thoughts on coin shops

Yesterday I spent the day visiting coins shops. I started with a list of 7 and was able to get to the door of 6 different shops. One was closed due to a show, one said they only buy and that they do all their selling on ebay, and another "coin shop" I called only repaired coin machines.

It was a good day and I was able to pick up one bill and two coins I was interested in. However, I noticed a few things that were disapointing that I though I would share with everyone. Feel free to share your thoughts. If you are connected to a coin shop these might give you something to think about.

One shop I went into had a couple dozen bills displayed on the wall, when I asked to see their currency the owner said that he didn't have any. His display was just to show people "what was out there". Seems like a sign saying, "Go to another shop for things like these".

While in another shop a younger boy came up to the locked screen door at the front and asked "what is the most expensive coin you have?" The owner replied "I don't have any expensive coins". I know the kid wasn't interested in buying but that reply doesn't really help the future of the hobby. Maybe sharing with the kid that there is a penny worth over $1,000 would get him interested in looking at coins.

The third thing, and most concerning to me was a shop that only had about a dozen trays of coins on display. I looked at one tray and noticed that the first coin was a 1908S indian head penny (one I needed for my collection). I looked at the next coin and it was the same, the third was the same, the fourth, ..... every one of the 12 coins were the same year and mintmark. Each coin was a different condition but with two trays of pennies in the store what are the odds that you would have a dozen coins from a semi-difficult mintage?

any thoughts or experiences you would like to add?

 

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Maybe the dealer just bought a large lot of 1908-S Indians. I don't see what's wrong with that.

 

There's two shops by me. The closest one the owner is too busy eating Subway to get up off his butt to show you anything. The other shop is very fair when buying from you, but I went in there once and dropped a fifty on the counter and asked him to sell me the best Peace dollar I could buy with that. He went in the back and brought back one Peace dollar. I asked if he could show me a couple more so I could compare and decide for myself. He refused, telling me that the coin he showed me was the best I could buy for fifty bucks.

 

A new coin shop opened up locally today and I stopped by after work. I went in expecting to come out with a lot of coins, but left empty handed and disappointed. The majority of the stock was in slabs, very few "raw" coins (which is what I'm mainly interested in). I found some indian head pennies I was interested, none priced. So I take them up and he "grades" them on spot and puts some ridiculous prices on them. I put them back. His assistants all had the red book available and that was the price they would give on you on the coins. A lot of his slabbed coins were ASE (boy were those all overpriced!), gold coins and then various proof coins. They did have boxes of all the state quarters (loose), so I may go back and get the few that I still need.

The other local shop that I frequent almost weekly is also a junk/pawn shop. They have quite a few coins, all raw and I've gotten some great deals. They even have silver coins that are priced cheaper than melt! I was going through them the other day and one of the owners was pointing out the cheaper than melt coins and say "You should get that one, that's a great deal." lol He's very friendly and can talk to you all day about coins. Prices on most of his stuff is very reasonable.

Other than that, I have to travel over a hour to get any other coins at a shop. I do go to local auctions and that's where I pick up some very cool stuff at ridiculously low prices. I've gotten a bust dime for $12 (forget the year), early indian heads at $3 a piece, 2 & 3 cent coins at $7 each, silver certificates at $1.50 each, etc... After paying those kind of prices, I really don't like going to many other coin shops. lol

 

The coin shop that I frequent is usually pretty void of customers. The owner is elderly and not doing so good healthwise. When he's there it is a pleasant experience and he treats me fairly well. However when he is not there, which seems to be often lately, the other guy (possibly his brother or other relative) is a complete jerk. He won't greet you or even get out of his chair behind his TV to ask if you want to see something. This guy treats me like a punk a$$ kid (I'm 28) and that it a pain in the butt to sell anything. BOTH OF THESE GUYS CHAINSMOKE IN THE SHOP!!!! This shop is the oldest in town and you'd think a collector/dealer would know not to smoke like that in the same room as all of these valuable coins. If I don't REALLY need something I would rather go to the other shop/jewelry store in town, even though their inventory is less than half of the first shop I mentioned, if I can't get it on eBay first. Because of their inventory advantage and being the only full COIN shop in town I think they feel they can do this kinda stuff. eBay all day!

 

There are two shops that I have only visited about three times each, I started with bad impressions, but gave the owners a chance on the theory anyone can have an off day (or two). Both I asked if they used greysheet to price their coins, both dealers had visible copies of greysheet behind the counter, both said they do not use greysheet to price coins. They must use them for buying only?

Both shops had a group of loiterers who watched your transactions, and did not seem to be there to do any business.

Those are the negatives, and that was just skimming the things that gave me a bad impression, there is one great positive, Pat Delaney at Belvidere Coins and Currency, one time I visited him after work and he showed me some proof sets he had bought the day before, they were no S varieties, he had paid regular proof set prices for them, (using greysheet), he was busy when he bought them so he had not looked them over very carefully, when he had a chance and spotted the varieties, he called the seller up, and gave him a better deal.

That to me is an example of how to win customers, I have been giving him most of my business ever since.

 

That is pretty typical. If you goto a barbershop, you see old guys sitting around not getting haircuts. Same at the hardware store. The coin guys can be valuable, invaluable actually. Be friendly. When you look at coins, show them, too. Ask them what they think. Not every coin store has coin guys, only the good ones.

Mike M.

 

It makes me wonder how all these stores manage to stay open if they treat everybody as it is mentioned on this board. I am just glad I have a good local shop where I can stop and chat with them, not buy and still have a good time. Of course they almost always have at least one coin I can buy. At this shop they give YN's special attention since they know they will be back.

 

That is pretty typical. If you goto a barbershop, you see old guys sitting around not getting haircuts. Same at the hardware store. The coin guys can be valuable, invaluable actually. Be friendly. When you look at coins, show them, too. Ask them what they think. Not every coin store has coin guys, only the good ones.

...which makes you one of the loiterers who hang around to Chip's chagrin...
Mike M.

 

I like the 3 partners at my local coin store but am well aware that they buy low, sell high. The worst coin in the world is the one you want to sell them but all of theirs are super coins, well worthy of a premium. I picked up a double '58 mint set from them last year, way too much money. I sent in the 4 halves, 4 quarters and the 2 D dimes to NGC. They all came back higher than I had hoped, all halves 66 with 2 fbl and 1 with a star, all quarters 66 and the 2 dimes, one 66, one 67 both ft. All coins had great color which is why I bought them so I could probably get my money + 50% back at minimum. I brought them back to the shop for a gloating moment, one partner said somewhat testily "well, we made money too" ha ha. I do sell them silver melt as they seem to have the best price around and it unfortunately has become a major part of their business, a shame I guess.

 

The "loiterers" at the shops I go to are much more helpful to my needs than the owners and don't mind talking to you. After being snubbed by the owner when i asked where the ASE's were displayed, some old fella sitting there got up and led me to the display case I needed. I thanked him politely, looked at the display and left. If the owner doesn't want to sell to me, I don't want to buy from him.

There used to be a baseball card shop I used to go to. This guy was classy. This guy would go out of his way to help you. Granted, this was in the early 1990s when packs were less than a buck a pack. I needed one common card to complete my Donruss Baseball set. I bought at least five packs a day. One day I came in with my young son. He opened up a new box and opened about half the packs in the box before he found the card I needed, which he gave me for free. Not only that, he took all the loose cards that he opened, put them in a small storage box, and handed them to my son.

 

I'm pretty happy with my coin shop. They are honest and fair and close to my Barber which is when I go...once a month. . Depends on who waits on me I don't always get the discount I want. Their selection is not the best, but fine for my needs. I see no laziest around there. I feel lucky because if I did not have a good local shop I would be pretty discouraged about my hobby. I will always do the big Ft.Worth show every year to after what he does not have.

 

I guess that is possible but it seems strange to buy a dozen coins from a single mintage and display them all, but only have another dozen coins showing for all other year/mintmarks.

 

Of the two shops I have visited, one seemed only interested in taking things for a rock bottom price from someone desperate to sell for whatever they could get. Even told me a coins was not worth the price of grading. No supplies, very small display and half were raw.

The second shop is a ligitimate dealer. He had very few supplies, but he did have some. He carried a large display of slabbed items. They offered to submit items for grading. They do not take consigned goods, but buy instead. The same coin "not worth grading" at the first shop was worth $150 for the other shop to buy.

It's obvious where I will trade, if I do. I think some guys are really into coins. Others are into making a fast buck.

IMHO
gary

 

I have never had any luck in coin shops. I have done well in pawn shops because they seem to want to sell the coins they have; for a price. Most I have found will lower the price on a coin if you stay after them to come down, but not much. Don't think for a second they don't know the going rate, because they do. I have found gun shows to be a great place to pick up some great buys. But, now that gold and silver are higher than a giraffee's butt, it's difficult to find a good deal. I started buying gold and silver coins when spot prices were 3 & oz for silver and 267.00 for gold. I have been lucky. I didn't know anything about coins--and still don't--, but some of the coins I bought way back when are showing me a heck of a profit now. The Zecchino I posted today is and example. But, as you know, it's hit and miss. Good luck

junk man

 

I've been told by several dealers that if it's worth less than $250 it's really not worth grading. I think because of the cost of submission and the low premium on a cheaper graded coin its not worth it. I think their right. I buy modern slabbed coins on eBay for $1-$5 and I know it cost way more than that just for the label and the plastic.

 

My local dealers are great. One is old and can be cranky but I owe my start in the business to him. Another I love and he wants me to work for him someday. And yet another gave me a price guide from 2000 for free and he is nice too. And another is actually my boss. And more I know from the local show and most of them are nice too.

 

I mostly like the shop I go to but there are a few things I don't like. One is that I feel like they have a lot of coins that they never put on display and you need to know to ask or you'll never see it. I understand they only have limited counter space but there's often things I don't realize I'm looking for until I see it. I also think they save a lot of things for certain customers so it's never really out there. The other thing is that they have two locations of this store about 10 miles apart. I usually go to the main store because they have more selection, but they have more rules too. Like they have bins for things like common date silver Washington quarters, but they won't let you browse, they'll only sell in bulk. That's fine if you're just shopping for bulk silver, but if you want certain dates to complete a set, you're out of luck. So then I go to the other store because although it is smaller and has less selection, they are so much more laid back and it's a different atmosphere. They'll let you look through anything and it just seems more like a neighborhood operation. I wanted to complete a set of Mercury dimes, so I went there and they had this big can of them and they just let me look through it, and starting from having none, I found every coin to complete the set except the 1921 D and the 1916 D and was able to buy them all at once without buying a lot of coins I didn't need, all for the same flat rate (I think it was $1.40 at the time). I appreciate that they made it easy and affordable for me like that. It's almost hard to believe that both shops are owned by the same people because they're so different.

 

Good thoughts you share for coin shops..I suggest you to that be update with all prices of coins...It must be helpful.
commodity daily prices

 

Those $1 and $5 coins are typically sent in for submission in bulk quantities, so the submitter usually gets favorable pricing (i.e. $8 per coin). They still take a loss on some coins, but the coins that come back with premium grades more than make up the profit.