When I was much younger, I asked a dealer at a coin show if I could see a coin in his case. He said "No. You can't afford it." Actually, I had a lot of money and I could have very easily afforded it. I saw this dealer at many subsequent coin shows and I always just walked past his table.
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
@PerryHall said:
When I was much younger, I asked a dealer at a coin show if I could see a coin in his case. He said "No. You can't afford it." Actually, I had a lot of money and I could have very easily afforded it. I saw this dealer at many subsequent coin shows and I always just walked past his table.
The worst experience I had a show had to do with ID badges. A promoter, who is now deceased, had his badges in a heavy device which could barely hang on your shirt. The thing fell off when I was at a dealers table, and I didn’t realize it. Security flagged me and escorted me off the bourse. I tried to explain to the people at the front desk, which included the promoter’s wife but it was like talking to a brick. They were totally nasty.
I finally went back to my hotel room and got the letter I had received after I had paid to preregister. I got back into the bourse using that. Later I went back to the dealer’s table where I had been and found the badge on the floor under his table.
Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
I went to a very large three day regional show and I was a couple hours late because traffic was a mess. It was jam packed and it was next to impossible to view anything. Finally I spotted a table that had only one customer. As I got closer to the table I was driven back by the stench of a guy that hadn’t showered in a month. After I finally stopped gagging, I had to tip my hat to him for his clever strategy to be able to relax and essentially get first dibs on anything he wanted.
@Colonialcoin, how did the dealer react to the smell of his customer? I hope the smelly guy had an equally strong checkbook.
Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
@PerryHall said:
When I was much younger, I asked a dealer at a coin show if I could see a coin in his case. He said "No. You can't afford it." Actually, I had a lot of money and I could have very easily afforded it. I saw this dealer at many subsequent coin shows and I always just walked past his table.
Yea, I had that line dropped on me at a New York City show when I was in my early twenties. I had a couple thousand in the bank to spend, which was decent money in the early 1970s.
Later, when I analyzed the dealer’s pricing policies, I saw that he was right. Given what he charged, I could buy elsewhere for less. He was right. “I couldn’t afford it.”:
“You can’t afford that.” Is one of dumbest comments a dealer can make. There is no upside.
Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
“You can’t afford that.” Is one of dumbest comments a dealer can make. There is no upside.
Agreed!
Fortunately I’ve only heard it, or had it implied, rarely.
What I really appreciate though is a dealer who has an interesting “big” coin, but lets you examine it w/o even asking.
I struggled with buying a very low barely four figures large cent a few years back but eventually pulled the trigger. The dealer was very polite all the way through. After I wrote the check, he pulled out a high grade mid-five figure 1793 wreath cent in an OGH from behind the case, saying that I realize it’s probably not in your budget, but since you like large cents, I thought you might enjoy to see this…which I most certainly did, and thanked him heartily for letting me study it.
@Colonialcoin @BillJones
I had a similar experience as a dealer many years ago, a guy came up to my table smelling soooo bad!
I put up with as long as i could then politely asked him to leave…
@Colonialcoin @BillJones
I had a similar experience as a dealer many years ago, a guy came up to my table smelling soooo bad!
I put up with as long as i could then politely asked him to leave…
Kinda similar experience years ago at the C4 show in Boston (If memory serves….). Walked out of the bourse to make a call (flip phone days!!), a dealer was out there also on the phone with his back to me and he broke the most remarkable wind, right in my direction. Was quite vile yet amusing at the same time.
I loved and miss that show, always looked forward to it.
Other passions include golf, Moto Guzzi motorcycles, and Euro motorcycles in general.
Chris
This was a long time ago. Some little meat head saw me put my magnifying glass in my pocket and thought it was a coin. Security took me in the back room and did a cavity search, of course not really but about that embarrassing.
Comments
When I was much younger, I asked a dealer at a coin show if I could see a coin in his case. He said "No. You can't afford it." Actually, I had a lot of money and I could have very easily afforded it. I saw this dealer at many subsequent coin shows and I always just walked past his table.
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
Theres a few i do that with......
The worst experience I had a show had to do with ID badges. A promoter, who is now deceased, had his badges in a heavy device which could barely hang on your shirt. The thing fell off when I was at a dealers table, and I didn’t realize it. Security flagged me and escorted me off the bourse. I tried to explain to the people at the front desk, which included the promoter’s wife but it was like talking to a brick. They were totally nasty.
I finally went back to my hotel room and got the letter I had received after I had paid to preregister. I got back into the bourse using that. Later I went back to the dealer’s table where I had been and found the badge on the floor under his table.
I went to a very large three day regional show and I was a couple hours late because traffic was a mess. It was jam packed and it was next to impossible to view anything. Finally I spotted a table that had only one customer. As I got closer to the table I was driven back by the stench of a guy that hadn’t showered in a month. After I finally stopped gagging, I had to tip my hat to him for his clever strategy to be able to relax and essentially get first dibs on anything he wanted.
@Colonialcoin, how did the dealer react to the smell of his customer? I hope the smelly guy had an equally strong checkbook.
Yea, I had that line dropped on me at a New York City show when I was in my early twenties. I had a couple thousand in the bank to spend, which was decent money in the early 1970s.
Later, when I analyzed the dealer’s pricing policies, I saw that he was right. Given what he charged, I could buy elsewhere for less. He was right. “I couldn’t afford it.”:
“You can’t afford that.” Is one of dumbest comments a dealer can make. There is no upside.
Agreed!
Fortunately I’ve only heard it, or had it implied, rarely.
What I really appreciate though is a dealer who has an interesting “big” coin, but lets you examine it w/o even asking.
I struggled with buying a very low barely four figures large cent a few years back but eventually pulled the trigger. The dealer was very polite all the way through. After I wrote the check, he pulled out a high grade mid-five figure 1793 wreath cent in an OGH from behind the case, saying that I realize it’s probably not in your budget, but since you like large cents, I thought you might enjoy to see this…which I most certainly did, and thanked him heartily for letting me study it.
I hope that the dealer made some money. I certainly wasn’t going to stick around to find out.
@Colonialcoin
@BillJones
I had a similar experience as a dealer many years ago, a guy came up to my table smelling soooo bad!
I put up with as long as i could then politely asked him to leave…
Kinda similar experience years ago at the C4 show in Boston (If memory serves….). Walked out of the bourse to make a call (flip phone days!!), a dealer was out there also on the phone with his back to me and he broke the most remarkable wind, right in my direction. Was quite vile yet amusing at the same time.
I loved and miss that show, always looked forward to it.
Other passions include golf, Moto Guzzi motorcycles, and Euro motorcycles in general.
Chris
This was a long time ago. Some little meat head saw me put my magnifying glass in my pocket and thought it was a coin. Security took me in the back room and did a cavity search, of course not really but about that embarrassing.