection with a limited budget? Can truly valuable sets still be put together from circulation, and if not, why should a beginning collector bother collecting from circulation?
Don, I really think that the only reasonable way to pull value from circulation is with Varieties, coins are just produced in such numbers that there doesn't seem to be any value in an average coin. if you're talking about searching BU rolls, Mint/Proof Sets, etc. I think an average collector can make a profit. the problem is that the searching will be very time consuming.
What is the best way to create a valuable collection with a limited budget?
JMHO, but by studying, keeping a narrow focus, attending as many shows as possible and building relationships with other like-minded collectors and dealers. look at as many PCGS/NGC coins as possible to learn how to adequately grade and then buy carefully without looking for the big score.
How about returns, I was talking to one of the grading service founders recently who said you should always ask about seller's return policy and walk if they don't take them or take too large a return percentage. Curious what terms you think are reasonable and if those conditions of sale are similar to other similar businesses?
In my view, return policies are for mail order.... When buying in hand, the sale should be final. There might be some exception if new information is obtained that the coin is not genuine.
The shop might buy it back at their usual buying percentage if they want it for stock.
From keets' post above:
That's assuming that buyer and seller are on an even keel in terms of knowledge of the deal; if the seller misrepresents what they are selling and writes a numerical grade on their 2x2 in my book they are liable for objective grading standards. How they price it, how they grade it is all wrapped together in the contract and if it turns out to be a sour lemon, the seller should be responsible.
logger7, I don't want to start a back and forth so you should probably take my previous reply as your answer
What coin that you have seen in hand and you did not buy for whatever reason is your biggest regret?
Do you guys go to the bank and do roll hunting? If yes, how often and how much each time?
Rob, that list is way too long but I wish I had focused more on US Mint medals and SC$'s around 2000-2005.
Turbo, we don't roll search at all.
Keets, I have a tough potentially controversial question.
Do you know of or have you heard of any (respected) coin dealers that will cook or AT a coin (or work on a coin in some way) in order to raise the value and make money? In tough times of falling prices and falling sales, I wonder if the lure of money might overwhelm morals or scruples.
I have long suspected several dealers of cooking coins ... and some really high level and well respected dealers too (I might add). I have come to identify certain toning "signatures" that always seems to magically flow through (at a seemingly too high a rate to be by chance) by certain high level dealers. Just curious if well respected ON's like yourself have the same suspicion of other dealers?
I will not post or mention to others who I suspect because: 1.) it's only a suspicion and I have no hard evidence and 2.) I would not want to ever make a specific false accusation as this is people's livelihoods. But gosh I have some damning circumstantial evidence. That being said I want to be conservative and careful about jumping to conclusion which I am not absolutely positive about (which I am definitely not).
My Coin Blog
My Toned Lincoln Registry Set
I don't personally know anyone who does anything other than what we typically accept, stuff like acetone, E-Z-Est, Coin Care, Blue Ribbon, etc.
there are dealers on the local circuit who sometimes have coins that "look" the same but I have no way of knowing if they are making them or buying them.
Who is/was Charles French?
What was Col Green's railroad car named/after who?
What book is he mentioned in ? Mostly his mother.
Who supports the commemorative market?
When the YN takes that coin and holds it in his hand what does he/she learn and where does it take them?
What's on the reverse of the Antietam Commem? J W garretts home name? Augustus Saint Gauden's home is where ? John Brown met his fate where? Gettysburg is a Civil War town? Do the coins take these YNs to all these places and more?
WOW...............................
I can go on and on......from memory. My point to the YN was what the coin's worth is pales in comparison to what they are really valued for. Self esteem in completion, learning, travel the USA, who what why?
Then, of course we could stick with $$ and explain to them that the only true wholesale market is the one they supply...........when they go to sell. Better off seeing a Baltimore game in Camden yards and visiting Charles street to Evergreen or go to the turn about behind the ball park and learn all about the B&O and John W Garrett. Beautiful place, then of course so is LIght horse Harry Lee's place "Stafford" down the street from Madison's offices in.......Gettysburg. General Lee said good bye to the angels on the fireplace, as a child, when Harry lost the place. Get a Passport book get the stamps at the US National Parks, like in Philadelphia and see the mint oh yeah,
I''m sorry. I am on a brain flow..........aka "fun rant" All the best ......Sol
How many YNs do you get per month in your shop?
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