Gaithersburg Coin Exchange (MD)?

BigBen · May 11, 2006 8:07AM

Geez has anybody been there before? I've tried for 3 weeks calling them to ask if they had certain types of coins AND wanting to come down and look and I've been hung up on several times, put on hold twice for 15 mins then hung up on, and then finally getting a hold of someone, didn't even get an apology for this rude behavior. They even told me that they were too busy with bullion right now and not to even come down if I want to look through their coin inventory! I asked when is a good time and they said come down on a Saturday between 10 and 2pm. Guess what? I did come that Saturday and the main guy who told me to come and who needed to be there wasn't there. I've called and been to some bad businesses before, but this is the first one that came right out and told me they didn't want my business (though they are supposed to be a large area US coin dealer).

Anybody else been there recently? I don't normally name businesses like this but the treatemt I've received over a 3 week period has been abominable and I think people should know before wasting their time at this place.

PS- I'm always polite when I call these places, much more polite than they usually are, so I didn't give them a hard time

BigBen

ColonialCoinUnion · May 11, 2006 8:11AM

I think it would be appropriate at this point to take your business elsewhere.

PerryHall · May 11, 2006 8:12AM

I tried to buy from them in the early 80's and the were very rude and nasty to me. Never went back. I guess some things never change.

Julian · May 11, 2006 8:31AM

I know them well and will tell you that their main business is bullion.

They have been overwhelmed, to put it mildly.

I had a large deal that I wanted to do with them and they just were not able to.

My suggestion would be to wait until such time as bullion is calmer and try again.

They have many coins, but at this time, they are just unable to deal with collectors.

Klif50 · May 11, 2006 8:39AM

I knew them well in the late 70s and early 80s when I worked for Coins of Laurel. They were our "go to" guys when we needed to get rid of silver but didn't have enough to interest the big boys. They basically shut down their coin operation and did nothing but bullion during the big run up. We made a run to their shop at least once a day. Had bags with each denominaton of silver, bags of gold rings sorted by K, and bags for smashed tea sets and smashed out silver candle holders. They were all armed and had an armed guard at the door. Several times I stood in line for 45 minutes to an hour with my junk on a hand truck waiting my turn at the counting machines and the check writers. They set the "buy rate" each day for just about every coin store in Maryland, DC or Virginia.

When they aren't buried under with bullion during normal times they have always had a good inventory and have been very nice. At least that is my experience during the earlier rush. I also ran into Julian there as well as at Coins of Laurel and I even bought a pretty nice 1921-D Mercury at one of the shoes. Thanks Julian.

I also met Walter Breen but that's a story for another time. It was obvious when I met him that my knowledge and experience didn't even come close to a level where we could have a coin conversation. It was like I was a first grader and he was a college professor. I couldn't even ask an intelligent question (ok, maybe it was semi-intelligent to ask about the infrequent reeding on some of the silver dollars).

Cliff

Fountainhead · May 11, 2006 9:03AM

Yes. These are the people I wrote about last week, who were mostly interested in buying bullion and selling only if they had to! Yeah, I got hung up on too when I called, but that's par for the course - perhaps they're not quite as overwhelmed as Julian says, but they do have their priorities. A fine and honest outfit - they didn't have to pay me extra for the 90% Frankie they found in my bag of 40%.

charley · May 11, 2006 9:42AM

Julian you are answering in a very Gentlemanly and courteous way, as usual and as we have come to expect. My thoughts on Gburg vary somewhat from yours, in their dealings with Numismatists. IMHO, Gburg is certainly lacking the "Julian" approach. Respectfully, John Curlis

MICHAELDIXON · May 11, 2006 9:52AM

I was at Gaithersburg Coin Exchange today. The place was packed with dealers and collectors selling bullion. When I say packed, they were packed! Unfortunately, they do not have time to work the phones and walk in customers. Things will get better next week. They have initiated a policy that they will only take dealers on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I've dealt with them for years and they are great!

Fountainhead · May 11, 2006 10:07AM

I imagine GCE can become packed all too easily. They have all those coin cabinets on the floor, with only a 3' space between them. I suppose that's from back-in-the-day when they had to entice walk-ins to buy something. Obviously they've been around long enough to see the worst of the bullion markets.

And no, they don't have the Julian approach; I know because I'm a customer of both. GCE for speedy and fair bullion deals, Julian for numismatic judgment, guidance, and good taste. Hence the different approach of each to the customer. It's like comparing apples and oranges - you can't say which fruit you prefer, as that depends upon the occasion.

BigBen · May 11, 2006 10:19AM

They've given me the strong impression that they take potential customers for granted, not because they are too busy, but because of the attitude. I guess some folks don't care how bad their reputation is? I just don't care to ever spend my money there

Cheers,

BigBen

Cnitas · May 11, 2006 10:24AM

If they are truly that busy, shouldn't they hire another employee?
BTW, I am only about an hour from there and I suppose I would be a potential customer...

RickMilauskas · May 11, 2006 10:25AM

I've had mixed dealings on a small scale.

They have been nice a few times when I was selling bullion but a few times when I was interested in buying some coins I left my number as the owner wasn't in and never received a call. i even phoned them up again to see if they could help me out and had no response.

Must be nice to have money falling in your lap.

They do have a great inventory of coins.

charley · May 11, 2006 10:56AM

Good Evening, Mike. Another Gentlemanly response, as I would expect from you, also. Permit me to respectfully differ in my thoughts. Respectfully, John

Fountainhead · May 11, 2006 11:10AM

I just don't care to ever spend my money there

Ah, but is their money good enough for you?

charley · May 11, 2006 11:29AM

Fountainhead, sounds like we are back to your apples and oranges .Respectfully, John Curlis

rhedden · May 11, 2006 11:51PM

Has anyone here ever gone into GCE and asked the owner for a lower price on one of their coins?

morgannut2 · May 12, 2006 5:48AM

All I want to know is what they pay over face for minor 90% silver coins.

slipgate · May 12, 2006 6:13AM

Has anyone tried the coin shop on Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda? I've been thinking of going in.

morgannut2 · May 12, 2006 6:15AM

NO, name and where in Bethesda---near the Beltway?

Stork · May 12, 2006 9:35AM

<< <i>Has anyone tried the coin shop on Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda? I've been thinking of going in. >>

Yes, and I was disapointed. Mostly stamp oriented, I have no idea how they rate there. Small, not alot to look at and, especially egregious, No Darkside. On the plus side I got a parking spot right in front and if I really wanted to I could walk there from work. I'd be interested to know if anyone else has been there and found the keys to the backroom or something. Friendly guy there, but I found it not interesting.

There is another store up the Pike a bit, recommended to me by Julian as a matter of fact. I am blanking on the name, but they are near the Best Buy and an Indian restaurant. I've enjoyed going thereseveral times. While there I saw some regulars stopping in, which is nice. Helpful and friendly, plus I bought my favorite chopped-up yen there

.

Julian's Bonanza Coins is in downtown Silver Spring, with a large parking garage nearby. Great to poke around in. Wonderfully polite, friendly and helpful as you can all imagine. I'm a boring, small-potatos type buyer (asking about Japanese and bullion when I walk through the door), and have been treated well the times I've been in.

I've gone out to the Gaithersburg place three times. It was closed twice. The one time it was open they sold me a sovereign for right at melt. Too bad my hubby was there, or I might have bought a few more

. I also got:

. Not alot of darkside and not the friendliest place, but hey I got the coolest slab ever

. Didn't seem like a place to hang though. In fact, I had the day off today and thought about heading out there. I went to Nordstoms instead.

In case anyone wanted my quickie reviews of the 4 coin shops I know of within a 10 mile radius (or so) of the Naval Hospital

Cathy

Fountainhead · May 13, 2006 1:11PM

The one near Best Buy is Coins of the Realm.

Stork · May 23, 2006 10:04AM

Well, I went back to the GCE today... it was open

(maybe I should have been reading the hours open sign prominently placed on the door before I complained about them not being open before).

I saw the dealer sign for Tuesday/Thursay so there were a few people doing deals while I was there. There were enough people working so that after I'd been there a few minutes I was asked if I needed help which was nice. I don't look at enough US coins to say how their selection was, they had slabbed and raw, but I just don't know how they rate in that category.

There wasn't all that much Darkside which is what I usually am after, but a nice lady was friendly as she pulled out an Albanian mint set and wasn't offended when I didn't want it. She also showed me a Chinese dollar, but again it wasn't quite what I wanted. No Japanese coins.

So then I asked about bullion and they had what I wanted at a VERY good price. My quickie comparasion to APMEX.com and CNI.com when I got home showed I got a better price by a couple dollars for a one ounce gold Aussie Lunar, and a couple 10 oz silver bars.

Overall I found them to be friendly and helpful, even though I was there on 'dealer day' and started off by asking about a couple of cheapie things. Plus the bullion prices were great. I think I will be heading out there for my (unfortunately rare) bullion buys from now on...and to date I have been a confirmed on-line buyer. No worries about ebay, paying for registered mail etc.

Cathy

Fountainhead · May 23, 2006 10:49AM

At least you were able to buy something, Cathy! I didn't have quite such good luck...

ABC123 · May 23, 2006 12:23PM

The more things change--the more things remain the same !

Gaithersburg Coin Exchange (MD)?

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