So, I'm nursing some deep, self-inflicted wounds from knowingly being ripped off last week. What better way to do that than new coins? This first one has been near the top of my wish list for about two years now. It's a prutah from the first Jewish Revolt (66-70 AD). The next one is from Herod the great - anchor/double cornucopia. Woo hoo! I like seeing random, unrelated coins. So, feel free to share whatever. Erin
Great coins, Erin! The Judaean War prutah is definitely my favorite! The one that I'm posting below is one of the first coins that I purchased on VCOINS about three years ago. I sent it to be certified and slabbed and it was given an XF rating by Mr. Vagi. I don't slab my coins anymore. I occasionally use the Quickslabs if I'm giving a coin as a gift. Quick slabs can open and close. My other presentation method is with the large 2.5 inch coin flips. I enjoy designing the labels for those. Be good to yourself, Erin! Sometimes we are our own worst enemy!
Nice additions @Johndakerftw. Great historical pieces. Nothing quite beats the feeling of finally getting your hands on something you've wanted for a long time How did you get ripped off btw? Here are some of my Judean/Israeli coins for the thread. Those are great @Deacon Ray and as always an amazing presentation.
Total boss coins, thanks for sharing! I brought in the majority of my Canadian coins and a couple of ancients that my brother generously threw in (duplicates and nothing fancy) to be sold to a coin dealer for some extra coin $. I went in having a rough idea of how much everything was worth. Now, I should mention that I have a really bad case of anxiety that can leave me with a pretty small vocab sometimes (as if my vocabulary isn't small enough) . Anyway, this guy either knows very little about ancients or was counting on me knowing very little about ancients and completely undervalued them. All together, they were worth about $40-50 and he offered me $5 for them. I sat for a few seconds in silence, frozen with anxiety because I didn't know what to do. Then he told me how much he was willing to give me over all, $75, and all I could do was agree. I regretted it the moment I opened my mouth, but I was too afraid to say anything else. So, that's my lame story. Erin
Sorry to hear it. I have some sort of regret almost every time I sell a coin. The more you do it, the easier it will be.
My wife suffers a lot of anxiety in social situations also, especially when there's pressure to act decisively. It's an issue many introspective/introverted people have to deal with. Us Type A's have our own issues, but telling someone where to stick their crummy five bucks isn't one of them. PM me your address and I will send you a nice gift to make up for your loss.
I am super sorry to hear that. Negotiation is a tough thing to master even for outgoing people so don't beat yourself up. The same thing can happen as a buyer also. On a recent trip I found myself in a very uncomfortable situation where two Armenian shop owners nearly got into a fist fight over which had claim to me as a customer. I was trying to find a nice silver necklace for my mom as a souvenir. I decided to walk away and in a panic one of them offered me a price I could stomach. I immediately regretted making the deal because I probably could have gotten it cheaper and I was also reinforcing his terrible behavior. Oh well, I hope my mom liked it also if you have duplicate ancient coins it might not be a bad idea to run them by John Anthony first and see if he would consign them for you. Might be less stressful and you know they'd find a good home. Edit: speak of the devil, huh @John Anthony?
Erin, I think we have all paid too much and sold for too little. It is nothing to be ashamed of and certainly nothing to beat yourself up over. Just one of those life experiences that we can all hopefully try to learn from. As someone who is in this business (I work at a local brick and mortar coin shop) I make thousands of purchasing decisions every week and there are times I wish I could go back and pay a bit less (or occasionally more). However, there are times that someone will bring me something that I know I don't have a market for, that I have too many of in inventory or that I've had bad luck selling in the past. For items like that I have to pay accordingly. Maybe your dealer was in the same position with what you took him today? Of course if he was rude to you or failed to treat you with respect, there is NEVER an excuse for that! I hope that was not the case!
Thanks everybody. I was treated fairly. I think I did good with the Canadian coins. I didn't have a whole lot and they weren't in the best condition. It was just the ancients that caused me concern. Thanks, Aethelred, I didn't think of that before. The coin dealer deals mostly with Canadian and world currency, very few ancients from what I can tell. So, I suspect that most of his clients collect moderns. What's most frustrating is that these were my brother's coins. Yes, these were duplicates that he didn't need, but still, he was nice enough to give them to me to sell. Lesson learned. I now realize that I have more options should I need them. Erin
It's not lame. I've been there. Brace yourself for a hackneyed expression—here it comes. Hang in there!
@Johndakerftw There is nothing wrong with feeling uncomfortable when dealing with something new. Besides, negotiating for money is not an easy thing. Even with eBay, there is a best offer which technically is negotiating. After a few times here and there you kinda get used to it. And yeah, as a collector its a bit hard to let go of things we collect. It may feel strange the first time you sell something. But once you realize that you just bought something nice with that money, it all feels much better.
Are you aware that you can sell coins on CT? All you have to do is post them on the "For-sale" forum: https://www.cointalk.com/forums/for-sale/
Sometimes it helps to visualize different scenarios in your mind or with a friend and then work out what you will do in each one. I tend to be too friendly with people and agree too easily to deals I could do better on. Before I get face to face with people I decide the price I must get when selling something or the max I will pay when buying. Then I find it easier to stick to my plan because I don't feel like I have to decide right there on the spot. I also remind myself that I don't have to decide anything immediately. You can always say you are interested but need to think about it more. John
Thanks again for the comments everyone, I feel much better. Thanks for the link, Warren. I do know about the For Sale forum. Unfortunately, it never crossed my mind. Erin
