Let me set the stage. I was in the middle of my travels and I happened to stop into one of the local coin shops. Some people take a lunch, I like to browse around and see if any coins suit my fancy. The shop was actually busy. Discussions about the increasing cost for 2004 silver proof sets seem to dominate this particular shop. An old man was looking at coins in the back, putting them in 2x2's, grading them while the other owner was helping a couple of other browsers like myself. As I was looking, a young kid (early 20's) comes in and looked lost. He was looking for a plastic holder for Morgan dollars. Since both owners were tied up, he asked, "Do you know anything about Morgans?" I replied, "A little...but if you really want to learn about Morgans, you should really get that book (pointing to the Whitman Official Red Book of Morgan Silver Dollars by Q. David Bowers) and that will pretty much cover the bases." He then asked (holding up a capital plastic 2x2 holder) is this a good holder for a Morgan? I told him, "Sure, why not...do you collect Morgans? He told me not really, but his grandfather that recently passed on willed him about 50 Morgans with one that he was told to be very special. It was kept separately from the others and saved in a "cotton bed" within a jewelry box. "Do you know which date?", I asked. "It's a 1893 with a S on the back", he replied as he took it out. "A 1893-S!!", as my voice rose. "Take a look at this Red Book, or better yet, this magazine (Coin Prices) and see what you have!" His eyes lit up and explained, "Look, I like to collect baseball cards and I really don't know anything about coins...but, this is fantastic!" He also told me that a coin dealer at the flea market offered him $1500 for it, but his mother told him to sleep on it. I told him that he needed to read up on it. It looked to be at least a EF40 coin! My eyes bulged and now the patrons of the coin shop started wondering what was the comotion about. Now opinions were being thrown at the kid like EF45, EF40, maybe AU, could be a fake (from the old guy), and I piped in telling him that if it were me, I would get that off to either NGC (since we were in Florida) or PCGS to certify it. I told him that this is a popular coin for fakes and if this passes NGC or PCGS, it is worth way more than $1500! "Like certifying baseball cards?", he asked. "Exactly!" I replied. Well the owners were NOT to happy with my comments as this kid was probably looking to sell it. Instead, he ends up buying about $40 in books, magazines and coin holders. Oh well...should of stayed quiet, but you never know what may walk through a coin dealer's door. He did ask me first since he wasn't getting any attention. Oh well...
You definately did the right thing. Way too many dealers would have taken huge advantage of the guy by asking "what do you want for it" rather than making a resposible offer. But we've had that discussion elsewhere.
Ed, that was a great thing you did! You should give yourself a pat on the back for that one. I would like to think that the dealer would have been honest with him, but who knows? And you may have started him on a whole new collecting adventure. Way to go
Gee Ed If that kid approached me first, I would have traded a magic bean for that coin but I guess you a better guy then I
Atta boy Ed. There is absolutely nothing wrong with sharing a little experience. You did not interrupt a sale. Providing a little knowledge and help prior to a sale is always a good thing.
