Hi all, occasionally I will pick up a coin from a dealer or off of the web and on the holder (usually a 2x2) the will be a code written on the back (usually). It mostly contains a bunch of letters, usually constanants, such as SXTVC (my example). Does anyone know how to read these codes? do different dealers use different codes? What do they mean? Any help is appreciated. Thanks.
I use codes to put three prices on the back of my 2x2 holders. I put the price I paid, the price I'd LIKE to sell the coin at, and the price I WOULD sell coin at. I'd venture to say that they are all unique to the dealer.
They are unique for each dealer. It could contain pricing info or just be a stock number for inventory reasons.
By using a code, made from a 10 letter word, a dealer can see exactly what he/she has paid for any given coin at any given time without resorting to going through inventory lists or receipts. It is absolutely the only way to know for sure, with in a second or two, if you can offer a lower price on any given coin. My dealer uses his own name as his code. I have used the same word for years as it has no repeating letters in the 10 letter word. Actually works great and if you do have a letter that repeats, in your chosen word or name, use one code as a small case and the other large case. If you are like me, finding receipts or keeping track of everything is almost an impossibility. Use a code!
Thanks for the replies everyone. I think I understand it now. By each dealer using his/her own code, nobody but them can know what the buy price was. Is this a proper example?: C=1 O=2 I=3 N=4 V=5 A=6 L=7 U=8 E=9 S=0 For example, CNE would be code for $149?
An excellent example. On the back of every coin holder, I put, in code, the date of purchase, amount, and from whom the coin was purchased. Some of my coded dates go back to the mid-1970's. Before that, I wasn't very organized.
ndgoflo that is a fantastic code! I will have to write that one down as I have always used "pathfinder" for years and years. The word really isn't important has long as there is no repeating letters and it is something YOU CAN ALWAYS remember! It really is a great feeling knowing what you paid for something 20 years later! If it wasn't for the code I wouldn't know what I paid for something 3 weeks ago!
while we are on the topic, do you think it is ethical for a buyer to try and break the code? If i walked into a store and saw a code i was able to break, should i use that info to my advantage, even if it was to protect myself from getting gouged. if the code says that he will take 5.00$ for something and he quotes me 15.00$, should i call him/her on it?
That IS a great idea! I appreciate all the ideas this thread has given me. I'm still contemplating my break into part-time coin dealing and this will help. One unusual thing I heard from a local dealer is not only should you mark down the price you paid for the coin (in code) but also mark down the price (in a code open to other dealers) you're willing to sell the coin to another dealer! Has anyone heard of this? What's up with this?
The use of Codes Hi Everyone, I guess I will have to be the one that's different here. I don't use codes and never felt the need to. I have seen almost every dealer I know use them however. I sorta felt that each dealer can select the system they are most comfortable with. By looking at my asking price for any given coin I can tell you what I paid for the coin, The wholesale price at which I will sell to a dealer and How much I can't reduce it for a collector who buys more than one coin. Date of purchase is in my normal inventory records. If the prices go up I will make adjustments to the retail prices. If the prices go down I will adjust it again. If the prices fall below my buying price I pull the item from sale and return it to inventory. catman
Catman, You brought up some very VALID points here! I use the code due to the amount of time that can and will pass before I may ever actually look at the coin again. Really comes in handy when comparing the purchase price of something I may have picked up in 1990 when comparing to coin price lists, such as a grey sheet, now! The code is strictly for my benefit as, should I decide to sell something, there is nothing WORSE than screwing yourself!!! And, like you, if the market has fallen on any given item I will refrain from selling that coin. There will be another day or another time, perhaps when my son ends up with the whole mess, but until then taking a loss is not in my best interest!
Well, the only thing that I see that could be a problem is the person that owns the coin can ask whatever they wish for it. If you did break the code, how would you know that the price was $5 or that was the price paid? Or how long ago the code was written? You are thinking a little too deeply. If you are quoted a price on a coin, you have three options: Haggle. Buy. Pass.
At this present time all the dealers I know are begging for "high" quality inventory. There is not much coming through the door except low grade circulated coins. I find this a bit unusual as prices are very good, at this time, across the board. I suppose those with quality coins that are contemplating selling are still looking for prices to peak? While the whole market, for the most part, is very hot right now I am anxious to see just how many of the new collectors who jumped on the band wagon with the statehood quarters will remain as collectors when the series ends. Has really been fun so far seeing so many new faces looking for coins and then branching out into other issues! Been GREAT!
You are absolutely correct. The best material is in hiding these days. There are many in the hobby that believe oue bull market is nearing an abrupt end. I hope that it will hold on long enough for these super nice pieces to find their way to market.
The mention of codes brought back memories. When I was growing up I worked in two different drug stores. Part of my job was to code all the merchandise. As best I can remember, we used all letters. First code was for wholesale, second for retail. Don't remember for certain. It was 45 years ago. Good system for organizing coins I would think.
Actually, I wrote a book about cryptography about 20 years ago. It went through three editions and as a result, I was on the cypherpunks maillist just as the WWW was being invented. I used to close all my emails with my PGP public key and stuff like that. Also, I just finished Sylvia Naser's Beautiful Mind about John Forbes Nash. (I watched the Ron Howard movie a few times, but it is really a different treatment, entirely.) That brings up strategies of competition and conflict. All of that is to say that my opinion is going be a bit different. 1. You mean to say, of course, not "what he will take for the coin" but perhaps "what he paid for the coin." As has been pointed out, you really do not know for sure what the code means, or how old it is. Assume that it is some kind lower bound, though. 2. Is it ethical to break a code? Yes. 3. Is is all right to call the dealer outright with the knowledge? Well, even if that works, it can only work once. The best way to handle the knowledge is to include it in your matrix of bargaining strategies. How well you bargain face-to-face is perhaps not as quantifiable as Von Neumann and Nash might have liked to believe. One of the serious problems I have with the online world is that it cannot prepare you for the bourse floor. Dealers who only put stuff up on electronic auctions and collectors who only buy there are not learning anything they can use in person. State Department codebreaker Herbert O. Yardley wrote Education of a Poker Player. Poker has nothing to with numerical odds and everything to do with who you are inside. So, too, with numismatic markets.
