Young Numismatists, YNs Treat Them Well

Saw on a thread about opening the Coin Talk Coin Shop a post from a YN that believes they are overlooked at shops, shows etc. Oh my to strike a chord, yes, this is still a problem for a lot of dealers. When I was a teenager I really started taking an interest in the hobby, more than I did when I was a ankle biting coin shop haunter. I started hanging out at coin club meetings, shows etc. It was amazing the contrasts in how I felt I was treated. Some dealers were very helpful, friendly and willing to show everything, then there were the snobs.

To those of you that deal in coins, remember that "kid" with little cash, he may grow up and have fortunes change dramatically later on. Nowadays I reflect on that time, remembering a few dealers that were snobs and now some 20 years or so later they will still never get my business. Especially that dealer from AZ that refused to sell me an English gold noble at a show in Santa Clara, then I went to the next dealer up the line who happily showed me his recent Scottish acquisitions, and I purchased this:



One of only four known examples of this coin. Not bad for a purchase by some "teenager".:hail:

BTW I am still quite partisan about the YN's and those of you that know me from elsewhere know that my contest are usually limited to YN's exclusively. And that last prize was a doozy yellow coloured thang. I believe in corrupting their young impressionable minds with numismatics.

 

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I've worked retail for many years and have always treated children just like any other customer or potential customer... partly because of a sense of basic fairness and because to do otherwise would reflect badly on the business I work for. Losing children as customers can also cost you their parents as customers, and also cause damage to your reputation if you're perceived as unfriendly. I always ploiltely answer any children's questions, even seemingly silly ones like "can you eat thse shoes?" (Yes I've been asked that lol... even by adults... I just calmly explain that while they're non-toxic I wouldn't exaclty call them edible.)

Another factor is that children will one day become adults, and may have children of their own... your long term business prospects won't be very good if you cut off your future customer base. Children who are turned off from coin collecting (or just from buying from you) is a customer you lose for life... that customer's potential future children too... and that's more than just rude, that's bad business. I can tell you from personal experience if it were not for a certain coin dealer having the patience to politely deal with a 10 year old coin collector no coin store would have my business about 20 years later... and I have much more disposable income now than I did then lol... if for no other reason treating young customers well is a good investment!

 

>OT<

Can I steal your sig file? Gees, I do believe wholeheartedly in education and knowledge as the foundation of this hobby and not TPG opinions for speculators.

 

I hereby release the sig I created into the public domain lol... I know not everyone agrees with it, but anyone who does, feel free to repeat it to whoever you can get to listen. So sure, go ahead. (To clarify its meaning though let me state that I still think that sometimes it can be worth having a TPG verify the authenticity of a coin, or atrribute an error, or identify a difficult to identify coin, or something of that nature; it's just paying for grading opinions that I don't believe in.)

 

Hear Hear!

Phoenix

 

Another thing I will say, this forum is very YN friendly, along with many, many of the members, it is overwhelming. :hug: I thank all of you for all the help and knowledge you have given me!

Phoenix

 

It really is.

 

not always... a couple of years ago there was a group of oldies who ganged up on inexperience....

and yes I can't stand dealer's resentment towards YN's
I have gone to the same dealer for about 7 years now and have never been granted any respect from him. He knows exactly who I am when I walk in and yet nothing but a jerk the entire time. Now when I go, he gets ignored and I only talk to the other guy there or the lady that's very nice to me

 

Being a YN, I had a rough dealer at the Baltimore Coin Show last fall. This lady lured my brother and I into some bargain bin, saying that since we were YN's, we could get a "Buy 1 get 1 free deal". Unfortunately that was not the case. Once we picked out the coins for our books, we told that guy working the table (the lady was long gone) that these were two for one. The guy working the table did not comply with that deal, so we were lured into a supposed deal, when we couldv'e gotten the same coins somewhere else. We ended up buying the coins anyway, but it still sticks to me today that there are rude people in this coin collecting community, scamming adolescents out of their tenuous supply of cash. I have learned from my mistakes, but i do believe we Young numismatists do not get the respect we deserve, because of stereotypical remarks about us. Thanks,

Greg

Edit: The 'Coin Gallery of Delaware" owner is extremely affable!! ( I don't want to disclose names for security reasons i guess)

 

The stinky thing about taking my kids to coin shows, is sometimes I get jealous of the deals they get. Like the dealer telling my son that he wants to exchange money with him, 1:1 and my son ends up with silver certificates etc. paying face value. Then my daughter got the best deal, a Moldavia-Wallachia 2 Para coin from 1773 for a ridiculous $10, worth many times that much(Alexander Basok, Chicago) If you are in the Midwest he is the dealer with all the Russians hanging around since he sells lots of Russian coins. One major dealer in gold coins from Minneapolis sold my son a small gold coin for a $10 bill also. So there are good dealers out there, out to corrupt the YN's with numismatic influences.

 

Isn't it great the way some dealers will go out of their way to corrupt young minds, though?

 

One more reason I'm sure glad I don' t live around some of you people. At almost any shows I go to kids are treated better than adults. Slight exageration, but no one gives me free stuff. No dealer says things to me like "Oh you really like that coin? Well take it and don't tell your dad there that you got it free" I don't get free candy at many dealer tables. And I've been to many shows where I pay for lousy coffee but cokes for kids are free. Then there is this one coin show I go to and if it falls on any kind of holiday, kids get free hot dogs and a coke. One dealer gives kids any of those Whitman folders he has free. Then naturally there are those silly door prizes for kids only. And at train shows it's even worse.
I want to be a kid again, but not live by your people.

 

well I almost agree..
At the countryside show I went to, I was shrugged off repeatedly and told certain coins were too expensive for me and so I walked away. Later I found a guy who actually took time to see what I needed and he got my business, a fair amount too

Older people will pretty much always shrug kids off
but I do work at a retirement home and boy do they love to talk to me. They have great stories and always are willing to listen... I wish all those dealers were like their parents and not the immature ones in the situation

 

While at the coin store today when I was talking to the owner - he asked me if it was okay to wait on a couple of youg kids with their dad. He even said exactly the same words some of you all used - corrupt their minds into collecting and he really wanted to impress them. I told him to take his time and he was gone about 15 minutes - made him happy to wait on them. Then I mentioned one guy I knew who mentioned he visits here on occasion. It turns out the guy I know has been visiting the store since the late sixties when they were both "much younger". Can't wait to see him at the next meeting so we can talk some more.

 

I went to a show yesterday with my youngest son who is 12. They had a treasure hunt for the kids. Basically they gave him a sheet of paper(checklist) showing the tables he could go to to get a free gift. He wound up getting a 50's unc cent, all the newer Jefferson types unc, utah state quarter unc, some foreign coins, a foreign note from indonesia, and a blank lincoln cent planchet. Then we went to a dealer who had some circulated buffalos, my son needed an 18-s for his collection, so the guy pulls it out and it says $3 on the 2X2 in G-4, then he looks at his greysheet and says oops I forgot to change the price, lucky for you and sold it to him for $3. He also go a nice proof 1976 half dollar from a guy for $1. I thought the people that put on the show did a good job, especially for the kids.

 

I vaguely remember being young.

I was in a coin club when I was 12. Me and a couple of buddies my age used to walk to the meetings a few miles away.

Most members were in their 60s or older. They treated us great and it helped me a lot.
There was one coin dealer in town. A cantankerous old man but not just to kids. To everyone.

I frequent two shops now. One isn't "anti kid" per se he's just a bit different at times. He does know what money looks like in his bank account though so kids do get a fair shake. Just takes a while to get to know him.

The other is GREAT with kids. He and his wife want kids to learn and pursue the hobby.
Been more than one occasion where a kid is a buck or two short and believe me the kid ALWAYS walks out withthe coin. If not from the dealer knocking it down then from us other customers tossing in the rest.

It really is a shame that so many "adults" forget they were once kids. I'll never totally grow up. Just ask my wife.

 

I WISH I had a coin shop.
I would have something like story-time, that libraries have.
I'd invite YN's in once a week to discuss a certain series and read from books about that series.
I love teaching.
To see someones eyes light up when you explain something is great.
If you hear them repeat the information at a later date is even more rewarding.

Maybe I should get to making some of my own YN's...lol

 

I have three kids, all of them collect to some degree, but my 13 year old daughter bugs me with her Whitman books etc. I cannot go through bank rolls without her having the pickings etc. It is funny she likes puzzles, word finds etc., but the best therapy seems to be sifting through mounds of cents for her book. Now she is getting to where I may have her work on Jefferson Nickels, 1938-2008.

 

my oldest son (nearly 7) is well on his way to becoming a fine numismatist. the only problem we have is so many people give him things for free. the most recent freebe - a complete 1941 to 1974 Whitman folder - handed to him as he was walking the floor at the Baltimore show - at first he declined the folder stating he already had the folder and was almost finished filling it. the man smiled and told my son it was ok to have several of the same thing. my son thanked him and took the folder.

i won't tell you the deals he gets from dealers.... he will be in for a shock when he will have to buy his coins, that's for sure!



-Steve

 

Spider: I'm shocked to hear about a bad experience at Countryside. If you can remember the dealers name or table location, please let me know. I know many, many dealers there and a few words from a excessively repeat customer may have some reactions. Usually that show is one of the better ones for giving kids or younger collectors a big break or discount.