Your PERFECT Coin Store Wish List

I saw some of his coins while at the Baltimore Whitman show. My first time looking to buy ancients....Absolutely stunning coins. Even though I clearly wasn't the target clientele, the man at the table was incredibly nice and talked to my son and I for a bit and showed us a few things. Great experience.

 

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Reminds me of when I was a young lad, in the 60's and frequented the coin store in Renton, WA. I think he was named Tom. He had a coin auction every Saturday. Spent more, won more, than I ever planned on (maybe I was just too competitive to lose any auction) He was a great guy.....lived coins....and I bought a few nice coins for a rather large sum, he took the crowd in the shop that he was closing early to celebrate my purchase by taking his wife to lunch!

 

This thread has brought back so many memories about my first coin shop experiences. I had received an uncirculated Bicentennial 40% silver set when I was eight years old and got hooked immediately. My father took me to the coin shop in Springfield, Massachusetts owned by Max C. Kaye. Because of my dad’s schedule, we had gotten there a minute after closing time. Mr. Kaye had already put the coins into the back safe for the night, but he took an interest to us right away, and showed me what he still had left out. We walked away with a $.25 fractional currency Civil War era note for just $1.00 but were told “... that’s because it’s in terrible condition. Come back next week and I’ll show some better items.” I still treasure it. The next week we raced back and got there a minute BEFORE closing this time. We left with a ‘51-S Franklin half, AU, which I picked out from a roll. More importantly I left with ten-minute lesson: “Here’s how you hold the coin, along the edge… Here’s how you open up the holder so the surface won’t get scratched when you slide it in. And remember, don’t clean it when you get home. Never EVER clean your coins.” Each and every week I learned more real wisdom at that shop then I could get from all the coin-related YouTube videos today.... all before I could shave!!! Once Mr. Kaye took out two SL quarters, both the same date and mint mark. He said, “I’m selling one of these for $30, and the other one for $180. Can you tell me why?” He also didn’t mind if I just sat and listened to him banter with the other dealers and higher-paying clientele who came in each week. Some other kid demanded Mr. Kaye to sell him some dip so he could dip clean a walking liberty he had just bought. The shop owner responded, “Do you see that tiny light scratch in the field? Maybe you don’t, but I do. After we dip it, it will be the only thing that you see.” Of course, it was always fun to buy something and get your change in clad Kennedys, dateless buffalo nickels, and 1930s wheat cents. Mr. Kaye was great about that. So, for me, the most important thing in a coin shop is an owner who takes interest, takes the time to educate his or her customers, and can easily pass on the passion that she or he has for the hobby. I’m curious… Does anyone who grew up in the Springfield Massachusetts area have memories of the scene shop?

 

I love your story.

 

Doubled Eye - Intriguing and well-told story which I totally enjoyed reading. Thanks for making the effort to share it.

 

Thanks – these little scenes and memories from the coin shop begin in 1977, when I got started in the hobby. Of course, a few years later when metal prices skyrocketed, the coin shop became sort of a emergency liquidation center for the area. Who remembers those long lines of poor schlubs waiting outside local coin stores in 1979, holding jars of old silver coins along with silver flatware and candlesticks? It was during those years that I learned fancy terms like “to fence” – yikes!! – as I listened to the shady characters come in with their sacks of cull silver to sell.

 

I hear ya - my guy (before he closed his shop & sold it to a We Buy Gold guy) would usually be nowhere to be found on Saturdays, usually at auctions and estate sales

 

I always felt that a jump shot violated the scratch rule where if the cue ball leaves the playing surface it is a scratch.

 

We have 6 kids and they grew up with a pool table in the house. We always had a table in the rec room. I made sure that they never became smarter than the ball and always let the stick do the work. The two most important attributes as far as I am concerned. They can all shoot very well.

 

Under the General Rules (for all games) if the cue ball jumps from the playing surface to the rail and returns to the playing surface without coming into contact with any object on the rail such as chalk, bridge, pocket marker or any other piece of playing equipment it is not a foul. Therefore, a "jumped ball" under these guidelines is considered a legal shot.

Chris

 

Thanks. When was that rule effective?

 

Two of my favorite cues:

JOSS West (1995)

Mike Sigel (2004)

 

I don't have any of my old BCA rule books, but I had been playing in BCA leagues with that rule long before I became a referee in 1995.

Chris

 

I like the sticks. I don't play much anymore unless I visit one of the kids. Some of them have tables. There was a time when I played everyday. Dad would give me 50 cents and send me to the pool hall on my bicycle. Now, dad was a good shot. One game of snooker the 7 was froze on the far end rail in the center. The que ball was at the other end in center rail. I put the 7 in the left end corner. The guy I was playing broke his stick in half and walked out. Dad taught me that shot and I only used it one time.

 

If you should ever find a copy of the November, 2002 Billiards Digest
check out the Architecture and Design Awards for the "Best Home Room". It's mine!

Chris

 

BTW, that is not me. It is a photo I saw and thought you would enjoy it.

 

I never thought it was. The guy in that photo would never be a good pool player.

Chris

Oops! I had to edit this post because it is my 33,333rd Post.

 

I travel with my work weeks and months at a time. Whenever I have spare time, I try and find a local shop to the area I'm in. I have been to shops all across the US. There are two very common types. Ones where it was organized in the beginning but has wandered into total chaos. And then there are those that are organized chaos. Both have one thing in common, they neither have anything other than junk displayed in their cases.

Some will ask if there is anything particular that you are looking for, and if you have one in mind and tell them, they will drag a couple out of the safe. They all have good coins in a safe but have totally given up on taking them out to display every day only to have to put them back in the safe every night.

I hate that as I suspect most other shoppers do too. I have many interest, yeah I love looking for a key date that I'm missing, but also enjoy just shopping around for something that kinda jumps out at me. If all their coins aren't on display I am reluctant to ask to see anything because I feel I am a bother. And if I don't feel that way, the clerk/owner will make you feel that way if you don't buy what they drag out.

Shows are much different, those same shops will drag everything out at a coin show and display it. They will sell more at a show for that very reason. If I went to a coin show and their displays looked like their stores and I had to ask for them to get something out of a safe for me to see it, I probably wouldn't go back.

 

This statement right here holds sooooo much truth!