Well I can't answer for you - but my local coin shop has told me to cherry pick. In the past when I found a variety under priced I asked them about that. I no longer ask - just buy at what is listed. What I do in return is some of my older stuff I take back to them. What I can tell you is that for things like large cents and most bust halves - they do not buy off variety. What they grade it. In the long run they make enough money off me to be happy. So I would buy and not say something - at the same time if they had something I needed a little over priced I would buy it. Just my opinion on cherry picking.
Maybe you feel weird about it because our perverse culture rewards weakness sloth and ignorance instead punishing it. Punish him.
I think I might get mine from walmart's website. They have them cheap if you order. Not sure about shipping though
I don't think there is a need to tell your dealer anything. If he does not know about his own inventory then he won't know what he is missing. Part of the fun about collecting is cherry picking, its the hunt and the find thats exciting. Its a lot like finding a valuable coin at a yard sale for a dollar. Keep the coins, don't say anything and enjoy them.
Actually, I'm glad they weren't so good at it. But they were formidable indeed. They did kick some Russian butt......
Being a new collector, when I was at a lcs I did notice the Cherrypickers Guide and saw that it was a two volume book and I couldn't figure out which volume I should buy and asked the guy behind the counter what was the difference between the two volumes. He gave me some mumbo jumbo (double speak to me) so I dismissed the book based upon his lack of knowledge. So I ask the question here, what it the difference between the two. I am collecting Ikes, Susan B, State and National park quarters, nickels, pennies, Peace dollars, Kennedy, Franklin, Walker (starting) and a Dansco 7070 album. I'm really looking to gain more knowledge. So the question is should I purchase both volumes or buy one and if so which one. Sometimes I feel like I took the shotgun approach. Any advice?
I used to have two competing coin shops in the same town near me (45 miles or so away) and my favorite one loved to mess with the other, newer one. I bought stuff from one and brought it to the other for opinions, then reported back to my favorite. It was a fun game. One time when I was less knowledgeable I brought a gold coin (or so I thought; it was a fractional repro.) to my favorite shop. One of the owners pals ruled it to be a repro. and I was bummed. They said to bring it to the other shop for a second opinion, so I did just that. The owner of the second shop paid me $300 for it, all the while looking down his nose at me and explaining how he knows more about them than me, and knows people who will buy it. I said OK but felt a little uneasy, so spent $50 or so of his money in the shop (3 Columbian halves and a 1961 proof set with ugly toning on the cent... which I got a little off asking $ for due to the unattractive toning ) Then I went back to the first shop and told them what happened. They were kinda shocked that the other guy bought it, and at the price he paid, but told me not to worry because HE is supposed to be the EXPERT. Then they snickered as I sat down to peruse... and the owner's pal's cell phone rang. Shop owner #2 was calling him about the coin I just sold him. He told us all about the conversation as I decided whether or not $30 was fair for a 1908 type set (all circulated, but still cool). The best part was that my girlfriend was standing beside me during the sale negotiation in shop #2 and her jaw almost hit the floor when he made an offer. After getting that "HMPH! It's Fake, you Idiot" look from her when we left shop #1 it gave me a warm fuzzy feeling inside, and at the same time I still wonder if the dealer caught that look... Ahh, memories!
I like to view coin collecting as a chess game: "You only get better by playing a better opponet."--Revolver So do you let the guy keep his queen because he made a bad move?
I once told a friend about a few coins I picked from a local dealer. He told the dealer about some of the coins. After that the dealer took a longer look at everything I wanted to buy. He really didn't care about varieties. It just became a fun game between friends.
Don't feel bad. If you are going to run a coin shop you and your employees should have the skill set to identify potentially valuable coins. If you don't have the skill set or you employ someone who doesn't have the skills that are required then that is totally 100% on the business owner. You spent the time and effort to learn this variety and he either didn't know or didn't bother to teach his employee... You win. Knowledge is key in this hobby.
While I agree that knowledge is key in this, or any collectible, hobby; does that mean if the dealer doesn't, or at least their staff, know about a variety and place it in a bargain bin, whether intentionally or by accident, that the buyer(s) should take advantage of them?
It is the dealers responsibility to know (or teach his staff). It is NOT your responsibility to teach him. You don't go to a mechanic when your car is broken and then tell them the right way fix it. They should know...
Well I wouldn't say teach them, but at least inquire about it to make sure it isn't in that bin by mistake.
I agree completely. There are two different scenarios that can play out, and different morality. One, you are buying from a dealer. S/he is a professional and expected to have inspected their goods. If you feel the coin is higher graded than the dealer is charging for, or has a variety that makes the coin more valuable to you, feel free to buy. S/he is expected to know what they are selling, and maybe does anyway. Btw, don't feel too bad for the dealer since if s/he is not marketing a coin as a specific variety, most likely they didn't buy it as that variety anyway, so its not like they paid $700 for a coin that may be worth $1000 but you are buying for $100. Most likely they paid $70. One thing about buying from dealers I will do is if the tag is grossly wrong, (maybe clerical error), I will point it out. One dealer at a show once had a coin that was obviously a Gaius labelled a Claudius. It was too glaring to not know it had to have been a clerical error. There was no price listed, so maybe he would have caught it when someone asked a price, but I let him know about it. However, if you are buying from a non-collector privately, there are completely different morals in my eye. If you are the expert and they are not, I feel its your duty to pay a fair price for every variety you are buying off of them. In this situation I do not think its ok to pay $100 for a $1000 variety, since they are not expected to know their coins. Anyway, that is my morality in such situations. I think I am a moral person, and sleep well at night following these rules.
That is exactly right. My morality says that if the person SHOULD know better... then feel free to pick. When a customer off the street brings in a rare variety to my store they are informed that it is rare and paid a fair price because generally the general public is not educated enough. It's morally correct to inform the general public about their rarities. But when someone decides to become a dealer... (or play dealer as I see in some cases) they SHOULD know better. If you set up at shows or run a shop... at that point it's all about who is more educated.
At the end of the day he's making his no matter what. Variety or not he paid 50% of what he charged you bottom line.
