How do dealers come up with their price codes?
notlogical
Posts: 2,235 ✭
I thought it would be kind of cool to make one. Are they usually an alphabetic code with a numeric reference? I want one that's easy to remember without being too easy to figure out. Any suggestions?
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... "Fascinating, but not logical"
"Live long and prosper"
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... "Fascinating, but not logical"
"Live long and prosper"
My "How I Started" columns
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All you need is a 10 letter word!
methodical
Recipient of the coveted "You Suck" award, April 2009 for cherrypicking a 1833 CBHD LM-5, and April 2022 for a 1835 LM-12, and again in Aug 2012 for picking off a 1952 FS-902.
There's a great mnemonic for remembering this, by the way!
60 years into this hobby and I'm still working on my Lincoln set!
Or you can use an 11 letter word or phrase with one repeating letter to represent zero to make it a little harder to decipher.
<< <i>All you need is a 10 letter word! >>
Now that's logical!!!
Thanks
... "Fascinating, but not logical"
"Live long and prosper"
My "How I Started" columns
<< <i>Charleston!
All you need is a 10 letter word! >>
...with no duplicate letters!
So you could use:
c=1, h=2... so for a cost of $250 your code would be HLN.
or c=0, h=1...
or do it backwards.
or add extra letters which have no meaning in the code to confuse people. Take HLN above and add meaningless letters to get to HDPLBNX.
Many, many variations.
New collectors, please educate yourself before spending money on coins; there are people who believe that using numismatic knowledge to rip the naïve is what this hobby is all about.
<< <i>I figured that if I mixed in Latin, Hebrew, and Greek characters, it would get complicated to crack. Judging by my asking a few people whom I know would understand the reasoning behind some of the code (whether or not they knew of it is a different story), I'm going to keep with my thoughts that it's hard to crack. >>
I was going to use Hebrew and Greek characters.....
bob
Another that does not know that I cracked his code ..... BRICKOVENS
[ no, he is not bright enough to read this board ]
********************
Silver is the mortar that binds the bricks of loyalty.
1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
F I S H M O N G E R
2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
So you could express the cost of $295 as either 1SRO or 2IEM
or mix it up even more and throw in nonsense letters that you just disregard, e.g. 1XSRO or 2ZIEM
dontbelazy
Too many positive BST transactions with too many members to list.
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<< <i>I figured that if I mixed in Latin, Hebrew, and Greek characters, it would get complicated to crack. Judging by my asking a few people whom I know would understand the reasoning behind some of the code (whether or not they knew of it is a different story), I'm going to keep with my thoughts that it's hard to crack. >>
Man, I guess so!!
... "Fascinating, but not logical"
"Live long and prosper"
My "How I Started" columns
... "Fascinating, but not logical"
"Live long and prosper"
My "How I Started" columns
I used to mark my coins that I purchased with how much I paid this way. If it was less than $100, I would add in another letter that wasn't in the code just to make it 3 letters.
$47 = CMH
$347 = ACH
I thought it was kinda fun to do this, but eventually didn't really see the need if I wasn't a dealer.
I just like codes breaking/making.
<< <i>Or 2 words - "BLACK RHINO".
I used to mark my coins that I purchased with how much I paid this way. If it was less than $100, I would add in another letter that wasn't in the code just to make it 3 letters.
$47 = CMH
$347 = ACH
I thought it was kinda fun to do this, but eventually didn't really see the need if I wasn't a dealer.
I just like codes breaking/making. >>
I would venture a guess that a lot of non-dealers use codes to keep actual prices paid a mystery to their wives
C-O-I-N-W-E-R-L-D = 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9 with "X" representing 0
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
<< <i>The goal is to use a code so complicated that you yourself cannot figure it out. >>
I especially like the ones that use Greek letters. I am sure that they have no idea what they paid for the coins.
If you buy enough coins from a dealer, especially over a broad price range, you can often crack the code. Of course, if you are that good a customer, they will often tell you what they paid, but that's no fun!
<< <i>
<< <i>The goal is to use a code so complicated that you yourself cannot figure it out. >>
I especially like the ones that use Greek letters. I am sure that they have no idea what they paid for the coins.
If you buy enough coins from a dealer, especially over a broad price range, you can often crack the code. Of course, if you are that good a customer, they will often tell you what they paid, but that's no fun! >>
I used to write my planned bids in the catalog in Japanese, which I would then decipher immediately after the lot in question was hammered down to someone else for 20% less than my max.
<< <i>
<< <i>The goal is to use a code so complicated that you yourself cannot figure it out. >>
I especially like the ones that use Greek letters. I am sure that they have no idea what they paid for the coins. >>
There's a nearby dealer who uses Greek letters, and he's from Greece. I'm sure he knows!
New collectors, please educate yourself before spending money on coins; there are people who believe that using numismatic knowledge to rip the naïve is what this hobby is all about.
You could get you a bombe like the one at the National Cryptologic Museum, but moving this about the bourse might be a problem.
"Keep your malarkey filter in good operating order" -Walter Breen
<< <i>Charleston!
All you need is a 10 letter word! >>
Not original enough. I know of three separate dealers who use that code.
Authorized dealer for PCGS, PCGS Currency, NGC, NCS, PMG, CAC. Member of the PNG, ANA. Member dealer of CoinPlex and CCE/FACTS as "CH5"
"Everything is on its way to somewhere. Everything." - George Malley, Phenomenon
http://www.americanlegacycoins.com
<< <i>
<< <i>The goal is to use a code so complicated that you yourself cannot figure it out. >>
I especially like the ones that use Greek letters. I am sure that they have no idea what they paid for the coins.
If you buy enough coins from a dealer, especially over a broad price range, you can often crack the code. Of course, if you are that good a customer, they will often tell you what they paid, but that's no fun! >>
if you have the 10 letters, it is possible to use tools already online to find the word.
edit: as I think about it, if a cell phone app is not already available then it would be easy to make.
12345678910
I like the idea of non-Roman characters--like others have said, it adds an extra dimension of complexity.
<< <i>
<< <i>Charleston!
All you need is a 10 letter word! >>
Not original enough. I know of three separate dealers who use that code. >>
That is not my code, but an example for the OP.
Example: $2 = 3001, $50 = 6199, $200 = 3201, $750 = 8275
Could also write using Tengwar.
If someone breaks either, he deserves to have broken it. Doesn't mean I'd change my selling price, though.
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You could realy flip everyone out and use binary code
0000=0
0001=1
0010=2
0011=3
0100=4
0101=5
0110=6
0111=7
1000=8
1001=9
OLD HEMI GTX
123 4567 890
And an extra S to also mark zeroes as X was pretty common. Would toss in bogus leading or lagging letters not in the code to confuse (ie BOOM would be $116).
If there was any confusion, it was usually me making a mistake....lol.
I know one dealer who marks the code with the actual numbers in order. Puts letters in front and behind. And people still ask how much the coin is.
Coin's for sale/trade.
Tom Pilitowski
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It was always fun and very easy to decipher as all it took was to see a sampling of their stock over time and most codes were broken.
"“Those who sacrifice liberty for security/safety deserve neither.“(Benjamin Franklin)
"I only golf on days that end in 'Y'" (DE59)
Nulls are also useful. Any letter not included as part of the core of the code can be used as a null.
My first code was TRUECOINS (how idealistic I was starting out). Only 9 core letters, so 17 possibilities for nulls. Front or back.
Almost going broke in 1982 (there were many ways to do this in 1982) because I held stuff too wonderful to go down , I changed my code to FASTMONEY. Sorry about my current one.
I've seen codes where the last character indicated how many preceding characters were valid and all codes were the same length.
And repeaters/duplicates something like X or D
So, using FASTMONEY as the base - blanks inserted for readability
BDX MDBX T = 0005500 4 digits from length signifier.
J was seemingly a null, but actually a substitute for signifying 5, useful in that
P MJBK T meant 5500 masking the repeating 5's. If you don't have and F in your core code, it's a great substitute for the first or second 5, but not in this particular instance
K JMBZ T and P MXLD T and P MDLX T are all also 5500
I haven't used FASTMONEY for 20+ years, I hope I haven't bungled the coding. I had to endure a long hot ride in the convertible this PM getting home from NYC and need a salt pill Stacks bought lunch and I got a $17 discount on my parking. All just for paying 17.5% over hammer
It's the idea. Anything can look confusing at first, but code and decode ZDP MC A numbers and it'll be automatic.
Perhaps most gratifying for many here would be famed collector Lorin Parmelee's code, which referred to his opinion of the dealers of the time.
MENDACIOUS ;
<< <i>For those of you who remember building Heathkits back in the day, they could use the resistor color code -- black, brown, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, gray, white.
There's a great mnemonic for remembering this, by the way! >>
Wasn't it ...but Violet gives ........ ?? Been awhile, I know...