When attending a coin show as a buyer, do you.....

sebrown · February 5, 2009 4:05AM

Bring a reference guide / price guide to assist in purchase decisions? If so, which ones?

and

Do you go to the show with a list-in-hand of a few items that you're looking for, or do you purchase various items that you believe are such a good deal you just couldn't pass them up?

RWB · February 5, 2009 4:13AM

I just carry one of those large round all-day suckers and stuff $100’s in my shirt pocket.

mustanggt · February 5, 2009 4:14AM

I do bring a list of coins that I am looking to purchase and usually note the greysheet bid amounts in the grade I want and the amounts one grade higher and lower for reference. One of the frequent comments on this forum is that when you find the coin you want at the price you want buy it then becase if you cover the whole show and then come back it may be gone. For common coins this may not be a problem but for those less available I think it is good advice.

RYK · February 5, 2009 4:16AM

I usually bring Coin Values and a recent Greysheet. More importantly, my iphone so I can look up comps on Heritage Auction Archives online. That said, for most items I seek, I have a pretty good idea what they are worth.

I generally am looking for specific items. I do not go for "good deals" just because they are ostensibly so.

TwoSides2aCoin · February 5, 2009 4:17AM

LOL@RogerW.

I usually have a notebook with a few coins I am looking for. The cash is important, though.

crypto79 · February 5, 2009 4:23AM

I collect fringe stuff (Carson city Trade dollars and Peace VAM's) and know about how much all of the different price guides say, and the past few years of auction history. And what most dealers have them at. I would not recommend buying anything without a similar background knowledge if you're spending more the a few hundred$$$. 99% of the time I know more about what I am buying than the dealer selling it. One risks losing his shirt and money if it is the other way around being a unknown cold walk up at a show.

Longacre · February 5, 2009 4:24AM

I send my people to shows.

Just kidding-- I bring the most recent issue of Coin Values, and some cash and checks. I am unusual in that I normally don't know what I am looking to buy, and I tend to look at things that just seem to interest me and catch my eye.

mozeppa · February 5, 2009 4:31AM

only if I 'm looking for something specific.

as the diagnostics can be too many to memorize.

also i'll bring a good magnifying glass and a pocket microscope for the really small stuff....R.P.M.'s ...doubled dies...etc.

MarkInDavis · February 5, 2009 4:37AM

I load the entire PCGS price guide onto my iPod touch for reference. I also keep photos of all my coins there so I know what I have.

saintguru · February 5, 2009 4:45AM

Geezus...If I don't know EXACTLY what I need and what to pay I would quit right now.

A GUIDE?? A GUIDE??

maybe....

RedTiger · February 5, 2009 4:49AM

I carry a small slip of paper with relevant prices for my primary want list.

Elcontador · February 5, 2009 4:52AM

I purchase the most recent grey & blue sheets. Since I collect mostly type, I list the type coins and grades that interest me on a little note pad, which I use for reference. Re the other stuff which is not listed in both grey and blue sheets (like MS 66 items aren't in the greysheet), I check Heritage comps.

I also know people at shows who are happy to view prospective purchases. Dealers who know you will accept checks. Otherwise, stick to cash (and most of the ones I deal with also accept credit cards). Note - if you don't like carrying all of that cash around, you may be able to use an on site ATM if you see something you like. If you are going this route, check your limit before going to a show and make sure there is an ATM available there.

In my many years of coin collecting, I have only found one deal which I couldn't pass up. That was forty years ago at the end of a coin auction, there were only five people left, and no mail bids were accepted. Nowdays, only an absolute idiot will offer you a deal too good to pass up. Chances are, if you think you see such a deal, you're mistaken.

MidLifeCrisis · February 5, 2009 4:59AM

I typically go to coin shows with very specific coins in mind and will have done my research beforehand. As part of that, I will coordinate with a small group of dealers in advance of a show so that I know generally what they have and what the prices are.

I do sometimes bring a short list of coins that I'm considering and I will do research before the show so that I can include a price range and a grade range and any other notes I might feel are important.

ad4400 · February 5, 2009 5:01AM

For my core set (buffalo nickels) I have a running complication of prices realized from Heritage and other sources in Excel that I run a pivot table on to show the max, min and average prices across the grades I seek as well as a grade above and below. This doubles as my want list, although as a practical matter I know which few dates I am still seeking. I keep similar, but much less exhaustive prices on want lists for 7070 items I am actively seeking. Sometimes I carry a copy of CoinValues, sometimes not. If something strikes me as must have that wasn’t on my active list, I have a rapport with a couple of the dealers on the local circuit so that I feel comfortable asking them to look up Greysheet prices for me.

georgiacop50 · February 5, 2009 5:08AM

I always pay whatever the asking price is...

NOT!

RWB · February 5, 2009 5:38AM

I send my people to shows.

Longacre: I've seen “your people” and they look more like the “Girls Next Door” than anyone I’ve seen at a coin show.

JJM · February 5, 2009 5:43AM

Ill jot down the pricing info, etc on the handful of the ones I have on my
want list at the time on a index card. I tend to have around 6 on my
current hunt lists at any givin time

yellowjacket · February 5, 2009 5:56AM

I have an intense want list with grades/prices burned into my brain. I'm on a mission to find the right coins at the right prices.

Let's go!
Garrow

But I may take a price guide with me, too.

ElKevvo · February 5, 2009 6:07AM

I bring a 2 year old red book and a current one. I use them for research on an item and for a rough price comparison, shooting for the price in the 2 year old book. But if it something I really want then I just ask what the dealer is looking to get out of it and pay up.

K

PerryHall · February 5, 2009 6:09AM

Since most coin dealers are honest, I trust them to quote me a fair price.

Sorry..........I couldn't say this with a straight face.

ArizonaJack · February 5, 2009 6:16AM

I hit a show and look for underpriced coins and any exceptional for the grade that I might bump. I am also contractually obligated to return with some gold thingy or two for the Mrs.

OregonCityGold · February 5, 2009 6:18AM

All I know is that when I clicked on this thread, I thought for sure it was one of Longacre's posts.

shorecoll · February 5, 2009 8:10AM

I take a wad of hundreds lay it on the dealers case, point at the coin I want and tell them to take out what they need from my pile of cash.

Mercury10c · February 5, 2009 10:43AM

I usually have a greysheet in my pocket, but before I go to a show, I have a few major purchases
planned, and I know what I want to pay for them. I leave all my reference material in the hotel room
for the maids to steal.

COALPORTER · February 5, 2009 11:20AM

I bring a grey sheet. I use highliter pens to help with quick reading at a glance. I usually look at the coins in a dealers case and then go somewhere else to look it up in the grey sheet, because too many dealers get their little nosey bent if you pull the sheet out in front of them.

I leave the Red Book at home. I have allot of requard for the RB, but I think it makes one look like a newbee and the dealers will circle like sharks around a wounded seal.

I have written show goals before each show. Afterwards I have a post show review of my goals to see how well I did and if I stayed on course.

BigE2 · February 5, 2009 1:21PM

I generally have a current greysheet on me for buying. Sometimes I'll pull out a current RedBook and look stuff up. That ALWAYS puts a smile on a dealers face. Then pull the sheet out after asking a price.

astrorat · February 5, 2009 1:42PM

If it's a big show, I have to tote around Overton. I learned it the hard way after picking up a great CBH on the last day of the show that was misattributed by PCGS and as a result was priced three times the market for what it actually was. Fortunately, I contacted the dealer and he refunded the purchase price and took back the coin. It just took a few weeks to get it done. I was irritated as I REALLY wanted that variety!

Lane

saintguru · February 5, 2009 11:16PM

I'm really disappointed to read that you all don't KNOW your series' or want lists inside and out and what the coins are worth!!

That's like PHASE I of "doing your homework".

You pull out a price guide at a dealer's table and it says "pigeon" in every language known.

Maybe I'm too OCD, but when I want a coin I know the prices paid for the last 10 years, the pop of the coin and the precise tone of the market. No publications, just me, my loupe and a liar across the table from me.

MidLifeCrisis · February 5, 2009 11:53PM

Ummm....

Ahem, SG.

(You know I want to be like you when I grow up!

)

ricko · February 6, 2009 1:10AM

No and No. I believe if you do not know what you want, or what you are buying, you should leave, do research, then decide. Cheers, RickO

morganbarber · February 6, 2009 1:21AM

I have printouts of the PCGS price guide where I have marked which coins I have in which grades and certified by whom. It serves as an inventory, want list, and general price guide. Any guide one could possibly have needs to be severely adjusted based on eye-appeal and other factors.

When attending a coin show as a buyer, do you.....

Comments

Leave a Comment