SO much has been said to criticize coin dealers. For the most part, during the course of my 40+ years collecting coins, my experiences have been very positive. I have developed relationships with many, and get lots of coins from them (and have sold many to them). I have literally NEVER had a bad experience, but I want to share a really good one. Let's share some positives about coin dealers: I have this dealer in my area with whom I have done a lot of buying and selling in the past 15 years. One day, he calls me up, and says "I have a customer who needs money for his kid's tuition, room and board at University of Florida. I'd love to do the best I can for him, and he's a Morgan collector." My response was "how can I help? You know I am always looking for nice Morgans." At any rate, the dealer suggests that we meet all together, and that he will serve as an intermediary for his customer, and instead of him directly buying the coins, he will take a commission (it was very nice of him to even think of that, as it meant that I would be a quick purchaser, and he'd make a profit, but do the best for the seller). So, we sat together, with OPEN Greysheet, PCGS Price guide, and a number of resources. No hiding of prices--it was all open discussion. To make a long story short, the seller gets about 85% value for the coins, the dealer gets an instant paid commission of a couple of thousand plus of dollars, and I get $18,000 of coins that were at a mutually agreeable price. After that, we go down the street and have a sandwich and a beer, all three of us. Tell me that wasn't a positive and mutually productive experience where everybody won!!
wow, what a dealer. Sometimes its hard to find good people! and someone who is here to help everyone in the situation and not just themselves.
I bet you find a lot of great dealers when buying $18,000 worth of coins. I think that changes significantly when purchasing much lower priced coins. Even at that level though, there are dealers out there that will give you a good price and are honest about what they are selling. I know I went back to this one coin show where this older guy just had a container of older original coins with marked down prices. I picked up a matron head and asked him what the deal was, why it was so cheap and he said "that is pretty ugly". I have gotten some great deals at one PM shop from one guy but the guy that handles the coins seem to go over everything with a Gray Sheet, even things in the junk silver bin.
Guys, it isn't the amount of money spent. It is the interaction between the dealer and the people. This was an unusually large purchase, made by a real estate sale on my part, with residual cash lying around. Don't judge it by what was spent, but by how the dealer reacted--I have had lots of pleasant experiences with dealers in inexpensive transactions.
From my teenage years, a dealer that started out in one shop and then moved onto his own and is still in the same location now 20+ years later. Anyway I was going through his quarter bin and was looking through cents and found a 1931-S cent. I showed it to him and asked him if he really wanted to sell it for a quarter. He said not really, but since it was in that bin it had to go for a quarter. Yes, I bought a '31-S cent for a quarter.
It was while attending my first big show. The FUN event, January 2011. I was excited to be standing in front of Scott Lindquist's table to get him to autograph my edition of the Standard Guide to Small-Size U.S.Paper Money. Scott stood up, smiled and shook my hand before signing the book. Afterwards he asked "What do you collect ?" I told him I was looking for some 1935A $1 SC R & S experimentals. He said he had a pair in VF, but I was looking for AU or better. He picked up a short stack of notes and came around the table to sit beside me and explain the differences between VF, XF and AU. Scott spent close to 20 minutes showing me the subtle differences between grades, how to spot good embossing, detecting folds, front to rear centering, and all the while other collectors had gathered behind us listening to this pro's advise and opinions. My first formal grading lesson from a dealer I had just met. Needless to say, I have done business with Scott many times since this.
