Fort Worth Dealer Murdered in His Coin Shop
Frankcoins
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Coin dealer Gary Duke was shot to death during an armed robbery July 5 at his store, Fort Worth Gold and Silver. At least he managed to kill one of the robbers. While extensively reported in area newspapers and TV, the Fort Worth Police got so many facts wrong in their statements to the media that NOTHING rang a bell hearing this story. His name was withheld, the location given as the cross-street (North Side Drive) rather than street it's on (Jacksboro Highway), the business described as a pawn shop instead of a coin dealer, the person killed as "an elderly clerk" rather than the 58 year old business owner.
https://star-telegram.com/news/local/crime/article214431474.html
https://nbcdfw.com/news/local/Pawn-Shop-Clerk-Dies-After-Possible-Robbery-487511821.html
Comments
Very sad...Not uncommon for initial news reports to contain errors... have seen that many times. Condolences to the family... RickO
that Is really sad. RIP Gary
Best place to buy !
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My coin shop owner has locks on his door from top to bottom. One for each robbery. Fortunately they all happened when he was closed.
That sucks, poor family.
Downside to guns is gun fights. The good guys don’t always win
11.5$ Southern Dollars, The little “Big Easy” set
I know where that shop is. Its an active commercial area. Shocking, horrible, and pathetic it happened. No one deserves that for trying to make a living. I did not know him, but RIP to Gary. I will be sad now every time I pass the store.
Do coin dealers like this have cameras installed inside and outsiade and locks on the door to buzz people in and out?
I came WAY too close to that.
BUT... I learned a valuable lesson.
NEVER use a buzzer door.
It confines the robber (plural in my case) ....INSIDE WITH YOU!
Within a week of being fortunate enough to NOT be shot, I remodeled the shop to put the BARS..... at the BACK of the cases.
Which puts YOU ....out of reach.
Yes, they can shoot you or break into the case, but you and the safe/s are behind locked bars.
PLUS..... it allows customers to enter at will and robbers hate random customers while they are robbing.
I see....@topstuff I have never been in this situation. My thinking is with cameras and a buzz in style you can see them before they enter and not let them in. Or do the armed robbers always come in calm and collected and then pull out a fire arm?
Horrible.
Here's a warning parable for coin collectors...
In this case, the robbery was near perfect.
The guy was well dressed. He also knew what coins to ask to "look at."
He admired the right coins and asked intelligent questions.
He politely turned to leave and then came back to the counter and asked to see one of them...again.
Okay, all normal coin stuff there.
THEN.... I... heard..his CLOTHES moving! Oops, I was almost sure at that point.
I turned to look into the barrel of his gun. No time to go for mine and would be stupid to do so when "covered."
THEN..... (oh it gets better)..... he zips around the counter.....uses MY buzzer control...and lets in his TWO accomplices.
I get to open the safe that was not already open and lie on the floor.
While imagining bullets coming through my back.
.
.
One saving grace: THEY moved the gold to get to the silver.
Yep, the silver tubes were SHINY and the tubes of Krugerrands were ....dark.
Cash? Gone. Silver? Mostly gone. Gold and rare coins? Left behind.
.
Oh yeah... buzzer DOOR gone too
Thats quite a story. I am glad you were not hurt. I am very sorry for the owner in this post. I guess you can only do what you can do....
Care to share a pic of this kind of layout?
bob
Sure. Although I moved a few times, hope this helps.
Wow, that is terrible. I did not know him, but my condolences to his family and friends. RIP, Gary.
@topstuf That sounds terrible. I'm glad you were not hurt and were able to learn from it and make changes to your shop.
Edited for spelling.
Donato
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At the FUN show, I bought a collection of counterfeits to use in class. A dealer submitting coins heard what I had bought and told me his entire collection of counterfeits was stolen in a store robbery. Thieves broke in and took them all as they were always left out of the safe! He got the book of C/F morgans 1891 - 1921 in a C/F Dansco album from me to start his new collection. I still have most of the duplicates for a new folder but getting another fake album is probably going to be tough.
Terrible news.
"“Those who sacrifice liberty for security/safety deserve neither.“(Benjamin Franklin)
"I only golf on days that end in 'Y'" (DE59)
I think cameras out side and inside are a good idea. And always have 2 people while open. Also everyone there should open carry... I like the bars!
Even with a door buzzer you're subject to someone walking in with a buzzed in person. Open carry is not a bad idea either.
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Kinda funny incident....
In my combination pawn/coin place, some guys came in and all they did was look all over at the cameras and my gun.
I asked them if they were interested in buying some security cameras.
They left.
No laughing matter on the OP though. I always cringe when I read of the robberies.
@frankcoins We are all very sorry this happened. I just hope it could be a learning moment for us all. Did you know what security set up the coin dealer had? May he rest in peace..
Another sad event in the coin world. RIP, brother. And my condolences, also to the friends/family of one of the perps killed. We gotta grow up, and go right, one day. So I hope.
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RIP.
Downside to guns is being unarmed when confronted by a robber pointing a gun at you. It evens the playing field. At least the owner nailed one of the bastards.
RIP friend.
I would agree that being unarmed in a gun fight is worse. But I can assure you being armed in one is not an ideal situation either.
11.5$ Southern Dollars, The little “Big Easy” set
Coin and bullion dealers are a target for criminals and I do not complain when they make a fair profit. It can be a dangerous profession.
Here's the guy I got to deal with at my shop. He didn't hold anyone up - he just shot them, then robbed the place. Killed two people in Montana about 3 months after shooting me. ~12 to 15 kills. Nice guy until he wasn't.
http://murderpedia.org/male.S/s/sinclair-charles.htm
God bless him and the family, RIP Gary.
With a gun the good guy at least has a fighting chance.
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
Sorry to hear this. Makes you wonder what needs to be done to insure security. Perhaps it is not possible in today's society.
“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Thomas Jefferson
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Condolences to Gary,s family and friends. Dealing in coins and currency is a dangerous business whether in B&M or vest pocket of home collections. It will only get worse.
I used to buy jewelry and coins from a small shop in Southern California in the late 90’s. The owners, a husband and wife were the nicest people in the world. They were robbed one night before closing. The husband died and the wife was shot in the head. It took the police two years before they finally caught the two scumbags. May they rot in hell.
Thanks for posting - terrible news.
Even if armed, it's easy to get caught off guard. The element of surprise is scary.
Open carry is not a good idea, in my opinion (but I have limited experience). When was working in a shop, we had firearms 'stationed' in key locations, just in case. Fortunately, there was never an issue. The owner did not want anyone to open carry as it sent the wrong message to many of the people who came into the shop. We had a competitor in a neighboring city where each staff member had their 'big guns' on their hip. It was an impressive show of firearms ... but it scared away a lot of people. We know, because they came into our shop and told us so. We loved that they open carried.
From a safety standpoint, I am not sure what impact open carry would have other than alerting others you have ready access to a handgun. Perhaps it is a deterrent or perhaps it gives the bad guys ideas for a different plan of attach. It would be interesting to hear from the security folks here who have a lot of experience.
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Couldn't you add bullet proof glass behind the bars? I'm glad you're okay. Were the robbers caught?
RIP Gary
So sorry to hear this news. I'm originally from Ft. Worth, though I haven't lived there in over 40 years. I still have family in the area, and in Dallas, and love the D/FW area. The Metroplex has such a rich numismatic history past and present (Max Mehl, Amon Carter Sr/Jr, Pogue, Simpson, Heritage, many more).
My warmest personal regards and deepest condolences to Gary's family and friends. A real shame.
Very bad news. It takes guts to stand behind the counter with valuable goods in the cases and vault.
I hate corrupting this very tragic thread, but I learned something ELSE that day.
I ....think.... they were caught.
However, when the cops brought mug shots by, I pointed to the guy and said, "I think that's him."
Which is WRONG!
The cops said if I hadn't said "THINK" they could hold him.
There is no penalty for wrong picks from a lineup. IF there were another time, I'd even point to SANTA CLAUS and say
THAT'S THE GUY !!!
Too bad we have to learn things the hard way.
OMG, terrible !!!!
RIP a courageous store owner. He went down fighting! Most of the time the cops say to give them everything.
I think some of the advantage of concealed carry is the element of surprise. It would appear that concealed carry would be preferred by a shop owner. I would assume that in an open carry situation, the first thing that a potential robber would do would be to disarm the open carry person.
Shop owner does all the work. Has to figure out security, camera placement and electronic surveillance. Concealed carry, open carry, does he just hand over everything or fight back.
Thug on the other hand worries about little, grabs a weapon and attempts a payday on the back of the working fellow.
At least in this tragedy, there is one less thug on the street.
My thoughts
If the shop owner is unarmed and cooperates fully with the robber's demands, there is a very good chance that he will be killed anyway since he can identify the perpetrators.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
I disagree. Many store owners are robbed at gun point and live to see another day. Armed robbery and premeditated murder are completely different crimes with completely different punishments and I'm sure they pass through the criminal's mind before they make a decision. Plus drawing on a drawn a gun is a bad decision, drawing on three drawn guns is a death sentence. Discretion is the better part of valor. Regardless, a hard working man was murdered by a pack of thieves and murderers which is always a tragedy. Hopefully the justice is draconian.
In regards to open and concealed carry I believe open carry is superior when you have numbers. Concealed carry when you are outmatched.
I think if I was the thief planning to perform an armed robbery on your establishment and during my scouting expedition I saw that you and your employees open carry I might pick an easier target. As far as scaring off potential customers this might just save your life which is more valuable than potential customers.
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Horrible, horrible news. RIP Gary. It's fantastic you popped one of these creatures. You made the world a little safer.
So sad...
Dave
I'm sorry to hear this.
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thats very sad to hear. condolences to his family