Today I decided to go to a local dealer I have done business with before, he, from what I remembered was an allright guy. Upon walking into his shop to buy some various containers and holders for loads of coins lying around back home, I noticed almost all of his coins were extremely ragged... and yet had high grade marks on them (this of course raised my speculation). Also alot of his coins and currency were extremely high priced. I then walked to the counter pulled out 2 civil war, war bonds my great grandmother had givin to my grandmother who had givin them to me. I wanted holders for them because they have been in an envelop the whole time and I wanted them safe... Pulling out the war bonds I ask him for some holders that will fit them... He emidiatly tells me they are counterfit and there worth nothing. Please note... 1.he glanced at them and said it 2. after saying it picked them up to look at them 3. put them back down and said again there worthless... The way he said it made me get the impression of him trying to pull the wool over my eyes as you old tymers like to say . I told him I didnt care if there counterfit and that I would still like the holders. I for one know there not fake 1. because my great grandmothers dad was in the civil war and that is were they came from. 2. ive read online all the differences between the war bonds suchs as some were printed on old news print to save paper etc. and 3. I know there not worth much.. the ones I have are pretty ragged but there pure centimental value.. there family heritage which to me is priceless. Least to say I wasnt to happy with his professionalism, but i put it out of my mind and continued on with my purchase. I asked for some air tites for some nickels and half dollars. Which i recieved, I then asked if they sold any coin albums for Morgan dollars (pulling out 1 of my morgans I brought with me) explaining to him that there in air tites and that I need an album for years that will fit air tites. Immediantly he asked were I got the Morgan from and that the 1887 morgan wasnt a good year. I explained to him that I got the morgan for christmas along with alot of other coins and that this is just an 1887 out of a collection of 1880-1900 noted that I do have years that need to be purchased such as 82 84 88 etc.. He then seemed to calm down a little bit and from then on tell the end of my transaction he seemed like the guy I met 5 years prior when i was a wee lad... chances are he doesnt remember me and simply stated those opinions to try and get me to get rid of them (which i wont)... least to say I did not like the professionalism and will probably (Most likely) will not be doing business with him in the future..... Now... were in the world can i find a decent dealer that is genuine and just wants to help get the items and coins or currency your looking for... I have 2 more coin shops in my area... wellll more like antique shops with coin sections in them... the place i was at was strickly coinage and currency the other 2 are actuall antique shops with coin sections in them... I will visit them in the future and see if they are reputable... I would love to find a good coin shop around my area that has a professional manner along with cheap prices and friendly survice Mach
Mach Thats quite a story,,, I have yet to meet a coin Dealer who will without getting to know you ,tell you that your coins are worth anything, I think its just the way it is,I probly wouldnt write him off ,the more serious that he finds out you are,its possible that he will lighten up a little. and your right, the sentimental value of some Items goes far beyond the collectabilty value .
It's hard, at least from my experiences, to find a coin shop that actually has someone behind the counter who is friendly, and will even go out to lunch just to discuss coins with you, there are a total of 7 places to buy coins in my town, and only one of which I will go to, the rest are either too high on stuff that is worth less than a can of pop, or they have A$#$#^es who think that their customers want to be told what to buy etc etc....It's very hard to find the type of place with a friendly atmosphere, too many dealers have the attitude " well, I make a living off of coins and you only collect them, so I know more than you. " The funny thing is WE PAY FOR THEIR FRICKEN HOUSES , when you loose your customers, you loose your financial stability, I have watched 3 coin shops crumble around my area, because the dealers were complete ingrates who didn't care a thing about coins, just profit, and that's not how you stay in buisness. My suggestion is to you, as you have stated, to never go into that coin shop again, in the future someone will ask you where a good coin shop is, be sure not to point them in that direction Have you considered doing any online shopping for coins? there are sooooo many coins out there right now , especially on e-bay, it just really depends on what you are looking for ya know... If you want to find one dealer who is friendly and not an elitist, then I suggest you talk to people on this forum, I'm not a dealer, but, I do have coins for sale every now and again, and if I'm not mistaken, I think there are a couple of dealers on this forum, that are highly respected. Just hang around with us for a while, you will get to know all of us soon enough. Feel free to pm me anytime man, I don't have anything else better to do than stare at coins and chat
Its a doggy-dog world when a dealer has to buy low and sell high to cover his overhead, expenses, and groceries for his family. Couple that with anybody with an ebay account makes buying and selling coins even more difficult for the local dealer. I deal with a local dealer and I kid with him all of the time: "How come everything I bring in is @#%^@ where as everything you have is gold?" Matter of fact, I have brought coins back to him (dups, trades) that he sold me previously only for him to tell me that they are worth ____ dollars less! Bottom line is that I understood that he was there to make a living, but he also provided me with a service of looking out for coins I was in the market for. He will call me and tell me that he just came across a certain coin I was looking for and sometimes I buy and sometimes I don't. I laugh when I see some of my coins (still in my holders) priced at ____ dollars more when I go back to my shop. Comments like, "...and you only gave me ___ for it!" But if you understand he has to make a living, then so be it!" The problem comes from dealers that really try to convince you that your coins or notes are worth nothing more than face value. You see that happen in God's waiting room in Florida all of the time. An old lady brings her in late husband's collection and after 10 minutes or so...she walks out with pennies on the dollar. But then again, they are providing a service and are running a business. Who says what they should pay and sell coins for? Arm yourself with knowledge, facts, price guides, etc., and you will be better for it!
Finding a good dealer is no different than finding a good car mechanic or home improvement person. Yes there are many who are only concerned with making a dollar. Some on the other side, take great pleasure in discussing coins, helping their customers, and even go out of their way to assist you in learning more about the hobby.
