Went to one of the hotel coin buying events...

csanotes · June 4, 2009 2:46AM

I live in the greater Boston, MA area and yesterday with a family member just for giggles we stopped at a hotel coin/jewelry/historical item buying event that is going on for 6 solid days at an area hotel. The company that is running it has taken out a 3 page ad in all big area newspapers atleast twice in the past week that I'm aware of showing all the kinds of items that they are interested in and the "up to $----" prices offered. I had to visit the bank anyways so I figured while there I would take a few coins out of the SDB to bring.

All told I had 9 coins. Four of the coins were bag toned graded morgans in ms 63 and 64--average retail about 650 a piece, an ms 65 norse medal, an ms 62 barber quarter and three raw coins-a cleaned uncirc. indian, an uncirc indian, and a ms 60'ish with album toning seated quarter. After having us sit inside a hotel room and place the coins on the table a "screener" guy came in with a loupe, said hi, was very personable and friendly looking over all of the coins. Obviously the ones in PCGS plastic did most of the work on their own as he really didn't have to inspect them, however he did comment "oh boy some collector really liked color"--that sorta made me feel warm and cozy

He did pick right up on the cleaned indian cent and said that someone will be right in to make an offer.

Long story short the total for coins was a whopping $350 dollars!! Haha..I nearly fell off my seat. By far one of the biggest coin "dealers" I've ever seen, sadly his offer wasn't as big as his waistline otherwise we woulda been all set. We just played it off to him as they were coins of an uncle who recently passed away. He used the bluebook, a well worn older version at that to price the coins. The company that put on the event is Anderson, Carter, Tira and Associates. They have a list a mile long of major urban cities they visit across the country so they may be coming soon to a hotel near you.

End thoughts--even though it was easy to process through and they were very friendly I can't help but think of all the people who have absolutely no clue what they have from relatives and go to visit a firm like this. The buying price they offered for each of the four rainbow bag toned morgans was $30 each--Not bad at all! All we could have done differently to further make them squirm as they look in the bluebook for prices would be to have brough a couple 65dmpl morgans and a one ounce gold bullion coin just to see what % of spot they offer. So, if anyone is ever looking for an afternoon worth a laugh and has a bit of time to conveniently kill I would highly suggest stopping in at one of these buying events near you.

Walmann · June 4, 2009 3:01AM

It is a given how this turned out as this is what takes place in most hotel rooms , with or without coins being involved.

coindeuce · June 4, 2009 3:05AM

Would this be like going to a comedy club with the expectation of a classical poetry recitation?

Rob85635 · June 4, 2009 3:13AM

A woman sold some coins to one of the travelling companies when they were in town for a week. She called us to report that she had been "taken advantage of" and wanted the police to do something. Long story short she sold the coins, signed the reciept and that in effect is a legally binding agreement to sell them for what she did. The unfortunate part is she waited until after to research the value and it turns out they paid her about 1/10 th of their value.

csanotes · June 4, 2009 3:16AM

Rob-sadly I think that what you said is the unfortunate truth with a lot of the outfits who travel to the hotel rooms. For the coins I had they maybe offered 1/9th...boy, I would have done great!

nicetoning42107 · June 4, 2009 3:23AM

Well, the $30 for the bag toned Morgans doesn't so much surprise me. Of all the esoteric value qualities of a coin, toning is near the top and can easily be written off to a newbie as actual damage and thus worth a discount and the newbie is likely to believe such.

CaptHenway · June 4, 2009 3:23AM

Why else do you think they keep doing this????

BAJJERFAN · June 4, 2009 3:27AM

So where do these places sell their new treasures?

Coinosaurus · June 4, 2009 3:39AM

I'd have no problem with these guys if they were at 50% of sheet. 10% just seems ridiculous.

They advertise heavily and create value by making it easy for people to turn old coins into cash. I don't begrudge them a profit, but at some point you've crossed the line.....

tjc2120 · June 4, 2009 4:10AM

Cheats, all of them. They know what they are doing and it goes far beyond reasonable business practices. If I had that guys job I would weight 300 lbs too what with all the emotional eating to deal with my sad, sad, sad existence.

GFourDriver · June 4, 2009 4:10AM

These "travelers" prey on the public who know nothing about coin values, or the scum that want to unload stolen goods. Quite a few of them are gypsy families that have several other scams going at the same time.

DoubleDime · June 4, 2009 4:18AM

I went to one of these events myself some time ago and also brought a few coins along to see if they paid "high prices" as stated in their ad. Bottom line, they didn't want to buy my coins but have me give them to them. Their "high prices" were a joke.

lcoopie · June 4, 2009 4:23AM

the parking lot may be a good place to buy coins from
folks as they are coming out

eyoung429 · June 4, 2009 4:36AM

Hell, I would have been out in the parking lot with a sandwich board offering more for the coins than what those rip-offs ever could pay

ajbauman · June 4, 2009 4:41AM

Oops.

Amigo · June 4, 2009 4:52AM

Hell, I would have been out in the parking lot with a sandwich board offering more for the coins than what those rip-offs ever could pay

I guess a few of us have thought of doing this ..... but it'd have to be off the hotel property, or the hotel would boot you out of the parking lot ..... hmmm, maybe rent a room from them with permission to advertise on property the same day ??????? Has anyone tried this ?

For kicks last year, I took in some coins as well. I took in 2 coins worth 500-1000 each, and some junk silver ..... the man said they were all just worth silver value and offered me 4x face ...... at the time silver was worth 10-11x face.

Bear · June 4, 2009 5:09AM

The bigger the size of the Ad, the bigger the scam.

guitarwes · June 4, 2009 5:44AM

<< It is a given how this turned out as this is what takes place in most hotel rooms , with or without coins being involved. >>

Now THAT is funny.....

<< The bigger the size of the Ad, the bigger the scam. >>

Now THAT is absolutely correct!.......

PerryHall · June 4, 2009 5:46AM

I keep hoping someone with a short temper and a .357 magnum discovers these guys ripped him off.

jmski52 · June 4, 2009 5:56AM

I wonder how much they'd offer for some of those Sacagawea "gold dollars" I have?

09sVDB · June 4, 2009 8:32AM

Yea there was a two page ad in yesterdays Boston Herald. Technically(very) they are not lying. They say UP TO a certain amout. It makes me sick to see how people are getting ripped.

PerryHall · June 4, 2009 8:37AM

<< I wonder how much they'd offer for some of those Sacagawea "gold dollars" I have? >>

If they are true to form, they would offer about ten cents each.

jdimmick · June 4, 2009 8:43AM

ever since I opened a B&M , Its amazing how many people come in to the shop to see what something is worth only to say I inherited these and know nothing about coins, but was thinking about selling. Numerous people say this as soon as they come in with something. Fortunately, I am an honest dealer and literally quote the same for the coins wether somebody knows or doesnt know. In fact , if my business fails, it will be becuase I was too honest.

Just last week , I had a guy come in with 2 Peace $, one was a 22 and the other a 28-P. I studied the 28 -p close to make sure it was a good coin. I told him this just happed to be a 3-4 hundred $ coin, the key to the set in circ and the guy had no clue.

This week, I had a guy come in with a couple of nice nice gold coins inc a 73 $20 Lib in UNC. I offered him several thousand for the two coins , ther other a $5 lib nice unc and the guy litearlly fell out of the chair. I could have paid him 600 bucks for the two coins and he would have been happy and fine and would have had no idea.

Point is, many people dont do any re-search at all before going to B & M 's with stuff to sell.

One dealer that visits my shop brought in a 16-d mercury dime in Good to get graded, he bought it at the Charlotte coin show this past weekend. The lady he bought the coins from told him that see had taken these same coins into a local shop in Charlotte, and the dealer pulled the 16-d and the 21 's out of the blue whitman and tossed them into a bag and told her they were just silver. He offered her all of 880.00 for the group of coins.Luckily she passed and carried them to the show there this weekend. He paid her just short of 7 k for the same group of coins, and still had 15-20% profit margin!!!

Veep · June 4, 2009 8:50AM

Its not just the "travelling" road show that is doing this. Pick up the Chicago Tribune any day of the week and you will see ads (often full-page) for local companies set up at 4-5 different places in the area every single day. They also have billboards along the expressways and fliers in the local shoppers that get mailed to your house. Its sickening to think what is happening to the poor souls who go there.

BAJJERFAN · June 4, 2009 10:11AM

Apparently there must be an endless supply of these easy marks.

pocketpiececommems · June 4, 2009 10:27AM

What do they offer on 1 oz gold bullion coins?

PerryHall · June 4, 2009 10:29AM

<< What do they offer on 1 oz gold bullion coins? >>

Full face value!!!!!!!!!!

MoneyCollector · June 4, 2009 10:49AM

We all need to make sure our heirs don't end up selling to these guys!

Bear · June 4, 2009 10:51AM

Hell is too good for these jerks.

Send em to grade Moderns

24/7, for all eternity.

Barry · June 4, 2009 10:58AM

I often wonder how these guys and the timeshare salesmen sleep at night.

lkenefic · June 4, 2009 11:07AM

One of these traveling coin-buying firms set up in a hotel in Flagstaff. I heard the some of the local collectors/dealers got together and held signs across the street warning the public of the scam. I still don't think it did much good... L

Walkerguy21D · June 4, 2009 11:07AM

<< What do they offer on 1 oz gold bullion coins? >>

My wholesale buddy crosses paths with 'estate guys' from time to time in the course of biz....one of them was bragging that he had acquired some of the mint issued platinum coins after telling the sellers they were made of silver....that is just outright criminal in my mind.

speety · June 4, 2009 11:43AM

Just because I'm such a good guy i'll give you double their offer... just PM me your address.

MsMorrisine · June 4, 2009 12:03PM

<< the parking lot may be a good place to buy coins from
folks as they are coming out >>

Hmm..... the parking lot "going in" to make better offers and get run off by the police for the other solicitation...
or you could rent a space in the same hotel...

csanotes · June 4, 2009 1:08PM

Boy, to be offered double what they said...hmmmm?!?! Tempting, very tempting.

TwoSides2aCoin · June 4, 2009 1:23PM

I'm scared when eager buyers pay below market value and the people who never accepted my offer end up selling to these guys for less. I guess it's that old "walmart" mentality. We Sell for LESS.

WTCG · June 4, 2009 1:35PM

This just shows that sellers should educate themselves to an extent before selling anything, whether it be coins or cars.

Trying to lowball the public isn't exclusive to the hotel room buyers. Coin shop people often make offers just as low.

One incident I still remember happened to me about 10 years ago when I first started buying slabbed coins. Just to try things out I brought an NGC graded 1884-CC Morgan Dollar in MS65 into a local coin shop that I had not been to previously to see what the dealer there would pay for it. The coin was worth about $180 at the time. Upon inspecting it, the dealer mumbled something about not trusting NGC and subsequently he offered to "take the coin off my hands" for a whopping...$10. To this day a decade later I still do not think highly of this dealer.

Longacre · June 5, 2009 2:40AM

I wonder how these people would survive if they had a real job.

2ndCharter · June 5, 2009 7:05AM

I put most of the blame squarely on the original collectors of these coins that wind up at the hotel buyers. Too many of them think they're going to live forever and, consequently, leave no instructions behind for their heirs as to the proper disposition of their collections. Yes, I know, many of these collectors don't share info with their families because they're either paranoid (in many cases, rightfully so) or because no one in the family shows any interest in their collections. However, a simple note in the safe or SDB could stop a lot of these rip-offs. When the time comes, I have left clear instructions for my family so, if they don't want to keep my collection, they'll at least get the maximum dollar for it.

oxy8890 · June 5, 2009 8:45AM

<< the parking lot may be a good place to buy coins from
folks as they are coming out >>

You might want to make an offer before they go in

Geoman · June 5, 2009 8:55AM

I have a similar story as well, as I once brought in a coin to those hotel buyers, knowing what I had was worth about $500. I was offered only $50 for it. Long story short, I said no thanks and started to walk out. They kept following me upping their offers out the door and down the hallway. By the time I got to the elevator, the offer was $200. I told them that they had originally offered me only $50, and that I thought they were trying to rip me off. So I have no intention of selling it at any price. At which time they cursed me out and walked away.

So, the bigger question is how to stop this??? I have posted an alert on my website informing anyone who visits my site the dangers of selling coins to firms like this. I don't state all firms do it, but a vast majority do. Education is the key, and the more we can inform the public about firms like this (even Cash4Gold.com is a rip off) the better off we will be as collectors.

SanctionII · June 5, 2009 9:52AM

I did the same some years ago. I took some proof sets from 1936-1950 and a Dansco 7070 album with some nice coins to a hotel buyer. They offered me about 30% on the dollar.

Cameonut · June 5, 2009 10:01AM

I have always wanted to do this. Hopefully I will get the chance soon.

These people can afford to be friendly - you don't want to scare away the easy marks. I can only imagine what their offers will be when I show them some of my treasures. Should be an interesting discussion.

I recall someone wanting to set up a competing operation in the same hotel. I think it was in a previous thread. A great idea - the scam artists spend the long dollar on advertising and you can get some of the action and 'compete' with the scammers.

Went to one of the hotel coin buying events...

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