Antique Shops MAY be Better than Coin Shops ;)

Here's why..

They aren't specialists.. Or at least most aren't. They just house their dealer's items from clothing to jewelery to coins to stamps etc.

Maybe these are the spots we should start checking since I was able to find a deal at one the other day with the 3 bags of 10 war nickels for $5 a piece..

You never know!

Thoughts on the matter?

 

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May advice would be not to get sucked in to buying anything at an antique shop... If you are looking for coins, better deals can be had at a coin shop, most of the time.

Some great deals have been found at antique shops, but a lot of antique shops clean their coins, and over price them, TO THE MAX.

 

I frequent a grouping of antique stores and you'd be surprised how many carry coins or tokens. Most are in unique situations as they only rent out space and alot of them don't know much about coins. That said, don't be fooled!! Some of the shops I go to overcharge like crazy!

It's just a matter of sorting the good from the bad. In short, buyer beware!! One seller I check, mostly just to look. Last time I went by his area he was trying to sell 1965 and 1967 washington quarters for $3.00 each. Unbelievable!!

 

What condition were they in?

 

There are two antique stores near me that sell coins. In one of them, the owner is selling off her parents collection. There may have been some good ones when she started, but for the past year she only has over graded, over priced common coins. The second one is two stories and is attached to an Amish market style market place(without the amish). They rent out a space upstairs to the only coin dealer within 20 minutes of me. That one is ok because the dealer is friendly and I feel he is an honest person. The downside to him is he is only open on Sundays.

 

I tend to stick by my local dealer. Sure antique stores sometimes have the good deal here or there, but at a professional experienced dealer, like my own, I always know what I'm getting, what the price is (he shows me the current greysheet when hes pricing it) and if its a quality well struck coin. I do go to the antique stores though, but thats for, well, antiques

 

bnb: It never hurts to hunt for a bargain if you see coins or anything else out of the usual sales context, that is if you know what you are buying/paying for, but why limit your buying opportunities to antique shops or coin shops? You might as well look for your bargains whenever you encounter what it is you are after. In any scenario, it "MAY" be better, or not. Perhaps you've just become aware of coins for sale by antiques dealers and this is a new venue for you to explore, just like the silver content of coins and other such aspects of coin collecting are also new to you. Keep looking and honing your grading while you're at it. :thumb:

 

My experience has been, that while there are rare exceptions, antique shops typically have inferior coins AND higher prices compared to coin shops.

 

The few antique/pawn shops I've checked out have horrible deals on collector coins, they are either cleaned or way overpriced. However, they sometimes have good deals on junk silver. Seems like BNB did pretty good, anytime you can buy silver at less than half the melt value, I'm in!!!

 

If getting "deals" is your goal, I agree.

 

Yeah, try not to limit your eyes because you never know what you may find...

 

Antique shops are not usually the best, but this summer after returning to the USA I haunted the one downtown and found SL quarters for a whole buckers apiece an' even a parsimonious Scot canna pass up a deal like that. Sure they are not BU and might struggle for even a G, but silver silver silver on the cheapers.

 

I think getting good deals is every ones goal
Dave

 

agreed. nice snag BNB

 

Call me crazy, but it is not my goal.

That's not to say that I want to get taken advantage of, far from it, but rather that getting a "good deal" is not that important to me.

"Finding coins I like that fit into my collection" is my goal.

Respectfully...Mike

 

I don't discard any place for coins. I just take the attitude before I walk in - buyer beware.

 

I could see this going either way...If it wasn't out of my way, I'd go in one of these places and browse..who knows?

 

Oh they were in circulated condition, like he had just pulled them out of his pocket and slapped them in a flip and thought he could sell them. When I go back there I'll check, but I will not be surprised if they are sold!

 

True, tho I have gotten one ounce silver rounds on sale days for 12$, at the time spot was around 15, they were marked 15 and they had a 20% off sale. But the next time I went there when they were having sales they had marked them as not being subject to the sale. Makes me wonder how many dealers have some other source of income and do not actually have to sell anything.

Another funny thing are the way that prices are altered on the 2X2's. I have seen 2X2's originally marked 5 dollars changed to 6 then to eight, sometimes using different inks, One time I asked the guy which color ink was the real price, lol.

Good catch BNB, anytime you get any halfway decent deal from an antique store or a pawn shop you are doing well.

 

I like your quote of finding a coin to fit into your collection.

I've just started coin collecting again, and after buying rolls of low grade buffalos, wheats, mercuries, etc... I think I am beginning to realize that while a deal may be a deal - I still need to house/enjoy all this stuff or someday get rid of it. I think I'd now trade in those rolls for single nice grade coins in those series. But I guess it is nice to have had my hands on those rolls to get a feel for the coins and how they wear.