hi - i'm brand new to this and was wondering for a long time now exactly how the trading of coins work? - i remember years ago, seeing personal ads in the back of coinage magazine "will trade my XXX for your YYY".... even back then i wondered, how does this work? certainly, if the person you want to trade with, lives in close proximity to you, arrangements can be made to meet in public places and perhaps an exchange can be done....but what if you live in NY and the other person lives in CA?? do i send MY trade first and HOPE i actually receive their trade in response? do i wait for THEM to send first, ditto, ditto? is there a central "TRADE" service, like an intermediary (or akin to paypal, which i never really understood either - smile) that waits to collect both people's trades and then sends them out to the other simultaneously? any help and/or advise, options, comments, etc would be greatly appreciated! thanks!
Trades are basically made on a matter of trust, from both parties, because that's about the only way you can do it. It's kind of assumed that you both mail out your packages on the same day and using the same service level. Everybody's different, but few would start off doing trades with any coins of any value to speak of. You send low value things to each other first, establish a degree of trust and can work up from there if you wish. But any time you send anything of any value to speak of - you are always taking a risk, always. That is the very nature of trades because anybody can decide to rip you off any time they want to.
Well, in those days (ads in the back of Coinage), you'd send off your "30 cents silver and SASE [self-addressed stamped envelope]" and, once the advertiser received it, he'd send you your "F Barber dime" (or whatever). You have to wrap your head around the notion that advertisers paid per word for these ads, and that all communication was through US mail. Publishing a phone number would be more words they'd have to pay for, and long-distance calls were often more expensive than the item being offered. The friction involved may have made the market less attractive to scammers. But I'll take today's market over that one in a heartbeat, thank you very much.
I've probably done over a hundred trades over the years with both coins and antique bottles and have never had a problem. I don't weary with who sends first or last, I just send by insured mail and usually pay with paypal. I have only done this with items that cost less than $500, so I would use more caution on larger trades. Most of the collectors who go to the trouble of making a trade will follow through. Have a great day, Dean
If you are talking truly high value objects, any reputable coin dealer will be happy to serve as the intermediary (informal escrow), for a fee. Otherwise, it's pretty well playground level trust - I'll give you half my sandwich today if you bring me your chips tomorrow.
