Seemed to good to be true....At a Gunshow

This past weekend I worked a Gun show with a friend of mine who sells WWI and WWII stuff and antique Firearms. I help him watch his tables and in return he lets me put some of my coins in his showcase and make some extra Money.

On Saturday as I was walking around I noticed one dealer who had 5 Seated Liberty Dollars in his show case. They looked to be XF/AU condition..He had 2 of the same date 1846-O all unslabbed and priced $125 Each. I asked where he got them and he said he got them in trade for a gun. I asked to see one. It looked pretty good but seemed a little heavy in my hand..sadly I didn't have my scales with me. Having that many in that high a grade and having 2 of the same date I was almost positive they were fake..especially for $125.

On Sunday afternoon a guy came and seeing the coins I had said "Look what I just bought". He pulled out four S. L. Dollars all XF/AU..But not the same ones I had seen Saturday. But one of these was also a 1846-O. He said he bought them for $85 each from the same dealer. Not wanting to start an argument I didn't say I felt they were counterfits but I suggested he take them to an established coin dealer and have them checked out or send at least one in to have it graded. I told him if they were genuine they could be worth $500 to $1,000 or more depending on the date.

Sadly I have a feeling he got scammed. I have no idea if the gun dealer knew they may be fake or if he thought they were genuine.

I just felt seeing 9 XF/AU Seated Liberty Dollars..and 3 being 1846-O at those prices seemed too good to be true.

 

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Cool story, thanks for sharing.
We will never know, but when it seems to good to be true, it probably will.......

 

too good to be true is usually a fact

 

I used to see a lot of fake stuff at gun shows. Lots of early dollars. It slowed down in my area. A lot of collectors were raising heck with anyone selling them. It would get pretty loud and dealers did not want the drama at the table. It was almost like an organized effort from coin collectors. A lot of dealers got stuck doing trades. I watched this one guy take a police officer to a dealers table and get really loud saying the dealer was selling fake coins.

At one show there was this little old guy that set up selling just coins. He would tell folks to show him any coins they buy at the show. He was pretty good and created problems for the gun dealers selling fake crap.

 

I think coin dealers should start selling fake guns.

 

Start selling fake classic guns like M1 Garand and M1A's at $200 each, see how fast that pisses them off and they stop selling fake coins, don't ruin our hobby and we won't ruin yours.

 

Getting the police involved doesn't always work. I use to sell Jewelry 14K 10K Real Gold. Had a guy set up next to me selling Gold Plated Junk telling people it was Real
14K Gold. I went and asked the on site Sheriff Deputy about it. He said he couldn't do anything about it because He didn't know if it was real or not. Would probably get the same response about coins.

 

Great idea

 

One nice coin I found and Bought at the Gun Show

 

Back in the early 70's I went with my dad to a nearby thrashing bee in northern Illinois. Inside the event tent there were people selling a variety of stuff. At one table a man had a nice display of early American coins for sale. The coins ranged from half cents to silver dollars. Being a teenager I didn't have much money to spend. I can recall buying a few Liberty and Buffalo nickels. Too bad I didn't have the funds available to buy some of the really good stuff. The seller was an older man who was selling his lifelong collection. I guess my point here is that you never know where you'll find someone selling coins.

 

But yours is certified (thankfully) and slabbed...

 

I agree. There's a lot of red flags there. Hard to imagine they would have accepted them as payment without some research and if they did they’re probably just trying to get the value of the gun back from them. No one knowingly sells things for pennies on the dollar

 

True. Coins like Seated Liberty Dollars...esp in that high a grade I wouldn't even consider buying unless it was in a PCGS or NGC Verified Slab.

 

I don't think that scamming somebody at a gun show is such s good idea.

 

Of course they were fake.

Those things are all over the place.

 

I would be more of the opinion that the story of taking them in trade for guns was just that, a story, and if the ones you were shown were not the same one that you had seen earlier at the dealer's table, then he has a bunch and is making his money on counterfeits, rather than guns.

 

Unfortunately, as we all learn sooner or later, whenever someone sees the opportunity to make quick, easy money by selling imitation merchandise of any kind they will promptly seize the moment and do so.

 

Never buy raw coins at a gun show, ever. Especially better dates. Ever. Did I mention ever.

 

And lots and lots of them, so that the whackos out there would only be running amuck with Mattel replicas instead of the real thing.

 

Amen to that, and exactly so!