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Sayings Dealers told you that stuck....

BroadstruckBroadstruck Posts: 30,497 ✭✭✭✭✭
I'll start lets see how many we can get?

1.) If your unsure always go with your gut.

2.) You'll never loose your pants if your grading conservatively.

3.) Never buy anything you don't personally like to flip just because there's money left on the table.
To Err Is Human.... To Collect Err's Is Just Too Much Darn Tootin Fun!
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Comments

  • SonorandesertratSonorandesertrat Posts: 5,695 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Quality, not quantity, is what counts in a collection.

    Really good coins sell themselves, and don't need marketing help from a dealer.

    Be careful about pedigrees---only a handful really amount to much.
    Member: EAC, NBS, C4, CWTS, ANA

    RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'

    CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
  • messydeskmessydesk Posts: 20,722 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Junk will always be junk.
  • BroadstruckBroadstruck Posts: 30,497 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Quality, not quantity, is what counts in a collection.

    Really good coins sell themselves, and don't need marketing help from a dealer.

    Be careful about pedigrees---only a handful really amount to much. >>



    Sonorandesertrat, Those are some really good ones! image
    To Err Is Human.... To Collect Err's Is Just Too Much Darn Tootin Fun!
  • BustCudsBustCuds Posts: 1,096 ✭✭✭

    Problem coins will always be problem coins image
  • TwoSides2aCoinTwoSides2aCoin Posts: 44,992 ✭✭✭✭✭
    "I'll buy everything you got, any time, at 30% back of grey sheet".

    Stuck so bad I asked: "What color is that sheeeeet ? "

    As he was leaving, I said, "Excuse me sir , have you any Grey Poupon your shoes ? "
  • CoinRaritiesOnlineCoinRaritiesOnline Posts: 3,689 ✭✭✭✭
    "Trust what YOU see."
  • TommyTypeTommyType Posts: 4,586 ✭✭✭✭✭
    "There is quality in every grade."

    In other words, if you can afford "only" a VG, look for the quality VG, instead of the first VG you come accross.



    Easily distracted Type Collector
  • YorkshiremanYorkshireman Posts: 4,603 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Don't buy a coin you have to talk yourself into liking.
    Yorkshireman,Obsessed collector of round, metallic pieces of history.Hunting for Latin American colonial portraits plus cool US & British coins.
  • Jinx86Jinx86 Posts: 3,729 ✭✭✭✭✭
    "Why the hell would you buy that?" As a response from a deal I was buying 30-40 civil war tokens from at $12 each. Little did he know.....

    I dont collect, I buy and sell.
  • FredWeinbergFredWeinberg Posts: 6,025 ✭✭✭✭✭
    "Sometimes the opportunity to buy a coin is rarer than the coin"

    - Lester Merkin, NYC dealer
    Retired Collector & Dealer in Major Mint Error Coins & Currency since the 1960's.Co-Author of Whitman's "100 Greatest U.S. Mint Error Coins", and the Error Coin Encyclopedia, Vols., III & IV. Retired Authenticator for Major Mint Errors for PCGS. A 50+ Year PNG Member.A full-time numismatist since 1972, retired in 2022.
  • stevebensteveben Posts: 4,666 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>"There is quality in every grade." >>



    true!
  • sparky64sparky64 Posts: 7,061 ✭✭✭✭✭
    When showing interest in a badly beat up CBH rather than a nice one next to it he says:

    "You don't want that cheap one. Imagine what I paid for it."

    "If I say something in the woods and my wife isn't there to hear it.....am I still wrong?"

    My Washington Quarter Registry set...in progress

  • derrybderryb Posts: 38,547 ✭✭✭✭✭
    please don't put fingerprints on the coins, handle them by the edge

    Velocity, Not Valuation Defines A Bubble.

  • gonzergonzer Posts: 3,079 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Collect what you fancy (his word), not what is popular.
  • GRANDAMGRANDAM Posts: 8,785 ✭✭✭✭✭
    That coin is BU image

    BU = buffed up, beat up & bent up image

    GrandAm image
    GrandAm :)
  • CoinosaurusCoinosaurus Posts: 9,652 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>"Sometimes the opportunity to buy a coin is rarer than the coin"

    - Lester Merkin, NYC dealer >>



    Corollary - sometimes a buyer for a coin is rarer than the coin itself.
  • KoveKove Posts: 2,041 ✭✭✭✭
    "In numismatics, big sharks eat little sharks."
  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 47,483 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>That coin is BU image

    BU = buffed up, beat up & bent up image

    GrandAm image >>



    BU = Been Used

    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

  • MICHAELDIXONMICHAELDIXON Posts: 6,726 ✭✭✭✭✭
    HeII, there's no use in you looking at it, you can't afford it.
    Fall 2026 National Battlefield Coin Show September 11 & 12, 2026 at the Eisenhower Hotel Ballroom, Gettysburg, PA. Early Bird passes Thursday September 10, 2026 from Noon to 5pm $25 each. WWW.AmericasCoinShows.com
  • A common coin cannot magically become rare.
  • lcoopielcoopie Posts: 8,875 ✭✭✭✭✭
    buy the coin you want in the holder you want
    LCoopie = Les
  • bosco5041bosco5041 Posts: 1,303
    I have never forgot the first dealer that said "That coin has been cleaned!!" when I first started collecting.
  • MGLICKERMGLICKER Posts: 7,995 ✭✭✭
    Not a coin dealer but the eminently wise SaintGuru said that "nobody ever got burned by passing on a coin"

    I hear those words at least once a week when on the fence over a purchase.
  • 1TwoBits1TwoBits Posts: 469 ✭✭✭✭
    When I first read the title I missed the "T" in stuck.
    Thought it was: Sayings Dealers told you that suck...

    I guess this could apply to either:

    Good luck finding another one....

    1TwoBits
    Searching for bust quarters.....counterstamps, errors, and AU-MS varieties, please let me know if you can help.
  • RedTigerRedTiger Posts: 5,608


    << <i>I have never forgot the first dealer that said "That coin has been cleaned!!" when I first started collecting. >>



    The real wake up call was hearing that about coins in TPG no-problem holders.

    Market acceptable was the term used by the grading company executive.
  • "...this plastic and numbers thing is ridiculous. Eric, that is just an MS67 Washington. It will never be worth the $25 you just just spent."


    Eric
  • Walkerguy21DWalkerguy21D Posts: 12,068 ✭✭✭✭✭
    'There are no bad coins, just bad prices' - when I asked a dealer acquaintance about all the junk he used to buy at the small auctions
    I used to attend up in OH. His model was to make a little bit on a whole lot of coins, and he was successful at it.

    "I was born at night, but not last night" - from another dealer acquaintance, after another dealer tried to talk down some coins and make lowball offers to him.

    "Buy the best coins that you understand" - William Atkinson, the Coinsumer Advocate. This is so much more meaningful than buy the best you can afford.


    Successful BST transactions with 177 members. breakdown, scotty1419, mattniss, bigjpst, onlyroosies, Manorcourtman, guitarwes, Ebeneezer, Tonedeaf, Shane6596, Piano1, Ikenefic, RG, PCGSPhoto, stman, Don'tTelltheWife, Boosibri, Ron1968, snowequities, VTchaser, jrt103, SurfinxHI, 78saen, bp777, FHC, RYK, JTHawaii, Opportunity, Kliao, bigtime36, skanderbeg, split37, thebigeng, acloco, Toninginthblood, OKCC, braddick, Coinflip, robcool, fastfreddie, tightbudget, DBSTrader2, nickelsciolist, relaxn, Eagle eye, soldi, silverman68, ElKevvo, sawyerjosh, Schmitz7, talkingwalnut2, konsole, sharkman987, sniocsu, comma, jesbroken, David1234, biosolar, Sullykerry, Moldnut, erwindoc, MichaelDixon, GotTheBug
  • BarberFanaticBarberFanatic Posts: 671 ✭✭✭✭
    - "Buy the coin, not the holder."

    - "The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten." (This is actually a quote from Benjamin Franklin, but it applies nonetheless)

    - "A good dealer is one who not only sells coins but who gives away knowledge for free."

    - "I focus on making customers, not sales. Every customer I keep is just one less I have to find."

    My current coin collecting interests are: (1) British coins 1838-1970 in XF-AU-UNC, (2) silver type coins in XF-AU with that classic medium gray coloration and exceptional eye appeal.
  • FredWeinbergFredWeinberg Posts: 6,025 ✭✭✭✭✭
    as I dealer, I learned this one the hard way:


    "Sometimes the best deal is the one you passed on"

    (not meaning you blew a good deal, but that it was
    a good thing you passed on a deal that would have
    turned out to be bad)
    Retired Collector & Dealer in Major Mint Error Coins & Currency since the 1960's.Co-Author of Whitman's "100 Greatest U.S. Mint Error Coins", and the Error Coin Encyclopedia, Vols., III & IV. Retired Authenticator for Major Mint Errors for PCGS. A 50+ Year PNG Member.A full-time numismatist since 1972, retired in 2022.
  • johnny9434johnny9434 Posts: 31,902 ✭✭✭✭✭
    if you dont like the coin dont waste your time. heard that many years ago and it stuck. fwiw.
  • coindeucecoindeuce Posts: 13,507 ✭✭✭✭✭
    "Never try to pay for yesterday's purchase with what might be for sale tomorrow."

    "A low information seller can be worse than the average mother-in-law."

    "CASH is KING"

    "Everything is on its way to somewhere. Everything." - George Malley, Phenomenon
    http://www.american-legacy-coins.com

  • BroadstruckBroadstruck Posts: 30,497 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>"A low information seller can be worse than the average mother-in-law." >>



    imageimage
    To Err Is Human.... To Collect Err's Is Just Too Much Darn Tootin Fun!
  • coindeucecoindeuce Posts: 13,507 ✭✭✭✭✭
    image

    "Everything is on its way to somewhere. Everything." - George Malley, Phenomenon
    http://www.american-legacy-coins.com

  • lkeigwinlkeigwin Posts: 16,895 ✭✭✭✭✭
    "I will always give you the price you paid on any coin you bought from me, toward any more expensive purchase."
    - Andy Skrabalak
    Lance.
  • TommyTypeTommyType Posts: 4,586 ✭✭✭✭✭
    In my early days, while at the Long Beach show, and pondering the relative quality difference between two coins, with a price difference of a few bucks:

    "How much did you pay to PARK today?"

    I laughed at myself, and bought the more expensive, better coin. image
    Easily distracted Type Collector
  • RYKRYK Posts: 35,800 ✭✭✭✭✭
    "This is some good sh..." Wait, what kind of dealers are we talking about? image
  • JeffersonFrogJeffersonFrog Posts: 1,159 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited July 15, 2018 11:34AM
    ...

    If we were all the same, the world would be an incredibly boring place.

    Tommy

  • mightyhuntermightyhunter Posts: 478 ✭✭✭
    Q. David Bowers wrote the following in a letter to me of April 29, 1996 :

    It has been my experience that sometimes PCGS (in which I am a minor stockholder) often grades coins erratically, and in any event grading is a matter of opinion. He uses the word "sometimes" in that sentence and later in the same sentence uses the word "often".
    That left me with a big HUH. Does that mean PCGS sometimes grades coins erratically or they often grade coins erratically? Bash away.
  • SonorandesertratSonorandesertrat Posts: 5,695 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>"This is some good sh..." Wait, what kind of dealers are we talking about? image >>



    Cheech and Chong Numismatics, of course.image
    Member: EAC, NBS, C4, CWTS, ANA

    RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'

    CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
  • ConstantineConstantine Posts: 2,369 ✭✭✭
    Continuity of collection
  • CoinspongeCoinsponge Posts: 3,927 ✭✭✭
    How about "that price we quoted you over the phone an hour ago before you drove over isn't valid"


    Oh, I thought you were asking for sayings that suck. My bad.
    Gold and silver are valuable but wisdom is priceless.
  • gonzergonzer Posts: 3,079 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>"This is some good sh..." Wait, what kind of dealers are we talking about? image >>



    Yeah but Dave's not here.
  • If you don't make mistakes you are not buying enough
    Successful business with: savoyspecial,Cazkaboom,stone,Brol,robkool,nibanny,AUandAG,mdkuom,REALGATOR,jimineez1,theump, indeetlib,mariner67,PlatinumDuck,nags,tlake22,guitarwes


    My Ebay Store
  • VeepVeep Posts: 1,504 ✭✭✭✭
    My sig line
    "Let me tell ya Bud, you can buy junk anytime!"
  • LeeBoneLeeBone Posts: 4,820 ✭✭✭✭✭
    My old B & M dealer from the early 90`s used to call BU- Beat Up
  • JerseyJoeJerseyJoe Posts: 460 ✭✭
    From a coin shop owner that also sold sports cards back in 80's & 90"s

    Never trade gold for cardboard.
    A bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking because it's trust is not in the branch but it's own wings.
  • GeorgeKelloggGeorgeKellogg Posts: 1,251 ✭✭
    "You make your money when you buy a coin, not when you sell it." -- Abe Kosoff

    "I don't buy ugly coins." -- Doug Winter

    "[That coin] doesn't blow my dress up." -- Al Adams

    "Nothing happens until somebody buys something." -- Q. David Bowers
    "Clamorous for Coin"
  • shorecollshorecoll Posts: 5,447 ✭✭✭✭✭
    One of my old dealers said that BU stands for Butt Ugly, I'm surprised no one said this before.

    It doesn't matter that it's CC#6, there are only 4 people doing that series by variety.
    ANA-LM, NBS, EAC
  • ColonelJessupColonelJessup Posts: 6,442 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>If you don't make mistakes you are not buying enough >>

    . . . image

    On the other hand, Mr. Weinberg and I have commiserated with each other about various extraordinary $10 Indians in extraordinary deals we could not resist buying back in the 80's.

    At the '90 June LB show, Jay Miller and I bought a $10 Indian deal from MrE. Had an 08-S P67, 30-S P65, '07WE in P65, 20-S in N63, maybe 09-P and 14-P in N65, a few other dates, all gems. These coins were so neat that we ended up losing six figures on the deal.

    If we had only held out for another six months, we could have lost double that. . . image

    The axiom I would impart is "The best time to take a loss is as soon as possible". . . . image
    "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." - Geo. Orwell
  • DennisHDennisH Posts: 14,040 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Everything sells at some price.
    When in doubt, don't.

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