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Funny coin buying stories
au58
Posts: 1,288 ✭✭✭
The story by Jade about the guy with the 1910 dime reminded me of this.
In 1979, at the height of the gold and silver boom, I was working for a guy who was running a gold and silver buying operation. He ran a store front in Detroit. No inventory, just bundles of cash, coin counters, and hoppers full of everything made of silver.
My job was to recover anything of numismatic value. It's amazing what the definition of "numismatic value" is when silver is approaching $50/oz. Nearly full sets of Walking Liberty Half Dollars had almost no numismatic value.
One day, a woman came in with one of the most beautiful sterling coffee and tea services I have ever seen. Very ornate and very heavy. Absolutely fantastic.
On the scale it went, bought and sold by the ounce.
There was a hopper in the back corner of the room, about 13 or 14 feet behind the counter. The guy picked up the whole set, tray and all, and flung the coffee pot, tea pot, creamer, and sugar over his shoulder in one sweeping motion. He then tried to throw the tray into the hopper, like a frisbee. At that precise moment, his partner walked out of the back room. Instead of landing in the hopper, the tray hit his partner right in the forehead.
There was blood everywhere. The gash in his forehead was about 2 or 3 inches long. It looked nasty. But business is business and by the time we got the mess cleaned up, there were four or five more people in line. So, instead of going to the hospital where he belonged, we wrapped his head up and all went back to work. He was fine afterall, just needed about 10 or 12 stitches.
Any others you would like to share?
In 1979, at the height of the gold and silver boom, I was working for a guy who was running a gold and silver buying operation. He ran a store front in Detroit. No inventory, just bundles of cash, coin counters, and hoppers full of everything made of silver.
My job was to recover anything of numismatic value. It's amazing what the definition of "numismatic value" is when silver is approaching $50/oz. Nearly full sets of Walking Liberty Half Dollars had almost no numismatic value.
One day, a woman came in with one of the most beautiful sterling coffee and tea services I have ever seen. Very ornate and very heavy. Absolutely fantastic.
On the scale it went, bought and sold by the ounce.
There was a hopper in the back corner of the room, about 13 or 14 feet behind the counter. The guy picked up the whole set, tray and all, and flung the coffee pot, tea pot, creamer, and sugar over his shoulder in one sweeping motion. He then tried to throw the tray into the hopper, like a frisbee. At that precise moment, his partner walked out of the back room. Instead of landing in the hopper, the tray hit his partner right in the forehead.
There was blood everywhere. The gash in his forehead was about 2 or 3 inches long. It looked nasty. But business is business and by the time we got the mess cleaned up, there were four or five more people in line. So, instead of going to the hospital where he belonged, we wrapped his head up and all went back to work. He was fine afterall, just needed about 10 or 12 stitches.
Any others you would like to share?
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Now that's a numismatist!
Joe.
Didn't wanna get me no trade
Never want to be like papa
Working for the boss every night and day
--"Happy", by the Rolling Stones (1972)
TorinoCobra71
<< <i>My job was to recover anything of numismatic value. >>
Did you ever find anything that had any real numismatic value? I wonder what incredible rareties were lost during the silver boom?
I did look at anything in Whitman folders though.
If a full set of Walkers came in (there were more than a few), I would take the 16-s (obv) and everything dated 1921. I'd glance at the stuff dated 1919 to see if they were decent (as I recall, decent was Fine or better).
There was nothing of numismatic value in an average set of Franklin Halves. Heck, we bought many full sets of AU/BU Franklins at bullion value.
The thing that bugs me the most though are the Barbers. Only a few key dates were worth keeping. To this day, I wonder about stuff like 1905 and 1905-O that are very tough today above Fine. I don't even remember looking at them back then.
Despite what some believe though, I am not sure that all of this stuff was ever melted (at least at the time). A lot of the stuff was bagged into $1,000 bags and went right to the bullion dealers. There was a very active market in bags of coins then. They may have been melted since, but we were bagging more than was being sent to the smelters.
<< <i>There was nothing of numismatic value in an average set of Franklin Halves. >>
Forgive me if you've already read it.
Poetic Justice: The Scammer Who Scammed Himself
Collector since 1976. On the CU forums here since 2001.
<< <i>There was nothing of numismatic value in an average set of Franklin Halves. Heck, we bought many full sets of AU/BU Franklins at bullion value. >>
At the behest of one of the members I'm taking this one on by saying, numismatic value is whatever it means to you. To a small child just starting to collect, an MS63 set of Franklins might seem like a bonanza, while for some of us, only MS65FBL coins and above will do.
During the silver boom I hear it tell that Franklins were melted down by the truckload, and yet look how many we still have around. One has to wonder how many 1949S Prooflikes, magnificently toned mint set issues, 1953S' in MS63FBL or better, and gem 1960's pieces, met their demise at the cauldron. Add to this that the Franklin half was really the last half dollar to circulate widely, and what you have today is a good market for MS64FBL or better coins.
Give me a market where silver is going for $50 an ounce, and I'll be the first one selling low grade Franklins by the bucketfull - except that I'd go through them first
<< <i>Here's one of my favorite yarns, which arose from a personal experience of mine. It's been published in a few places. I'll link to the version on Carl Wohlforth's page, so I don't have to retype it. (Thanks, Carl).
Forgive me if you've already read it.
Poetic Justice: The Scammer Who Scammed Himself >>
Thanks again, LordM!
I've always loved that one, and it's always worth another read!
I grew up in Black Mountain, NC in the 1950s. At that time it was nothing for a 6 year old to walk the mile to town (1000 pop). On one of my walks to town I look down and see a bright penny. I pick it up and see that everything on the front is stamped twice, 1955. Well I know it's counterfiet but hey, what the heck, there's a gumball machine nearby. I walk over, look around then quickly put the penny in and turn the knob. I get a grubby little handfull of gumballs and liitle plasic toys. I take off like a bat outta hell thinking I'm gonna get cought using counterfiet money.
A couple years later my brother shows me a blue book with than penny going for $25. My Mom brought home $30 a week back then.
W.C. Fields
I once found a Wheat cent stuck in a wall along the sidewalk there. Wasn't a 1955 DDO, though.
PS- thanks, DJC.
Collector since 1976. On the CU forums here since 2001.
<< <i>I grew up in Black Mountain, NC in the 1950s. At that time it was nothing for a 6 year old to walk the mile to town (1000 pop). On one of my walks to town I look down and see a bright penny. I pick it up and see that everything on the front is stamped twice, 1955. Well I know it's counterfiet but hey, what the heck, there's a gumball machine nearby. I walk over, look around then quickly put the penny in and turn the knob. I get a grubby little handfull of gumballs and liitle plasic toys. I take off like a bat outta hell thinking I'm gonna get cought using counterfiet money. >>
jim
<< <i>Several remember melting complete sets of circ morgans >>
Don't you believe it! Maybe.....MAYBE.....some of the "Johnny come lately" converted gas station silver "exchanges" but any dealer who got sets in at that time (Morgans) popped out any KEYS.
It's NEVER too busy to make some more money.
And if you have spent enough time with coins, the RARE ones pop out at you. Can't explain it, but it happens. You see so many common coins that they begin to look familiar. Maybe an "innate" VAM recorder or something. But the UNCOMMON ones don't LOOK like the common ones.
I recall getting a bulk half bag of dollars for an order and I was just COUNTING em to make sure there were 500. Blang! Wot's dis? A 94 phillie? .....scoot..... count count count.
Coins you don't see OFTEN ....are.... different.
But the sterling and gold.....yep..... a tragedy. I remember a GORGEOUS solid gold NON MONOGRAMMED but elaborately filigreed 18k cigarette case. 9 oz. of FINE gold. Heavy sucker. Tried everyone I knew and NO buyers for a premium over melt. Whack! Into the box.
Slick (well worn) Morgan Dollars and Peace Dollars hardly got a look. At first, I thought I would go blind trying to distinguish 1923 Peace Dollars from 1928 Peace Dollars. Pretty soon though, I concluded that if it was bright and shiny that it was not a 1928. I did find a few though (less than a dozen, as I recall). The only other Peace Dollar dates I was looking for were 1921 and 34-S.
I did find MANY dollars dated 1894-O and 1895-O. To this day, these two dates are overrated. Apparently, most of them survived, at least until 1979.
Also found a few (maybe 75 or 80) CC dollars. Most (about 80%) were 1890-CC, a few dated 1878-CC, and even fewer 92-CC and 93-CC.
About 1 in 15 or 1 in 20 Mercury Dime sets had a coin in the 16-D hole. These went into the "special" cigar box. About half were ultimately judged to be fake.