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My Baltimore experience
morganbarber
Posts: 1,821 ✭✭✭
I decided long ago that I needed to certify some of the better date Morgans I already owned rather than pay to buy new, certified, ones. I had been putting it off due to the expense and hassle and the possiblity that they would come back as "genuine"or worse. My wifes Uncle asked if I could sell some coins and stuff for him, so the decision was made to attend the show, certify the coins I had been putting off, and sell the stuff for him. I also had a PCGS coin with a cracked slab that I had been meaning to reholder.
PCGS: The PCGS table generally had a wait, but not really what I would call a line. The young woman who helped me was very nice. She did not make me fill in the annoying PCGS coin numbers on the submission form. She said that she absolutely could not guarantee that I would get the reholder back the same day, but would ask. I had been planning to buy a Gold or Platinum membership and use the free vouchers. Someone on this board had warned me that I wouldn't be able to do that. As it turns out, I got a Silver membership and submitted the coins for Economy service, so the submission cost a lot less than I had been dreading. The reholder not only came back well before the end of the day, but I got it back in a PCGS box! The $10 reholder fee was a lot easier to justify with the inclusion of the free box. Over all, I could not possibly give PCGS less than possibly an A- at the lowest for my experience with them.
Selling: I ended up getting a little bit less than I had hoped for the junk that my wife's uncle had found lying around the house. The reason for this is that a dealer was nice enough to make a deal where I accepted a little less than I had hoped, but he bought everything. I had been afraid that the first dealer I approached would buy the nicest items, the second would by the leftover ok stuff. I would then be going table to table trying to wheel and deal on common date G/AG Indian Head Cents and tattered stained banknotes. Overall I sacrificed a little money for greater convenience, but I really can't complain.
The Show in General: I saw a lot of nice material. I visited every booth at least once. Not one single dealer said or did anything boorish to tick me off the entire day. Many dealers who did not make offers on the junk that I had to sell did make suggestions and let me know what they thought I could get. I saw many dealer-to dealer- transactions, and many dealers working together. ("Hey I have a customer who needs coin A in Grade B for price C. Didn't you say you could get me one of those") There were pretty many collectors there for a Friday afternoon. I found a couple of nice coins that were in my limited budget. Had I saved up and had more money to spend, there would have been plenty of material I would have considered. In the past I have found the Baltimore show a bit overwhelming, but I was able to view coins, remember where the ones that interested me were, shop more, and return for the coins I had considered earlier. I do wish more coin dealers had prices on their slabs. I am interested in every coin in the world- at the right price. I am not now, nor will I ever be wealthy enough to see a coin that I love and decide to buy it regardless of the price. My impression after the day at the show was that the coin market must be pretty strong. I did not hear any dealers whine about losing money on the trip. People all seemed rather excited.
This has been my experience at the Baltimore show, yesterday June 17, 2011. Others' experiences may vary.
PCGS: The PCGS table generally had a wait, but not really what I would call a line. The young woman who helped me was very nice. She did not make me fill in the annoying PCGS coin numbers on the submission form. She said that she absolutely could not guarantee that I would get the reholder back the same day, but would ask. I had been planning to buy a Gold or Platinum membership and use the free vouchers. Someone on this board had warned me that I wouldn't be able to do that. As it turns out, I got a Silver membership and submitted the coins for Economy service, so the submission cost a lot less than I had been dreading. The reholder not only came back well before the end of the day, but I got it back in a PCGS box! The $10 reholder fee was a lot easier to justify with the inclusion of the free box. Over all, I could not possibly give PCGS less than possibly an A- at the lowest for my experience with them.
Selling: I ended up getting a little bit less than I had hoped for the junk that my wife's uncle had found lying around the house. The reason for this is that a dealer was nice enough to make a deal where I accepted a little less than I had hoped, but he bought everything. I had been afraid that the first dealer I approached would buy the nicest items, the second would by the leftover ok stuff. I would then be going table to table trying to wheel and deal on common date G/AG Indian Head Cents and tattered stained banknotes. Overall I sacrificed a little money for greater convenience, but I really can't complain.
The Show in General: I saw a lot of nice material. I visited every booth at least once. Not one single dealer said or did anything boorish to tick me off the entire day. Many dealers who did not make offers on the junk that I had to sell did make suggestions and let me know what they thought I could get. I saw many dealer-to dealer- transactions, and many dealers working together. ("Hey I have a customer who needs coin A in Grade B for price C. Didn't you say you could get me one of those") There were pretty many collectors there for a Friday afternoon. I found a couple of nice coins that were in my limited budget. Had I saved up and had more money to spend, there would have been plenty of material I would have considered. In the past I have found the Baltimore show a bit overwhelming, but I was able to view coins, remember where the ones that interested me were, shop more, and return for the coins I had considered earlier. I do wish more coin dealers had prices on their slabs. I am interested in every coin in the world- at the right price. I am not now, nor will I ever be wealthy enough to see a coin that I love and decide to buy it regardless of the price. My impression after the day at the show was that the coin market must be pretty strong. I did not hear any dealers whine about losing money on the trip. People all seemed rather excited.
This has been my experience at the Baltimore show, yesterday June 17, 2011. Others' experiences may vary.
I collect circulated U.S. silver
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Comments
Not really looking for much these days but if I were, it might be a toner.
tell us of your experience and impressions of the show. I look
forward to many more threads by you ,as you have a knack for the
written word. Well done indeed!
Camelot
PCGS Registries
Box of 20
SeaEagleCoins: 11/14/54-4/5/12. Miss you Larry!
I'm curious - what kept the PCGS experience from earning an A or even an A+? It sounded to me like they did much better than you expected. Why the A- ?
<< <i>The reason for the less than perfect score? Like I said, there was a wait. At some times during the wait, supervisor types whom I believe COULD have assisted customers did not. They also didn't look the waiting customer in the eye and say " I'm sorry for the wait, it will just be a minte". Instead, they carried on their own conversations or just ignored the waiting customers, quickly looking away if eye contact was accidentally made. Again, I was more than happy with my experience at the PCGS booth. As one who has had a long career in customer service, I could see opportunities for improvement. >>
I've noticed that too... of course, not a lot of people look me in the eye.
I agree, I wish dealers would price their inventory so I can see their "starting" price. It's a waste of a dealers time (and mine too) when I have to wait, ask them to pull the coin out, look at the underside of the coin (just in case they placed the price there) and then ask the seller their asking price... only to learn it's twice reality.